Yasen Peyankov

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UIC Department of Performing Arts
College of Architecture and the Arts
EPASW Bldg. 1040 W. Harrison St. MC-255
Chicago, IL 60607
phone 312-996-2977 | fax 312-996-0954

Master Actor, director
Phone: +1(312)413-2114
Email: yasenp@uic.edu

Yasen Peyankov was born and raised in Bulgaria where he graduated from the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia . He was trained in the traditions of the Russian naturalistic theatre and the system of K.S. Stanislavski.

Since his arrival In Chicago in 1990 he co-founded the European Repertory Company in 1992 and has worked as an actor in some of the finest theatres in the city—Steppenwolf, Goodman, Court, Next, American Theatre, and many others. His role as Greenspan In "Morning Star" at Steppenwolf earned him a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also received a nomination for Best Adaptation for his translation/adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Ivanov, which was consequently published by Ivan R. Dee.

Since 2002, he has been a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble, where he has appeared in Time to Burn, The Time of Your Life (also In Seattle and San Francisco), Berlin Circle, Hysteria, Morning Star, Frankie and Johnny In the Clare De Lune (also In Dublin), Cherry Orchard, Lost Land, The Pillowman, Diary of Anne Frank. He has also directed for University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), European Repertory Company, and Rushfort in Los Angeles , and translated and adapted plays by Anton Chekhov, Mikhall Bulgakov, Nikolal Kolyada, and Vaslly Slgarev. Mr. Peyankov has also appeared on film in The Company directed by Robert Altman, Gifted Hands, Payback , US Marshals, Novocain, Lana's Rain, and in television shows such as The Beast, The Unit, The Evidence, Alias, Numb3rs, The Practice, Early Edition, and others.
Most recently Mr. Peyankov appeared in the World Premiere of Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts at Steppenwolf and directed his own translation of Anton Chekhov’s Seagull at UIC and the Glass Menagerie for Steppenwolf. In May Mr. Peyankov traveled with a group of UIC students to Sofia, Bulgaria to participate in a Theatre Workshop taught by some of the best theatre artists currently working in Sofia.

Mr. Peyankov has been teaching acting at UIC since 2000, and accepted the position of Master Actor in the fall of 2007. He has also taught at The Steppenwolf Summer School, Steppenwolf West, Act One Studio, and the University of Chicago. He is a recipient of a 2002 Walter and Eva Fox Fellowship.

In September of 2009 Yasen Peyankov made his Broadway debut reprising the role of Max Tarasov in Tracy Letts' newest play Superior Donuts. The show has been critically acclaimed and is scheduled to run through June 2010.