Molly Bunder (she/her) is a Chicago-based theater maker and educator with a primary focus in community-based theatre. She teaches theatre as a tool for community engagement and empowerment. Molly works with young people, women’s organizations, first-generation college students, returning citizens, and those experiencing homelessness to facilitate original performances in community settings. Through innovative site-specific projects, she creates theatrical experiences that foster a sense of identity and belonging among both performers and spectators.
Molly was the education director, and then co-artistic director, of Filament Theatre for over a decade. She developed the company’s educational programming and community outreach, including Filament’s groundbreaking anti-adultism framework which brings young people into the professional curating, planning, and rehearsal processes as co-collaborators.
Molly maintains strong relationships with theaters and educational institutions across the midwest and internationally, where she has taught, performed, and directed for the award-winning Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre, as well as Scottish Refugee Festival, the Scottish Mental Health Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the University of Glasgow, and International Performing Arts for Youth. In the US, she has directed free outdoor Shakespeare in the rural Midwest through Stone Soup Shakespeare, created a touring comedy show that encouraged young people to get health insurance, and has taught for Chicago Ideas Week, UIC, DePaul University, the University of Chicago(TRiO), Purdue University, and Beloit College.
Molly received an MA in Classical and Contemporary Acting, and an MFA in Directing, from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is a graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. She lives in a tiny old bungalow in Portage Park with her family.
Bio as of 2024
