Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, and choosing Chicago as his vocational home, Darren is passionate about his Midwest storytelling roots. Wearing many hats, he finds consistent work across the industry as an actor, puppeteer, director, coach, production manager, technical director, designer, carpenter, and script consultant. He's grateful to have contributed across many storytelling genres, from devised and musical theatre, circus and cabaret, opera and puppetry, television and voice-over.

Darren completed his undergraduate education at the University of Dayton, studying music, theatre, and philosophy, after which he spent the next several years watering the seeds of his career in theatre companies across Southwest Ohio. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Connecticut, where he served as a resident ensemble member with the Connecticut Repertory Theatre from 2014-2017. Additional associations during this period: The Zoot Theatre Company, Monomoy Theatre Company on Cape Cod; Mumford & Sons' Gentlemen of the Road Tour; ESPN; Sesame Workshop; The Nutmeg Summer Series w/ Artistic Director Terrence Mann.

Since 2018 he has worked consistently across Chicagoland venues as a freelance artist. Longstanding partnerships include Threaded Films, The Studebaker Theatre, The Athenaeum Theatre, the DePaul University School of Music,  Opera Festival of Chicago, The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Visceral Dance, The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding, and Teatro Zinzanni. He currently serves as the Production Manager for both the DePaul Opera Theatre program and Opera Festival of Chicago. In addition to his Chicago partnerships, Darren maintains a collaborative relationship with Ohio Playwrights Circle as a voice artist, workshop coordinator, and director.

You can follow him on Instagram @darrenlybrown.

This summer Darren is directing A Short Leap’s World Premiere of The Subtle, Sublime Transformation of Benny V.