Steppenwolf artistic director Martha Lavey stated, "Polly will be overseeing our new play development efforts and spearheading our work on the artistic initiatives facilitated through our grants from the Duke and Mellon Foundations. These initiatives, dedicated to cultivating a new generation of artists and audiences and creating transparency in the process of new play development, will continue our engagement with audiences in the public square of Steppenwolf. We are honored to be able to welcome a leader of Polly's acumen and experience to Steppenwolf and look forward to the contribution she will make to Steppenwolf and to Chicago."

Polly K. Carl Ph.D. is an expert in the field of new play development. She has served for 11 years at the Playwrights' Center, the last seven as artistic director. Under her leadership, the Center has grown from a local playwrights' service organization to a national hub for playwrights, theatre artists and theatre companies that write, develop and produce new work. Carl has sat on numerous boards, panels and committees including the Steinberg Advisory Committee to select their distinguished playwright award, the NEA Theater panel, the MAP Fund panel, and the board of Ten Thousand Things Theatre. Her Ph.D. in comparative studies in discourse and society with an emphasis on performance theory is from the University of Minnesota.

Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's mission is "to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon."

The resident company is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning August: Osage County by Tracy Letts. Steppenwolf's production of Letts' Superior Donuts will open on Broadway Oct. 1.

For additional information, visit www.steppenwolf.org.