Cole Schubert is a director and administrator based in Pittsburgh, PA. Hailing from a small town in southern Maryland, Cole directs and develops plays and films about the loneliness of Americans in the digital age.

 

Cole’s work tiptoes across the line of truth and fiction, grounding stories in the immediate truth that there are in fact people on a stage and the things they claim must be believed. Once audiences believe the lies and occasional truths in a performance, they can believe anything, and until the curtain comes down, anything can still happen.

 

Cole believes strongly in the power of a diverse ensemble telling stories together. By acknowledging the specific unique qualities that make people vastly different from one another, he believes audiences can then see themselves in everyone on the stage. Because his work often engages people with visceral and painfully personal presentation, it is essential that every audience member truly feels seen and connected to the people performing in his plays. This engagement is key in cathartically unlocking feelings and experiences that people push out of their lives. There is no better place than a theater to talk about the unspoken.

 

Cole closely collaborates with writers, designers, and performers to bring their stories to stages and screens with the intention of always growing as artists and people across projects. Pockets of generous, worthwhile, and sincere collaboration are difficult to come across, and Cole believes in developing these long-term collaborations in the work he directs. Cultivating the space for people to share their stories freely is always his goal.

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Cole earned his BFA from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama's John Wells Undergraduate Directing Program. In 2026 he will complete his Master's of Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College.