John Koster is a performer, translator and multimedia artist whose enduring love of literature and the history of ideas makes the opportunity to play Dante Alighieri a very special treat. John’s most recent theater roles include Thomas Ismay (The Last Lifeboat), Giuseppe Conte (Seven Floors), Scipio (Caligula) and Peniculus (Menaechmi). John’s current artistic home is Chicago Playback Theatre Ensemble, which cultivates a distinctive form of improv based on stories told by the audience. In addition to making video, installation and performance art, John co-directed and appeared in the documentary feature Free to Go, which was nominated for a Prix Europa. A former student and teacher of German, John is also the translator of Hermann Levin Goldschmidt’s philosophical opus Contradiction Set Free (Bloomsbury, 2020).
