(he/him/his)
Writer/Director, Whole
Monty is a theatre and film writer-director from Oak Park, IL. He has directed for Steppenwolf, Center Theatre Group, The Goodman Theatre, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Victory Gardens Theater, the Center for New Performance, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Alley Theatre and others. His re-interpretations of classics from Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape to Hamlet have received awards and critical praise in Chicago. As a new play director, he’s directed staged readings, workshops and world premieres across the country.
As a writer, his plays include American Teenager (a commission from the Goodman Theatre) and Black Like Me, an adaptation of the 1961 novel currently in development with The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Cole was one of four writers in the Goodman Theatre's Playwrights Unit is currently a fellow at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, an Artist in Residence at the Center for New Performance, and a Research Scholar of the Bridge to Faculty Program at University of Illinois in Chicago where he serves on faculty. Cole has written two essays for Rescripted: “Pass Over and The Chicago Theatre Aesthetic” and his more recent essay “The American Theatre Is Not Built for Us”.
Cole has directed three short films: SIX FEET APART by Isaac Gómez; SONS OF TOLEDO, written by Cole and Matt Foss; and his own short, WHOLE, based on his childhood in Oak Park. These three films are currently being submitted to film festivals around the world. In 2020, Cole began development on his first feature film with a workshop of the script at the Center for New Performance. His next collaboration with Gómez is LA VUELTA, an anthology web series produced by Teatro Vista.
Monty has a BA in Theatre Studies from Emerson College and an MFA Directing degree from the California Institute of the Arts.