Christina Casano

I’m a theatre artist based in Chicago with a focus on directing and producing. In addition, I provide monologue coaching for auditions.

Originally from Ohio, I moved to Chicago because I wanted to be in a city with a thriving arts scene - and because Chicago felt like a place where I could make my home. At heart, I’m a Midwest gal who loves the Great Lakes. I am mixed race, with a parent that immigrated to the US from The Philippines.

A little bit about me outside of my theatre work: I love to read, occasionally write, hang out with my cat Garbanzo, take care of my houseplants, and spend time in nature. As an artist and a human, I want to fight for equity and inclusion. I prioritize intersectional feminism, anti-racism practices, and climate and environmental justice. I have been working to decolonize my bookshelf and media consumption for the last few years and I continue to find new authors and content creators to support. I’m working to make my lifestyle more sustainable and eco-friendly, because I believe we can all do our part to make the world a better place for the generations that come after us.

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

I want my art to feel like a ritual and a journey - a gathering place and a space for vulnerability.  The best plays I’ve seen have tackled questions larger than words, and have taken me far from the physical space and the emotional place where the story began.  I’m not tied to Realism because the rules of nature sometimes need to be broken to ask the questions and find the answers you need.  The stories I’m drawn to have ranged from epics to living room dramas.  They’re about personal struggles, Good and Evil and what lies in between, how people come together and fall apart.  We thrive or die by the strength of our relationships.

I fell in love with theatre because it is a visceral art form - it’s immediately in front of us.  I feel a responsibility as an artist to ask questions and make some noise about the issues immediately in front of us.  My art will always be political because I am a woman, a mixed-race person of color, and the child of an immigrant.  My perspective is one that is breaking through the cracks from the outside.

REMY BUMPPO

In May 2022 I began working at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company as the Creative Producer. I’m excited to continue to build on my skills as a producer and support artists in the production process!

I made my directing debut with Remy Bumppo in 2024 with Dear Elizabeth by Sarah Ruhl.

For RBTC, I have produced the Readings on Ravenswood staged reading series (2024, 2025), Love Song (2024), Blues for an Alabama Sky (2023), Galileo’s Daughter (2023), Anna in the Tropics (2023), and Routes (2022).

THE PLAGIARISTS

From 2020-2024, I was the Artistic Director of The Plagiarists, a storefront theatre in Chicago. After 16 years, The Plagiarists sunset on June 30, 2024. I joined The Plagiarists as a company member in 2016 after working with the company since early 2015.

As a company member, I worked to integrate the Chicago Theatre Standards into our company policies, and I continue to push for equitable, inclusive work and hiring practices. I also spearheaded the creation of the Literary Committee and served as the Literary Manager from 2018-2020. The Lit Com solicited new work from playwrights outside of the company and worked one-on-one with playwrights to develop pitches and partial scripts.

I am extraordinarily proud of the work I have done with the company over nine years. We have made really beautiful, moving, funny work, and I could not have asked for a better artistic home for the time that I have been a part of it. I have been involved in almost every production by The Plagiarists since 2015: these saints will burn (stage manager, 2015), belladonna luna sonata (stage manager, 2015), Ulysses (assistant director, 2016), American Stage Sessions Retrospective at The Last Abbie Hoffman Festival (MYER, ANNIE, KAREN, 2016), The Epic of Gilgamesh, As Told By Mr. George Smith, Associate Curator For The British Museum (deceased) (stage manager, 2016), Circle House (ANNIE, 2017), Ubu II (stage manager, 2017), Some Like It Red (ROSE, 2018), Endeavor Mind (production manager, 2018), Munsterspiel (understudy for ALFRED, GIRL, HILLE, 2019), Season Pass: Deaux Over (production manager, 2019), Poison (director, 2020), I Build Giants (director, 2022), Valhalla (producer, 2023), Arabia, Arabia! (producer, 2023), The Wordshop (producer and director of the staged reading for Work in Progress, 2023).

OTHER MEDIA

Guest on Gadfly podcast for Gadfly Movie Night: Alongside Night starring the Libertarian Social Philosophy of Agorism.

Pen, Picture, & Chat - February 2022