For over 20 years, Rick has led some of the most prestigious theater companies in America. Today he serves as Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Children’s Theatre Company, the largest theater in North America dedicated to creating work for multi-generational audiences. Previously, he served as Artistic Director of Alabama Shakespeare Festival and St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. He’s also led Shakespeare & Company, About Face Theatre, and the Stephen Foster Theater.  He is a member of the National Board of Directors of Theatre for Young Audiences/USA. MFA from Brown University/Trinity Rep. Member, SDC. His directing credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, and The Tempest. 

Nancy Bell is a theatre artist and writer who is grateful to have had St. Louis Shakespeare Festival as an artistic home for more than a decade. She served as Playwright-In-Residence here for six years, serving under Rick Dildine’s leadership as the first playwright for the Festival’s groundbreaking Shakespeare in the Streets program. She was the founding director of the Festival’s Confluence New Play Festival, and the director of Into the Breeches and 2024’s award-winning As You Like It. She is a familiar performer and director at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, as well. Recent credits there include The Roommate, Athena, and Emma. Other credits nationally include New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Repertory, The Geffen Playhouse, The Old Globe, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, among many others. TV and film credits from once upon a time include Star Trek Voyager, Guiding Light, Mad About You, Newsradio, and various Law and Orders. She is Professor of Theatre at St. Louis University.