Announcing Mikael Burke, AFT’s new Associate Artistic Director
About Face Theatre welcomes Mikael Burke (he/him) to our staff in the role of Associate Artistic Director to lead AFT’s education and new work development programs. Michael has been working with us since 2016 when he directed for the AIDS On Stage reading series. He also directed our 2018 production of This Bitter Earth and became an About Face Artistic Associate the following year.
Mikael is a Chicago-based director and educator, and an AFT Artistic Associate. A Princess Grace Award-winner in Theatre and Jeff Award-nominated director, Mikael’s most recently worked with Victory Gardens Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Jackalope Theatre Company, Windy City Playhouse, About Face Theatre, First Floor Theater, American Theatre Company, Chicago Dramatists, and The Story Theatre in Chicago, and regionally with Indiana Repertory Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, and Phoenix Theatre. He serves as Head of the Directing Concentration of the Summer High School Training Program of the Theatre School at DePaul University, where he also serves as an adjunct faculty member. He is also an adjunct faculty member of the Chicago College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Previously, Mikael served as Associate Artistic Director of NoExit Performance in Indianapolis, IN, and was the Creative Director for Young Actors Theatre, also in Indianapolis. Recent directing credits include The Agitators by Mat Smart; Sugar In Our Wounds by Donja R. Love; At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen by Terry Guest.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Mikael to the leadership team at About Face,” said AFT Artistic Director Megan Carney. “As a theatre company dedicated to advancing dialogue about gender and sexuality, our work takes many forms. When I joined About Face as the Artistic Director, we committed to fostering more diverse queer voices, to building a sustainable financial foundation, and to bringing education to the center of the organization. Our education programs are layered and experimental. They are constantly changing to reflect community needs and use a variety of tools from devising to leadership development. I’m looking forward to all the ways we’ll be growing with this new staff structure and with Mikael’s vision. This is a joyful moment and an investment in the future.”
Mikael said, “I’m honored and grateful to begin this new chapter with AFT. I recently learned that our name, About Face, represents “a turning of the tide.” What an apt description of the current movement in our industry and in our country to dismantle white supremacist systems. The outrage I share with so many over the continued oppression of Black people– most pressingly the murder of Breonna Taylor at the hands of Brett Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove, who have yet to be charged or arrested–makes one thing clear: as artists, we have an undeniable responsibility to do our part in turning the tide to bring about necessary change. This is the part of About Face’s legacy that inspires me the most. As a queer Black artist and educator, I am dedicated to building spaces for learning and creating that decenter whiteness and embrace the full spectrum of experiences and identities. As I take up the mantle of fostering young queer artists and new queer voices with AFT, this is the lens and personal mission I bring to the work. I look forward to AFT’s future and our work to turn the tide.”
You can learn more about Mikael at his website: mklburke.com