Brian Balcom biography

Brian Balcom

At Writers Theatre: Julius Caesar, Tiger Style!

Brian Balcom is a disabled, Asian-American Director based in Chicago who specializes in contemporary, muscular, relationship-driven plays. He enjoys working with playwrights and thinks that entertainment is underrated. He has directed 12 world premieres, 6 of which were personally commissioned, and has helped develop work at The Playwrights Center, Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago Dramatists, and La Jolla Rep. He currently serves as Access Project Coordinator at Victory Gardens where he works to enhance access services for patrons and develop the next generation of disabled stories and artists. Recent credits include: A Great Migration at B Street Theatre, Marisol at Northwestern University, Teenage Dick at Theater Wit, Fast Company at Theater Mu, Vietgone at American Stage, and Samuel J & K at Gremlin Theatre. Brian has sat on artistic advisory committees for Park Square Theater, Writers Theater, National New Play Network, and American Theater Magazine and served as panel speaker on disability and theater for TCG conference sessions, American Theater Magazine, Shakespeare Theater Association, The Voice and Speech Trainers Association, 3Arts, The Lark, and for Victory Gardens Theater. Brian has his BFA from Carnegie-Mellon and MFA from DePaul, was a Multi-cultural Fellow at Steppenwolf Theater, and was a recipient of a 3Arts residency at The University of Chicago’s Department of Disability and Human Development.