Extended Bio
Eric Simonson is an ensemble member of the renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Company, a position he maintains while working as a writer and director for film, television, theatre and opera. He wrote for and produced Swagger for Apple TV+, The Man in the High Castle and Homecoming (featuring Julia Roberts) -- both for Amazon. Simonson also wrote the TV movie Killing Reagan, which premiered on National Geographic and was nominated for two Critics Choice Awards.
Films direction and writing include the documentaries "Studs Terkel: Listening to America" (Emmy nomination); "A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin", which won an Oscar for Documentary Short and received a nomination from the International Documentary Association (IDA) for Distinguished Achievement; "On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom" (Oscar nomination, IDA Award, Emmy nomination). All three films subsequently aired on HBO. Other films include "Hamlet" (co-directed with Campbell Scott) for Hallmark Entertainment, and the independent feature, "Topa Topa Bluffs", which preiered at the South-by-Southwest Film Festival. Simonson has also written and developed multiple television series for HBO, FX, Starz, TNT, ABC and USA networks.
Broadway writing credits include the hit play "Lombardi", "Magic/Bird", and "Bronx Bombers" (which he also directed).
Simonson's directing and writing credits in theatre include work at Steppenwolf Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Primary Stages in NY, The Huntington Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Kansas City Rep, The Kennedy Center, Pasadena Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Arizona Theatre, San Jose Rep and Court Theatre in Chicago. His work at Steppenwolf includes the premiere productions of his plays “Lindiwe” (featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo), "Fake", "Honest", "Carter's Way", his adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five", the critically acclaimed and nationally produced "Nomathemba" (co-written with Ntozake Shange and Joseph Shabalala), and "The Song of Jacob Zulu", which was invited to the Perth International Arts Festival, ran on Broadway, and received six Tony nominations including Best Director. Other plays include published works "Bang the Drum Slowly" and "Work Song" (co-written with Jeffrey Hatcher), which premiered at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. He recently collbaorated with Violent Femmes front man Gordon Gano on the hit musical “Run Bambi Run” at Milwaukee Rep.
Simonson is a specialist in developing new American operas. Among these include world premieres of “Bok Choy Variations”, “The Fix” (for which he wrote the libretto), "The Shining”, "The Grapes of Wrath", "Silent Night" (Pulitzer Prize) and, most recently “Edward Tulane”. He is also the Founder and Artistic Director of The Door Kinetic Arts Festival in Door County Wisconsin, a cross-media festival that celebrates all the arts for one week in September.
Simonson has been honored with the Princess Grace Foundation's Statue Award for Sustained Artistic Achievement, the Frankel Award for new play development, and several Edgerton Foundation grants for new play development.