Mike Durst
Mike Durst is a Chicago-based lighting designer who joined the Ensemble in 2013 whose projects for A Red Orchid Theatre include Killing Game, Fulfillment Center, Pilgrim’s Progress, Simpatico, The Opponent, Traitor, The Nether, The Mutilated, Mud Blue Sky and Victims of Duty.
Other projects of note include To Catch a Fish for Timeline Theatre, Still Alice and The Great Fire for Lookingglass Theatre, David Cromer’s Come Back Little Sheba for The Huntington, an Equity Jeff award for Requiem for a Heavyweight at Shattered Globe, Audible Feast with Ira Glass for Chicago Public Radio, and numerous designs for companies such as The Hypocrites, About Face, The Neo Futurists, Pegasus Players, Adventure Stages, Remy Bumppo, Theater Wit, and others. Mike is also the resident lighting designer for the Black Dahlia and Red Dog Squadron in Los Angeles where he has premiered works for Jonathan Tolins, Stephen Belber, Rajiv Joseph, and Stephen Adly Guirgis. His work for the Dahlia earned him an Ovation Award for Adam Rapp’s Nocturne. Other West Coast designs include Better Angels at the Eli Broad PAC starring Dustin Hoffman, Amy Ryan, and James Cromwell, Pete Townshend in concert at La Jolla Playhouse. X, Live in Los Angeles, at House of Blues. Off Broadway credits include The Opponent at 59e59, Secrets of the Trade (starring John Glover) for Primary Stages and Extinction (starring James Roday and Michael Weston) at Cherry Lane. Also, the national tour of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Nightman Cometh.’ Mike serves as a lighting consultant for theatrical renovations including the Gray Center at University of Chicago and Circle Theater in Los Angeles. He is a lecturer of Lighting Design at The University of Chicago.