CHICAGO -- Russell Vandenbroucke, artistic director of Northlight Theatre, has stepped down from the position he has occupied since 1987.

Vandenbroucke will direct American playwright Amlin Gray's new translation of The Wound and the Bow, Sophocles' classic tale of Philoctetes, the Trojan War and the magic bow of Hercules. He will then leave the Skokie-based theatre to write, direct, teach, and pursue other independent projects.

Vandenbroucke's legacy includes Northlight's home in Skokie's North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, a 345- seat thrust stage and the theatre's first permanent residence in its 25-year history.

Vandenbroucke is an associate professor of theatre at Northwestern University and has been affiliated with the Sundance Playwright's Lab, where he directed a workshop of Robert Schenkkan's The Kentucky Cycle, winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Previously, Vandenbroucke held the positions of literary manager and dramaturge at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. He began his career at the Yale Repertory Theatre and is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. -- By Lawrence Bommer
Chicago Correspondent