Fiona Maxwell

Fiona Maxwell began studying at the Piven Theatre Workshop when she was eleven, eventually becoming a member of Performance Project and Young People’s Company. She is currently the lead teacher for 3^rd-5^th Grade Intro to Piven. She has been an assistant teacher for classes ranging in age from 4th grade through high school, focusing on story theatre, improv games, scene study, and storytelling. She has also assisted for Young People’s Company, Advanced Performance Ensemble, and PEEP. In 2016, Fiona presented a one-person play on the Lab@Piven Series. She has told stories on Piven’s Anytime/Anywhere Series and at a variety of Chicago-area venues. Fiona graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in History and Theatre and a module in Theatre for Young Audiences. She received an MA in History at the University of Chicago, where she is currently pursuing a PhD. Her academic research explores the ways in which volunteers and youth participants at Progressive Era Chicago settlement houses collaboratively built a new approach to process-oriented, ensemble-based drama.