Jess Chayes is a co-founder and resident director of The Assembly Theater Project and a freelance director. With The Assembly, she has co-created and directed We Can’t Reach You, Hartford (Edinburgh Fringe First Nominee, The Scotsman), Daguerreotype (The Abingdon Theater), What I Took in My Hand (The Ontological Theater, the Brick Theater), Clementine and the Cyber Ducks (The Ontological Theater, reading at P73), The Dark Heart of Meteorology (UNDER St. Marks), The Three Sisters (The Red Room, The Cherry Pit), and the upcoming Weather Underground Project. She has developed new work with The Shelby Company, P73, The Public Theater, New Georges, The Working Theater, Old Vic/New Voices and Woodshed Collective and has assisted directors Anne Kauffman, Dan Rothenberg, Niegel Smith, and Steve Cosson. Jess is a New Georges affiliated artist and founding member of The Jam.

As a producer and development professional, Jess has worked for The Civilians and The Public Theater.  Jess graduated from Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Theater and English with Honors, and was awarded the Rachel Henderson Theater Prize as well as an Olin Fellowship for her work on Hartford.