Orion Lee Risk (they/them/he) is a theatre artist and PhD Candidate in Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, specializing in performance studies and feminist care theory. Most generally, their work investigates discourses of care in gender, communication, and performance. Orion’s practice-engaged scholarship through the UW–Madison Center for the Humanities explores virtual theatre and care between transgender people during the Covid-19 pandemic. An article for Performance Research investigates this work for insights into care, vulnerability, and performance. They present research at Performance Studies International, the Mid-America Theatre Conference, and the National Communication Association.

Orion is a member of the UW–Madison Ethics of Care Initiative and he holds MA degrees from UW–Madison in the top-rated department of Gender and Women's Studies and the Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies program. Orion trains graduate student teachers in the College of Letters and Science Teaching and Learning Administration. As an artist and administrator, they have over 15 years of experience in theatre and the performing arts. Their artistic trajectory has been honored with UW–Madison’s Lyman S.V. Judson and Ellen Mackechnie Judson Award in the Creative Arts.