"Sankowich has directed it to a T, with a dream cast, a gorgeous black-and-white design concept...and a knock-down, drag-out fight at the end...Sankowich's actors dive in with complex, and deeply committed, nuanced performances." — Backstage, on Killer Joe.
Lee Sankowich...
William Devane and Janet Ward
'Cuckoo' - 1972, Mercer Theatre
Is an acclaimed American Theatre director, producer, and educator whose career has shaped the regional theatre landscape for over five decades. He rose to national prominence with his landmark 1970 production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at San Francisco's Little Fox Theatre, which enjoyed a record-breaking five-year run, then concurrently staged a hit Off-Broadway production which ran for two years. Sankowich has since gone on to direct over 100 productions across the country, including world premieres of works by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Giron.
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From 1990 to 2006, Sankowich served as Artistic Director of Marin Theatre Company, where
he directed 45 plays and championed bold, character-driven storytelling. He also taught as
Associate Professor of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University, mentoring a generation of theatre artists. As Producing Artistic Director and owner of Los Angeles's Zephyr Theatre since 1978, he
has continued to produce and direct innovative work, including The Last Schwartz, Low Hanging Fruit, and The House of Yes.
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In addition to his acclaimed commercial and Off-Broadway successes, Sankowich has left a lasting impact on regional theatre with seminal productions at some of the nation's most
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​respected companies. His work has been featured at the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, Baltimore Center Stage, Florida Stage, and GEVA Theatre, among others. At The Pittsburgh Public Theatre, his production of Arthur Giron's Edith Stein was instrumental in elevating the theatre's national profile and garnered critical acclaim leading to a subsequent New York production at the 92nd Street Playhouse. Sankowich directed Giron's Edith Stein and Becoming Memories in multiple venues, solidifying a long-standing collaboration with Giron and reaffirmed his reputation for tackling morally complex and socially resonant material. His 1972 staging of Death of a Salesman was credited
as the first professional all-Black cast at Baltimore Center Stage.
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Throughout his career, Sankowich has collaborated with a wide range of A-list talent—
including Danny DeVito, William Devane, Karen Black, and Estelle Parsons—and is widely
credited with championing bold new works by American playwrights, often staging their
premieres before national recognition followed.
with Michael Moriarty, 1976
Dirty Jokes, Lake Forest Theatre
“I am happy to know that a production of 'Death of a Salesman' with a black cast is at last being performed in this country." Arthur Miller, Program Note
Richard Ward, 1972
Center Stage, Baltimore
L-R: House of Yes, Lolita Roadtrip, The Spanish Prayer, Lolita Roadtrip
