Jessica Lanius is the Artistic Director of Theatre LILA, a nonprofit theatre company focused on creating inventive new works and unique theatre outreach programs for our diverse community. Theatre LILA was co-founded in New York City with Andy Arden Reese (NYU Experimental Theatre Wing) and relocated to Madison in 2014. For Theatre LILA, Jessica has directed Romeo and Juliet, Big Fish, The Mojo and The Sayso, TRASH, No Child…,The Suitcase Dreams, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and co-directed The BED with James DeVita in addition to producing LINES, an original work by five BIPOC female writers. Through her leadership at Theatre LILA, she has developed workshops and LABS to explore areas of social justice important to the given community and uses story telling as the catalyst for dialogue and movement. Jessica freelances as a director and choreographer for area theatres including American Players Theater, Next Act, Four Seasons Theatre, Children’s Theatre of Madison and UW-Stevens Point Theater & Dance Dept. She has been both a movement director and choreographer at American Players Theater for 8 seasons, her APT choreographic work includes Oedipus, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Book of Will, Doll’s House, Cyrano de Bergerac, Mary’s Wedding, An Ideal Husband, Edward Albee’s Seascape, Merry Wives of Windsor and Born Yesterday. She has been a working actor for over 25 years and has performed on stage, film and television in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Madison.
She is currently co-founding and co-directing a new multicultural multidisciplinary space ART House 360 which will open in Spring 2025. Jessica holds a BFA in acting from UW-Stevens Point and MFA in acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She is a proud member of AEA and SAG/AFTRA. She has been recognized for her leadership in theatre by BRAVA Magazine as a “Woman to Watch” and received Madison Magazine’s Innovation in the Arts Award.