First thing you should know: Spenser is a huge fan of Olive Garden. It’s his sanctuary.
One Christmas, he got over $250 in giftcards to the o.g. That is not a joke.
Originally from Northwest Arkansas, and after a dozen years creating work in Chicago, Spenser is an award-winning writer-director who has recently transplanted to Los Angeles. His productions provoke conversation around the working class, forgotten corners of our complicated history, and characters who find themselves pushed to the margins.
As a theatre director, he was the Michael Maggio Directing Fellow at The Goodman Theatre, where he’s both helmed Stateville Voices and worked alongside Tony Award winner Robert Falls on the World Premiere of Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State, which has since played Off-Broadway, been nominated for the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding New Play, and is now available on Audible. Regionally, he has directed at the Colorado New Play Festival and at Street Corner Arts (Austin, TX), while in Chicago, his credits include A Red Orchid Theatre, American Blues, The Factory Theater (artistic associate), First Floor, Interrobang Theatre Project, Hell in a Handbag, Promethean Theatre, Strawdog, The New Coordinates, Steppenwolf 1700, and Broken Nose Theatre, where he was an ensemble member for a decade.
As a playwright, Spenser is under his second commission with South Coast Repertory. His first, the Elizabeth George Commission, led to the writing of A Million Tiny Pieces, a fast-flying ensemble comedy which has since been developed at both the Pacific Playwrights Festival and the Colorado New Play Festival. Other plays include Plainclothes, Merge, The Spin, the acclaimed audio drama Primer. His one-acts and short plays have been produced around the world.
As a filmmaker and screenwriter, his first pilot Knox County Nights was a Finalist at the Austin Film Festival; he’s developing it and other projects with A+E Studios and Busy B Entertainment, among others. His debut short film, I’m Pretty Sure My Therapist Thinks I’m a Bad Actor, is currently kicking off its festival run.
He’s the recipient of the M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award from the American Theatre Critics Association, Best Director accolades at both the Jeff Awards (Chicago) and the B. Iden Payne Awards (Austin), a Harold & Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award finalist and a Heideman Award finalist, among others.
He frequently teaches at Acting Studio Chicago, serves as guest lecturer at various universities, and writes monologues for the Vagabond School’s on-camera intensive. He is proud to be represented by both William Morris Endeavor + Heroes and Villains Entertainment.
Spenser’s film wins Best Comedy Short!
A dark comedy about anxiety, vulnerability, and the people we turn to (and kidnap) for validation, I’M PRETTY SURE MY THERAPIST THINKS I’M A BAD ACTOR — which he both wrote and directed — received the award at the FunnyAF Festival in Atlanta. It has also played in Maryland, Indianapolis, and is slated to screen as part of a not-yet-unannounced Los Angeles lineup.
A 2nd commission from South Coast Rep!
After writing A MILLION TINY PIECES as part of their 2020 Elizabeth George Commission, and later developing it in both the Pacific Playwrights Festival and the Colorado New Play Fest, SCR has invited Spenser back to write a second play for their new-works program.
MERGE goes to college!
Spenser’s first-ever play MERGE, which tells the story of the rise and fall of Atari, received an awesome staging at the Ankeny Theatre in Des Moines this past Winter. Originally produced in Chicago, the play’s now available for production everywhere, colleges included.
THE KELLY GIRLS wins Best New Play!
After winning 4 Heartstring Awards, including Best Director, Spenser’s searingly powerful World Premiere of Shannon O’Neill’s play has also received this season’s Jeff Award for Best New Work.
Spenser helms STATEVILLE VOICES, produced by The Goodman Theatre!
Featuring a cast of ten, this collection of 21 plays written by incarcerated individuals in the Northwestern Prison Education Program was also presented at Stateville for the writers themselves.