Joe Jahraus (Founder/Artistic Director) was most recently seen as Frank in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of Body Awareness by Annie Baker, as well as multiple roles in the U.S. Premiere of The Wonderful World of Dissocia by Anthony Neilson. Prior to that, he appeared in Profiles' Midwest Premieres of Things We Said Today and autobahn by Neil LaBute, which received an After Dark Award for Outstanding Ensemble. Other recent appearances at Profiles include The Glory of Living, Reparation and Noise. Joe received a 1999 Jeff Award Nomination for Ensemble for his performance as Wells in Stray Dogs. He has previously been seen in Profiles' productions of Wonder of the World, Snakebit, Jump to Cow Heaven, Some Voices, Dogs Barking, Popcorn, Eye of God, Paddywack, The Baby Dance, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Twilight Zone: The Series, How the Other Half Loves, The Water Engine, Minor Demons, Orphans, Battery, and True West.

Joe most recently directed Profiles' World Premiere of Assisted Living by Deirdre O'Connor as well as Profiles' Midwest Premiere of Fifty Words by Michael Weller. Joe's other directing credits with Profiles include the acclaimed World Premiere of Kid Sister by Will Kern and the Midwest Premieres of Jailbait by Deirdre O'Connor, The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute, Great Falls by Lee Blessing and The Thugs by Adam Bock. He directed the American Premiere of Apple by Vern Thiessen and the long-running hit Fat Pig by Neil LaBute for which he received a Jeff Award Nomination for Outstanding Director. Joe directed the Jeff Award winning Blackbird, Babylon Gardens, the Jeff Award nominated Carnal Knowledge and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He was the co-director of Profiles' productions of The Water Engine, The Twilight Zone: The Series and How the Other Half Loves. Joe has designed numerous sets for Profiles including Stray Dogs, for which he received a 1999 Jeff Award nomination for Set Design.

Darrell W. Cox (Artistic Director) can currently be seen in Profiles' American Premiere of In a Forest Dark and Deep by Neil LaBute. He most recently appeared in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of A Behanding in Spokane by Martin McDonagh, as well as Profiles' Midwest Premiere of Fifty Words by Michael Weller. Darrell received his fourth Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Principal Role for his performance as Joe Cooper in Profiles production of Killer Joe by Tracy Letts. Darrell has appeared at Steppenwolf in the World Premiere of Men of Tortuga (where he originated the role of Taggart), the Midwest Premiere of Orange Flower Water (which traveled to the Galway Arts Festival), and the World Premiere of Wendall Greene. He has also been seen at the Goodman in The Shawl and Home as part of the David Mamet Festival, American Theatre Company's Speed the Plow and Oleanna as part of the Mamet Repertory, as well as Jim Jones in the Midwest Premiere of The People's Temple, and the World Premiere of Martin
Furey's Shot at TimeLine, among others. He has won four Joseph Jefferson Awards for Principal Actor for his work in Profiles' productions of Killer Joe, Blackbird, Some Voices, and Eye of God. In addition, he has received two After Dark Awards for Outstanding Performance for Profiles' productions of Popcorn, and Carnal Knowledge.

Darrell's directing credits include Profiles' Midwest Premiere of Bachelorette by Leslye Headland, American Premiere of The Wonderful World of Dissocia by Anthony Neilson, Profiles' Midwest Premiere of This is How it Goes by Neil LaBute, "Coax" and the titular play in the evening of short plays, Things We Said Today, also by Neil LaBute. Other directing credits include autobahn by Neil LaBute, The Radiant Abyss by Angus MacLachlan, and Wonder of the World by David Lindsay-Abaire. Appearances in other Profiles' productions include reasons to be pretty, Kid Sister, Mercy Seat, Great Falls, In a Dark, Dark House, Some Girl(s), Apple, Fat Pig, The Glory of Living, Reparation, Snakebit, Jump to Cow Heaven, Dogs Barking, Babylon Gardens, Paddywack, The Baby Dance, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, Glengarry Glen Ross, Zara Spook and Other Lures, The Twilight Zone: The Series, How the Other Half Loves, The Water Engine, Minor Demons, Orphans, Battery and True West.

Neil Labute (Resident Artist/Playwright) has been working with Profiles since their 2006 production of Autobahn.  He is a writer, director, filmmaker and playwright. Neil received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre, London and also attended the Sundance Institute’s Playwrights Lab. His films include: In the Company of Men (New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best First Feature and the Filmmakers’ Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival), Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things (a film adaptation of his play by the same title), The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace and Death at a Funeral. His plays include Bash: Latter-Day Plays, The Shape of Things, The Mercy Seat, The Distance From Here, Fat Pig, Wrecks, Some Girl(s), This is How it Goes and In a Dark Dark House. reasons to be pretty premiered off-Broadway in 2008, receiving three Drama Desk Award nominations including Outstanding Play. It became Neil LaBute’s first play ever to be staged on Broadway when it opened in 2009 and was nominated for three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Play. His recent play The Break of Noon, premiered at MCC in 2010 and In a Forest, Dark and Deep premiered in London's West End in March 2011. LaBute is also the author of several fictional pieces that have been published in “The New York Times,” “The New York Times Magazine,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” and “Playboy” among others. “Seconds of Pleasure,” a collection of his short stories, was published by Grove Atlantic.

Rick Snyder (Resident Artist) is a Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble Member, Artistic Director of The Theatre of Western Springs, and award-winning actor/director. Rick most recently directed Profiles' Midwest Premiere of A Behanding in Spokane by Martin McDonagh. In 2010, Rick won a Joseph Jefferson award for Direction for Profiles' production of Killer Joe by Tracy Letts. Rick also directed Profiles' Midwest Premiere of reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute and the first full Chicago production of Men of Tortuga. Other directing credits include God of Carnage at the Goodman Theatre, Speed the Plow & Oleanna as part of the Mamet Repertory at American Theatre Company, Art, Betrayal, The Last Of The Boys, The Fall To Earth and Orange Flower Water at Steppenwolf (which also traveled to the Galway Arts Festival) among others, The Actor, as part of the Horton Foote Festival and Jolly and The Disappearance of the Jews as part of the Mamet Festival at the Goodman Theatre, Mauritius at Northlight, and Lion In Winter at Writers' Theatre.

Rick's acting credits at Steppenwolf include August: Osage County, Man From Nebraska, I Never Sang For My Father, Time Of Your Life, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in London and on Broadway, Sideman in Galway, Ireland, and the Tony Award-winning Grapes of Wrath, among others. Rick appeared as agent Frank Burrows in the film U.S. Marshals starring Tommy Lee Jones. His other film credits include Meet the Applegates, The Tuskegee Airmen, Alien Nation Millenium, The Net starring Sandra Bullock, Whiteboys, Soul Survivors and The Human Stain
starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman.

Eric Burgher (Ensemble Member) can currently be seen in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of Bachelorette by Leslye Headland. He most recently
appeared in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of A Behanding in Spokane by Martin McDonagh. Prior to that, he was seen in the World Premiere of A Beautiful Spell by Greg Kalleres, with Rare Terra Theatre at the Royal
George. Eric's most recent Profiles appearances include the Midwest Premiere of Jailbait by Deirdre O'Connor, and the World Premiere of Kid Sister by Will Kern. Other appearances at Profiles include Fat Pig, Graceland, This is How It Goes, Body Awareness,  "Land of the Dead" as part of Profiles' Midwest Premiere of LaBute shorts,Things We Said Today, autobahn, The Glory of Living, The Radiant Abyss and Noise. Eric is an Adjunct Faculty member at Columbia College Chicago where he teaches acting.

Eric's technical credits include Sound Designer on Men of Tortuga, In a Dark, Dark House, Things We Said Today, Some Girl(s), Apple, Fat Pig, autobahn, The Glory of Living, The Radiant Abyss, Reparation and Noise, as well as Assistant Director for Apple and Assistant Director/Stage Manager on Blackbird, Wonder of the World, Snakebit, and Jump to Cow Heaven. 

Maryann Carlson (Ensemble Member) is Profiles' Internship Coordinator and Administrative Assistant for the Advanced Scene Study Intensive. She has stage managed several productions at Profiles including Bachelorette, Graceland, Men of Tortuga, and In a Dark Dark House. She comes to Chicago from the great state of Massachusetts. She graduated with a BA in Theatre from the University of Vermont in 2004. Maryann has served as assistant stage manager at Lowell Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, MA and a scenic painter at both Theatre By The Sea in Matunuck, RI and The Arundel Barn Playhouse in Arundel, ME. She toured for two years with Missoula Children's Theatre. Most recently she has performed with Chicago Kids Company in their production of Cinderella.

Marget Brue (Director of Development and Community Outreach) joined Profiles' staff to lead the organization's fundraising, board development and community outreach efforts. Marget began her career as commercial real estate broker at Studley, LLC before becoming marketing and business development manager at The 8 Colors. She received her B.Phil. in History from Northwestern University.

Michael Carnow (Artistic Associate/Literary Manager) is proud to be an Artistic Associate of Profiles Theatre where he was most recently assistant director for their World premiere of Assisted Living. Previously, he was an Artistic Partner at Breathe Art Theatre in Detroit and Artistic Director of Brandeis Ensemble Theatre. In Detroit, he directed Yankee Tavern for Breathe Art Theatre Project, the World premiere of Snowbound with Planet Ant Theatre, Stye of the Eye for Who Wants Cake? Theatre and A Trois at the Windsor International Fringe Festival. He was nominated for a Wilde Award for the Best Production of a New Play for Snowbound. Michael founded the Quickies New Play Festival at Brandeis University as well as GPS (the Gay Play Series) at Who Wants Cake?. He is also a produced playwright, occasional actor and erstwhile improviser.

Thad Hallstein (Artistic Associate/Set Designer) has been designing sets for Profiles since 2007. His designs for Profiles include Body Awareness, The Wonderful World of Dissocia, Apple, This is How it Goes, Fifty Words, A Behanding in Spokane, and In a Forest, Dark and Deep. Other recent designs include Saved, and Sea Marks for Mary Arrchie, The Butler Didn’t for Metropolis, The Full Monty, Rent, and Chess for Brookhaven College in Dallas Texas, and Educating Rita and Scholhouse Rock Live! for the Laboratory Theatre in Madison , Wisconsin.  He is the full time Resident Designer and Technical Director for The Theatre of Western Springs, where he is also on the faculty of the Children’s Theatre.  His recent set designs there have included Sly Fox, Bunnicula, Dinner With Friends, and Lady Winderemere’s Fan.  He has also worked as a scenic painter for several Chicago area theatres, and for Chicago Scenic Studios Inc. Thad has worked in varying capacities for the Illinois High School Theatre Festival, The Illinois and Utah Shakespeare Festivals, and Opera Illinois. Thad holds degrees in Scenic Design and Graphic Arts from Illinois State University.

Rick Julien (Artistic Associate/Technical Director) has been the Technical Director for Profiles Theatre since Midwest premiere of Jailbait in 2010 and has worked on all the productions since that time. Rick has been involved in theatre and live productions for nearly 25 years and brings this wealth of experience to every Profiles production. He works at many different theatres over the city, but considers Profiles his Northside home and the Beverly Arts Center where he is also technical director as his Southside home. Rick grew up in East Peoria, Illinois where he began his varied career with Eastlight Theatre filling most technical positions. He served as live sound engineer working with some of the most well know names in music and as an I.A.T.S.E member. Rick has also worked in television, film and radio. His recent Profiles credits include Kid Sister, reasons to be pretty, Fifty Words, A Behanding in Spokane, Assisted Living, Bachelorette and the current American premiere of In a Forest, Dark and Deep.  Rick was Technical Director for Stage Left Theatre’s productions of Farragut North and The Fisherman as well as TD for a majority of The BoHo Theatre’s productions including the Jeff Award-Winning set for I Am My Own Wife. He also worked for HBO, ESPN, CBS, PBS, InFusion Theatre, City Lit Theatre, Live Wire Theater, The Apollo Theater, The Marriott Lincolnshire, Bread and Roses Productions and American Blues Theatre.

Jeffrey Levin (Artistic Associate/Sound Designer) has worked as Profiles' resident composer and sound designer for two seasons. Past Profiles productions include Bachelorette, Assisted Living, A Behanding in Spokane, Fifty Words, reasons to be pretty, Kid Sister and Jailbait. In addition to his work with Profiles, Jeffrey composes music, creates sound designs, provides musical direction, and plays piano for various Chicago venues and theatre organizations. Outside of his theatre work, Jeffrey is pursuing a Masters of Music in contemporary classical composition at DePaul University and also teaches music theory and musicianship at DePaul, the Merit School of Music, and for private students. For contact information and to hear work samples visit www.jeffreylevinmusic.com

Greg Yaeger (Artistic Associate) last appeared onstage with Profiles as Cody in Geography of a Horse Dreamer. Prior to that Greg played Aaronow in Profiles' production of Glengarry Glen Ross. Other Profiles credits include appearances in Death Knocks, The Twilight Zone: The Series, How the Other Half Loves, The Water Engine, Rumors and Dogg's Hamlet. Greg has also been seen in Zymotic Theatre Company's productions of Ball Boys and The Popcorn Knot.

 

Wayne Karl (Artistic Associate/Technical Staff) has long been a fan and supporter of Profiles Theatre and its ensemble. A graduate from the University of Iowa, Wayne has designed or assisted with most technical aspects of the company's productions including sound design, lighting, set construction for such shows as Stray Dogs, Babylon Gardens, Eye of God, Paddywack and The Baby Dance. He also works as a graphic designer and has created many of the company's posters and artwork.

Profiles Theatre, founded in 1988 by Artistic Director Joe Jahraus, joined shortly thereafter by Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, was formed as an actor-driven theatre ensemble dedicated to creating provocative and emotionally truthful productions. Passionate about shaping an original vision for new works, they focused on performing World, American and Midwest premieres as well as rarely performed plays. Critically acclaimed hits, such as BLACKBIRD, FAT PIG, GRACELAND and the multiple Jeff Award-winning KILLER JOE, established Profiles as a destination for challenging and edgy theatre. Their unique collaboration with playwright Neil LaBute led the ensemble to perform an entire season of his plays in 2007-2008. Now a Resident Artist at Profiles, LaBute remains an unequivocal artistic influence on the ensemble.

After performing at 4147 North Broadway for more than two decades, Profiles acquired an adjacent theatre at 4139 North Broadway in 2012. Profiles’ new theatre, The Main Stage, with its larger seating capacity, increased performance space and higher ceilings, accommodates more ambitious and technically demanding productions. Their long-time venue, renamed The Alley Stage, continues as the home for plays strengthened by a more intimate staging. Driven by an undiminished appetite for creating honest and resonant theatre, Profiles still seeks to present work that illuminates the determination and resiliency of the human spirit.