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NATHAN H. ALLEN
2007 Emerging Leader
Nathan H. Allen has taken the Chicago theatre scene by storm since receiving his B.F.A. in theatre from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts in 2000. Accompanied by a group of fellow Meadows alumni, Allen moved to Chicago after graduating and founded The House Theatre of Chicago, which he serves as artistic director.
Allen came to SMU through the Hunt Leadership Scholars program. He spent his junior year studying at the British American Drama Academy in London, which inspired him to establish a theatre company combining American pop culture with European spectacle. The result is The House, now in its fifth season. Allen employs his diverse talents in writing, acting, directing and composing music for productions of the ensemble theatre company he assembled.
Chicago magazine has called Allen a “boy wonder,” and the Chicago Tribune arts critic wrote, “In Allen, The House has a star.” In 2007 the League of Chicago Theatres named The House as the inaugural recipient of the Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award, and a Chicago Tribune critic hailed Allen’s latest creation, The Sparrow, as “among the very best original theatre pieces I’ve ever seen.” The show received seven Jeff citations for excellence in Chicago theatre, including Best Director and Best New Work.