Sandra Marquez

Sandra Marquez serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University's School of Communication, bringing two decades of professional acting and directing experience from Chicago's vibrant theatre scene to her academic role. An award-winning artist and educator, she bridges professional practice with pedagogy through performance-based instruction.

Education:

• MFA in Acting, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
• BA in Theatre, California State University

Her artistic practice centers on amplifying underrepresented voices through Latinx Theatre, classical reinterpretation, and experimental performance techniques. Professor Marquez specializes in voice work, dialect training, and new play development, with particular focus on decolonizing theatrical canons and centering marginalized narratives across ancient texts, contemporary works, and poetic forms.

She received the Sor Juana Award for Service to the Arts and the Latino Community from the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum.

Marquez mentors students through advanced coursework including Theater 472 (Voice: Poetry and Language), Theater 470 (Acting: Auditions and Showcase), and Theater 473 (Speech: Dialects), emphasizing professional preparation through experiential learning. Her teaching methodology integrates ensemble-based techniques developed through professional collaborations.

As longtime ensemble member at Teatro Vista (serving as Associate Artistic Director 1998-2006) and Steppenwolf Theater Company, she actively contributes to Chicago's cultural ecosystem through directing projects like "I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" and performances in Court Theater's Iphigenia Cycle, while maintaining television/film credits including "Big Bang Theory" and Amazon Prime's "Night Sky".