STEVE COSSON is the founding Artistic Director of The Civilians. He also works independently directing new plays, musicals and classics. With The Civilians: co-writer and director of This Beautiful City which premiered to rave reviews at the Humana Festival and recently completed a critically-acclaimed run at Vineyard Theatre. Previously produced at Center Theatre Group (Mark Taper Forum) and Studio Theatre in D.C.; co-writer and director of BROOKLYN: At Eye Level produced this past winter at Brooklyn’s Lyceum Theatre; co- writer/director of Paris Commune produced in The Public Theater’s PublicLAB series; writer/director of the long-running hit Gone Missing produced throughout the U.S. and the U.K. including a seven-month run at Barrow Street Theater and selected by critic Charles Isherwood for the New York Times’ Top 10 of 2007 list. Writer/director (I Am) Nobody’s Lunch, which won the 2006 Fringe First award at Edinburgh and was one of two NY Times “Isherwood Recommends;” and director of the company’s first show Canard, Canard, Goose?. Additionally, he’s directed The Civilians’ work at A.R.T., Actors Theatre of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, HBO’s Aspen Comedy Festival, The MoMA; London’s Gate Theatre and Soho Theatre among many others. Cosson has directed and developed new plays at theaters including Hartford Stage, Soho Rep, O’Neill Conference, New Harmony Project and others. Plays include Neal Bell’s Shadow of Himself; Mat Smart’s 13th of Paris; Elise Thoron and Jill Sobule’s Prozak and the Platypus; Tommy Smith’s Air Conditioning; Anne Washburn’s Communist Dracula Pageant; world premiere of Peter Morris’ Square Root of Minus One; U.S. premiere of Martin Crimp’s Attempts on Her Life; Peter Morris’ Marge; U.S. premiere of Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love; World premiere of Erik Ehn’s Tailings; Eric Bogosian’s Scenes from the New World; and Stupid Kids by John C. Russell. Writer/director Close to Shore a community-based musical for the San Diego Rep. Director of The Time of Your Life (Williamstown); The Importance of Being Earnest (ACT); Serious Money and Guys and Dolls, both at Carnegie Mellon; and Measure for Measure (SF Drama-Logue Award); Steven won an Obie in 2004 for the work of The Civilians. He has been a Fulbright Scholar in Colombia, a MacDowell Fellow, twice participated in the Sundance Theatre Lab, and Resident Director at New Dramatists. His plays have been published by Oberon Books in the UK, Dramatists Play Service, and an anthology of The Civilians published by Playscripts Inc. He holds an MFA in directing from UC San Diego and a BA from Dartmouth College.

	Production	Theatre	Opened	Credit
1	Whisper House	59E59 Theaters/ Theater A	01/20/2022	Director
2	Pretty Filthy	Abrons Arts Center/ Playhouse	02/08/2015	Director
3	The Belle of Amherst	Westside Theatre/ Upstairs	10/19/2014	Director
4	The Great Immensity	Joseph Papp Public Theater/ Martinson Hall	04/24/2014	Director
5	Mr. Burns, a post-electric play	Playwrights Horizons	09/15/2013	Director
6	This Beautiful City	Vineyard Theatre	02/22/2009	Director
7	Gone Missing	Barrow Street Theatre	06/24/2007	Director

	Production	Theatre	Opened	Credit
1	Dana H.	Vineyard Theatre	02/25/2020	Interviewer
2	Pretty Filthy	Abrons Arts Center/ Playhouse	02/08/2015	Conceiver
3	The Great Immensity	Joseph Papp Public Theater/ Martinson Hall	04/24/2014	Playwright
4	This Beautiful City	Vineyard Theatre	02/22/2009	Author
5	Gone Missing	Barrow Street Theatre	06/24/2007	Author

		Award	Production	Function
1	NOMINATED	2015 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Musical	Pretty Filthy	Conceiver
2	NOMINATED	2009 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Musical	This Beautiful City	Author
3	NOMINATED	2009 Drama Desk Award, Outstanding Book of a Musical
4	NOMINATED	2009 Drama League Award, Outstanding Production of a Musical	This Beautiful City	Author