Theatre Faculty

 Picture of Steve Schepker 

Steven Schepker - Professor of Theatre Design and Technical Directing

Steve Schepker is a Professor of Theatre at SLU, where he oversees all scenic and lighting design for all Southeastern Theatre productions. His classroom teaching includes Stagecraft, Scenic Design, Lighting Design, Play Production and Introduction to Theatre courses. 

Professor Schepker's work outside of SLU includes scenery and lighting design for Tennessee Williams Theatre Company, Le Petit Theatre, The NOLA Project, Marigny Opera Ballet, Pensacola Opera, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Shreveport Opera, Tennessee Williams Literary Festival, University of Missouri - Columbia and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He has designed television sets for WYES and WLAE in New Orleans and the Southeastern Channel. 

Most recently, he was awarded a Big Easy for his scenic design on Baby Doll at Le Petit. He has also received multiple American College Theatre Festival Excellence in Design Awards for both scenery and lighting. Professor Schepker holds an MFA in Scenic Design and Lighting Design from Western Illinois University and a BS in Theatre and Mass Communication from Lindenwood University. 

Office: Anzalone 110
Phone: 985-549-3699
E-Mail: sschepker@southeastern.edu

 Picture of Jim Winter

Jim Winter - Professor of Acting and Directing, Artisitic Director for the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts

Jim Winter is a professional actor, director, playwright, and producer. Jim also serves as faculty advisor for Southeastern's chapter of Alpha Psi Omega, the national theatre honorary. He is also the creator of Southeastern's annual Theatre Study Abroad program in London, England.

Jim is the author of four theatre textbooks and has edited several drama anthologies.  The royalties from these textbook sales help fund the James Winter Endowed Theatre Scholarship and The Hymel Falgoust, Jr Scholarship in Technical Theatre. Jim is a two-time winner of the National Endowment for the Humanities Endowed Professorship in Music and Dramatic Arts.  In 2011, Jim was awarded The President's Award for Excellence in Artistic Achievement.

As an actor, Jim has performed at Madison Square Garden, 13th Street Repertory Theatre, The Hudson Guild, The Kennedy Center, Cleveland Public Theatre, The People's Republic of China and Edinburgh, Scotland. Four of Jim's plays have been published, including Dead Flowers, which was an alternate to the regional festival for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. His plays have been produced in New York, Cleveland, Texas, Louisiana and Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2010, Jim directed the Southeastern Theatre production of the original play, Parking Lot Babies, which won seven national commendations for excellence. 

Jim is a founding member of the award-winning InSideOut production company in New Orleans. He is the former Vice Chair of Region VI (Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico) for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Jim holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of New Orleans and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Baldwin-Wallace College. 

Office: Columbia Theatre
Phone: 985-549-2999
E-mail: James.Winter@southeastern.edu

Picture of Chad Winters

Chad Winters - Instructor of Acting and Directing

Chad Winters is an Instructor of Theatre at Southeastern Louisiana University, where he teaches Introduction to Theatre, Acting, Directing, and Voice. He is a director, actor of stage and screen in greater New Orleans area.  Among his professional credits, he has worked for The New Globe Theatre, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Cain Park, The Dobama Theatre, A.R.T. Center and Theatre Studio. He studied Theatre at Baldwin-Wallace College, where he received his B.A. in Theatre. Chad holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Directing from The Actors Studio Drama School.

Chad has also been recognized by the American College Theatre Festival for Excellence in Directing and Hosting.  His direction of Dead Flowers, was an alternate to the regional festival for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. He is the former coordinator for the national Irene Ryan acitng award for Region VI (Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico) for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.  He is a strong advocate for developing new plays for the theatre.  He is the coordinator of Southeastern's Inkslinger Playwriting  Contest where a new play is produced each year as part of Southeastern's mainstage season.  Original plays he has  directed at Southeastern are Dead Flowers, Only in Louisiana: The Not-Quite-True Story of the West Florida Revolt, Exit 27, Beware the Licorice Vines and Why Are You Nowhere.

Chad was the director for the statewide tour of From Here: A Century of Voices From Ohio, a historical project created by The Wall Paper Project that collected personal stories from all over Ohio covering 100 years of history.  In New York City he has helped develop new works such as Soup & Quackers, Cry for Masha, Three Gods and The Godling.  A selection of shows directed by Chad at Southeastern include God, Rodgers & Hart: A CelebrationThe Servant of Two Masters, Fences, Down the Road, All My Sons, 'Night Mother, Oedipus the King, The Crucible, Everyman, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde and The Bald Soprano.

Office: McGehee 200C
Phone: 985-549-2115
E-Mail: Chad.Winters@southeastern.edu

 Anne-Liese Fox Headshot

Anne-Liese Juge Fox, Ph. D. - Instructor of Acting and Directing

Anne-Liese Juge Fox, Ph.D. is a director, and actor of stage and screen with a deep background in original solo performance, collaborative devised performance, improvisational theatre, and theatre scholarship. At Southeastern she works in new play development as co-coordinator of Southeastern’s International Inkslinger Playwriting Contest and director of four of the winning plays.

Her collaboration with ArtSpot Productions for Nita & Zita garnered an Obie Award and her original solo, Ego Rites, was selected “Best of the San Francisco Fringe Festival.” She was a writer and performer of Swimming Upstream with Eve Ensler and Ashé Cultural Arts Center, directed by Tony-winner Kenny Leon from its premiere in the Superdome to all subsequent national tours. Fox was the founding Artistic Director of NOLA Playback Theatre improvisation ensemble which practiced Playback Improvisation, Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Story Circle Process in community settings for eight years after the Hurricane Katrina levee breaks disaster. As an actor Fox has performed at The Apollo, The Magic, The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, The Lensic, The 14 th St. Playhouse, The Alley, Napa Valley Shakespeare Festival, Theatre of Yugen and regionally at the Contemporary Arts Center, Southern Rep., The Mahalia Jackson PAC. She performed on the French screen for AB Productions and Gaumont Productions in Premiers Baisers, Père au Pair,La Chroniqueuse, and a cinemercial for Le Nouvel Observateur.

Fox is a published theatre and performance scholar with a featured article in TDR/The Drama Review. She served on the boards for the International Centre for Playback Theatre and for ArtSpot Productions in New Orleans and currently for the Columbia Theatre and Louisiana Thespians. She was a University Tisch School of the Arts Scholar at New York University and studied at the International School of Theatre, Jacques Lecoq in Paris. She was a Board of Regents fellow and a Dissertation fellow at L.S.U. where she received her doctorate in theater history, literature, criticism and performance studies. She has been an organizer and presenter at theatre conferences ATHE, MATC, PTO, NET, IPTN and The International Playback School. Fox specializes in performance training in physical theatre, improvisation, and Mask improvisation. Before joining Southeastern’s faculty, Fox taught theater and directed productions at Tulane and Loyola Universities.

Office: Cardinal Newman 207
Phone: 985-549-3546
E-Mail: anne-liese.fox@southeastern.edu

 Mona Jahani Costume Design Faculty

Mona Jahani - Assistant Professor of Costume Design

Mona Jahani is the Assistant Professor of Costume Design at Southeastern Louisiana University, where she teaches Introduction to Theatre, Costume Design, and Makeup Design. She is a costume designer, technician, and dresser; select professional credits include working with Williamson Theatre (MI), Summer Circle Theatre (MI), Stages Houston (TX), The Muny (MO), and Opera Theatre St. Louis (MO). 
 

For her recent costume design for Monsieur d’Eon is a Woman, Mona was selected as a winner of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) – Midwest 2022 Digital Design Competition, received an Honorable Mention in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region 3 for Theatrical Design Excellence in Costume Design, and won the 2023 Howard Vincent Kurtz Emerging Theatre Artist Award from the Costume Society of America.

Mona holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Design from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis."