My name is Trevor Biship-Gillespie (he/him/his).

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Thank you for being here and learning more about my directing. 

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I am a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. I have been privileged to work professionally in Southern California and beyond, collaborating with many nationally recognized companies, including South Coast Repertory, International City Theatre, Circle X Theatre, the Chance Theatre, and (Mostly) Harmless Theatre. I have also directed as a guest artist at numerous colleges and universities. 

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I have been honored as the recipient of several awards and nominations, from the Los Angeles Ovation Awards, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, and Center Theatre Group, to name a few.

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If you want to know how I think my theatre directing came to be...​

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I grew up in St. Charles, Missouri, a small town that didn’t have much art, let alone live professional theatre. I’m thankful that my mother let me read whatever I wanted. And that my father loved movie musicals. 

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Rather than attend the theatre, farther away and expensive, I read.  Particularly plays, as many as I could get my hands on. In high school,  I became a successful high school speech and debate competitor, which allowed me to lean into my love for theatre literature, creation, and collaboration, as well as the passionate back and forths of the process.

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I attended Kenyon College in Ohio, receiving a B.A. in English and Drama. Immersing myself in the liberal arts, studying as much LGBTQIA+ history and culture available to me (on a small cornfield in Ohio at a certain time, of course), as well as performing, producing, and directing for the theatre.  

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I completed my graduate education at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of California-Irvine. These institutions helped me identify and shape what I consider the primary function of directing: bravely collaborating with others so that a playwright’s personal and political vision for the world can reach an audience with clarity and creativity.

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I currently live in West Hollywood, California, with my husband, Shawn, and my two children: Prior and Peanut, two of the most verbal animals in the Southland. A vocal member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I am always thinking about how art and culture can help younger generations learn their history, their community, and their power. 

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