Megan Geigner

Megan made her TimeLine debut on DANNY CASOLARO DIED FOR YOU. “As a scholar who does archival research on theatre history, I couldn’t be more personally driven by TimeLine’s mission!” Megan first worked with TimeLine’s Associate Artistic Director Nick Bowling on CABARET at Northwestern University. “Nick valued my dramaturgy in a way I had rarely seen from a director. I felt like a crucial collaborator in the work, so when he asked me to work at TimeLine, I jumped at the chance!” Her most recent dramaturgy work at TimeLine includes CHIMERICA and the staged reading of RED FLAMBOYANT.

Other Chicago dramaturgy work includes THE SECRET GARDEN, THREE TALL WOMEN, and THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING (Court); A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, CABARET, and THE STATE(S) OF AMERICA – THE REGINA TAYLOR PROJECT (Northwestern University); LOVE AND INFORMATION (Remy Bumppo); and THE TAMER TAMED (Two Pence Shakespeare). In addition to dramaturgy, Megan’s design and production work has been produced at the University of Chicago, Wright College,  and the now-defunct Mary Arrchie theatre.

Megan has had her scholarship published in New Theatre Quarterly, New England Theatre Journal, Theatre Journal, Modern Drama, Theatre History Studies, and Cosmopolitan Review. She is the author and co-editor of the books Makeshift Chicago Stages: A Century of Theater and Performance and Theatre After Empire. She also has chapters in books about Progressive Era theatre, Hamilton: The Musical, and the history of Chicago literature. Her research focuses on the way performance creates ethnic, civic, and racial identity in and at such events as parades, world’s fairs, commemorative monuments, and traditional theatre. 

Megan grew up in Normal, Ill. and went on to earn a PhD in Theatre and Drama from Northwestern University, a MA degree in Liberal Studies from Reed College, a MA degree in Theatre History from Illinois State University, and a BA degree in Theatre from Illinois State University.

From 2009-2016, she was served on the board of directors of the Neo-Futurists, and from 2016-19, she was the director of the United States Naval Academy theatre program. She is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Cook Family Writing Program at Northwestern University where she teaches courses on writing about identity, technical writing, and writing in business settings. She also consults on non-verbal performance for students preparing for interviews and other professional settings.