Rebecca Willingham (she/her) is a Chicago-based theatre director. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Directing at The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she recently directed Much Ado About Nothing and the world premiere of Pieces That Remain by Grace Lowry. Rebecca directed Sam Steiner’s Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons as an Instagram play after the live production at The Theatre School was canceled due to COVID-19. She was also the creator, and executive producer of Season 1 of Survivor: The Theatre School, an online reality competition show. Rebecca’s production of Do You Feel Anger? by Mara Nelson-Greenberg will open in February. She will direct her thesis production, Indecent by Paula Vogel, at The Theatre School this spring.

Rebecca is the Artistic Director and a co-founder of The Sound, where she directed Fleetwood Mac: The Album: The Musical, Seagulls (The Sound at Steppenwolf LookOut), Killed a Man (Joking) (in collaboration with First Floor Theater), Symphony for Six Jonis, Red Bowl at the Jeffs, and For Annie. Rebecca also co-produced The Sound’s Valentine’s Plays and Independence Plays festivals. She has directed work with Dandelion Theatre, Commission Theatre, Broken Nose Theatre, Tympanic Theatre, The Ruckus, Prologue Theatre, 20% Theatre, and Rabid Bat Theatricals. Rebecca’s assistant-directing credits include the world premiere of Twilight Bowl (Goodman Theatre), as well as productions at Chicago Opera Theater, American Theater Company, Griffin Theatre, Theater Wit, Route 66, Steep Theatre, and the Irish Theatre of Chicago. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and the 2016-2017 SDCF Observership Class. Originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, Rebecca is an alumna of Emerson College and the National Theatre Institute.

To download Rebecca’s resume, click here.