Chris Coleman

Chris Coleman is passionate about the connection between stories and community. He joined the DCPA Theatre Company as Artistic Director in November of 2017 and recently directed Oklahoma! and Anna Karenina. Previously, Chris served as Artistic Director for Portland Center Stage in Oregon for 18 years. Under his leadership, PCS renovated the city’s historic Armory into a new home, saw annual attendance nearly double, workshopped 52 new plays that went on to productions at over 100 theaters around the U.S. and U.K., and became a national leader in how theaters engage with their community.

In 1988, Chris founded Actor’s Express in Atlanta (in the basement of an old church), a company that continues to be a cultural force in the Southeast today. He has directed at major theaters across the country, including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Alliance Theater, Dallas Theater Center, Baltimore Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, ACT/Seattle, the Asolo, Pittsburgh Public, 59E59, and New York Theater Workshop.

He and his husband, actor/writer Rodney Hicks, live in Stapleton with their 100 lb. English blockhead yellow lab and their 18 lb. terrier mix. Since moving to Colorado, he has hiked Dominguez Canyon, wondered at the Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde, explored a working mine in Creede, and rafted down the Arkansas River.