Robert Falls (born March 2, 1954) is an American theater director and the current artistic director of the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. Biography Early years Falls was born in Ashland, Illinois to Arthur Joseph Falls and Nancy (Stribling) Falls. He received his BFA in Directing and Playwriting at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, after which he studied acting with Edward Kaye-Martin in New York. His career as a theater director was launched with his 1985 production of Hamlet at the Wisdom Bridge Theatre, where he served as artistic director from 1977 to 1985. Since 1986, he has served as the artistic director of Chicago's Goodman Theatre, where he has directed more than 30 major productions and produced/co-produced more than 200 plays and 100 premieres. In September 2021 Falls announced that he would step down as Goodman's artistic director at the conclusion of the 2021/22 season. Career During Falls' two decades at the Goodman, the largest not-for-profit producing theater in Chicago, Illinois, the theater was named in 2003 by Time magazine one of the “top ten best theater companies in the United States” and received a Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992). Falls has directed more than 30 major productions and produced/co-produced more than 200 plays and 100 premieres on local, national and international stages. His Chicago credits include performances at Goodman Theatre, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Remains Theatre, Ivanhoe Theatre, Wisdom Bridge Theatre, St. Nicholas Theatre, Athaneum Theatre, Oak Park Festival Theater, Northlight Theatre and Court Theatre. New York credits include productions at Roundabout Theatre, Longacre Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club/Biltmore, Plymouth Theatre, Joseph Papp Public Theater, Eugene O’Neill Theatre, Metropolitan Opera Company, Westside Theatre, Circle in the Square, Lincoln Center Theater, New York Shakespeare Festival, Belasco Theatre, Guthrie Theater, The Acting Company and Direct Theatre. International credits include productions at Lyric Theatre in London, Abbey Theatre in Dublin; and productions in Scotland, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands, among other countries. Broadway Falls most recently directed American Buffalo, by David Mamet, on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre. The production starred Haley Joel Osment, Cedric the Entertainer and John Leguizamo. It received mixed reviews, closing after just eight performances. More successfully, Falls directed Talk Radio by Eric Bogosian at the Longacre Theatre, which was nominated for a 2007 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. The play starred Liev Schreiber, who was nominated for