CHICAGO: Bailiwick Chicago has announced that artistic director Lili-Anne Brown will step down from her post at the end of this year. The company is undergoing a restructuring phase, and will announce further plans at the end of January.

“If you’ve ever known [Brown], she’s one of those inspiration muses,” said the theatre’s director of creative and marketing, Eric Martin, to the Chicago Tribune. “She’s always got something to say that lifts you up or gives you a new idea or inspires you. She’s taken the company farther than we ever thought we could take it.”

Brown has served as the artistic director since 2012. Previously she directed works at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Writers’ Theatre, and Water Tower Place, among others. She will continue to work as a freelance director in Chicago with upcoming projects including assistant-directing Othello at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Jabari Dreams of Freedom at Chicago Children’s Theatre.

“It’s just time for me,” said Brown to the Chicago Tribune. “My home burned down last year and I’ve lost everything in this world. I’ve been rebuilding and reassessing my life for the past year. Sometimes the universe will knock you on the head and you have to change direction.”