steppenwolf garage
O CT 26 - n o v 20, 2011
Hello First Look Audiences! Welcome to Steppenwolf’s SEVENTH annual First Look Repertory of New Work. We’ve been hard at work putting these productions together and adding the audience is the final, most important step of the process. We look forward to hearing your responses to these plays−please stay for a post-show discussion (or let us know what you thought on Facebook/Twitter)! The writers and directors of this year’s plays have interviewed each other by email, as everyone was traveling this summer. In the following pages you’ll see a virtual conversation between these creative collaborators who were all working together for the first time. Their interviews offer three examples of how artists begin a relationship, get on the same page about what a play means and reveal themselves to each other. If you are interested in more of the inside scoop on how these plays and others make it from idea to production, check out Steppenwolf’s brand new, totally rocking website dedicated to new play process, MASSIVE DRAFT (massivedraft.org). To give a taste in this program of massive draft style, the authors of this year’s staged readings answered questions in a “pyramid interview” format. I tried the pyramid interview as myself on the following page as an exercise, changing the questions to be about producing First Look.
See you at the Garage!
Rebecca Rugg Artistic Producer
THE PYRAMID CHALLENGE: producing new plays in 55 WORDS In One Word, what is First Look about?
Expe r i m e nt In Two Words, where is your favorite place to see new plays? (trick question)
Steppenwolf’s Garage In Three Words, how vital are other people’s opinions when you are producing a festival?
Crucial to hear In Four Words, if this Festival could be given as a gift to one person, who would it be and why?
Joseph Papp, my hero In Five Words, what dreams do you have for the plays in this Festival?
Many Productions The World Over In Six Words, describe what happened on your least favorite producing day.
Chicago snowpocalypse shut down our tech In Seven Words, describe what happened on your favorite producing day.
Audiences watched three plays, drank, discussed, debated In Eight Words, what did the first version of this Festival look like?
A pretty tall stack of fantastic new plays In Nine Words, what is this Festival about?
Bringing new plays to life onstage with great Chicago actors In Ten Words, in what future projects should we look out for you?
Garage Rep, right here this Winter: Inconvenience. LiveWire. Zarko.
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December 1, 2011 - February 5, 2012
Locked in a do-or-die competition, four Speedo-clad men connive to win the love of beautiful Penelope.
Tickets start at just $30! 2
Buy online at steppenwolf.org or call 312-335-1650
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Martha Lavey †
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR David Hawkanson
This innovative play development program offers three playwrights a distinctive opportunity which results in a fully-staged developmental production and allows our audiences unprecedented access to the creation of new work.
M a n i n Lo v e
w a nt
Oblivion
A ne w p l a y b y Christ i n a A n d e rs o n Directed b y Ro b e r t O ’ H a ra
A new play by Zayd Dohrn D i re c t e d b y K i m b e r l y S e n i o r
A new play by Carly M ensch Directed by Matt Miller
Scenic Design: Chelsea Warren // Costume Designers: David Hyman, Man in Love | Crystal Jovae Mazur, Want Myron Elliott, Jr., Oblivion // Lighting Design: J.R. Lederle // Sound Design: Miles Polaski Dramaturgs: Aaron D. Carter, Man in Love | Derek Matson, Want | Kelly Kerwin, Oblivion FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER Matt Hawkins, Man in Love // DIALECT COACH Eva Breneman, Man in Love LEAD STAGE MANAGER: Cassie Wolgamott* // Stage Managers: Jonathan Nook,* Man in Love Tess Lauchaire,*Oblivion // Casting: Erica Daniels Production Sponsor of First Look Repertory of New Work: The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Additional support for new work at Steppenwolf is provided by: The Zell Family Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a constituent of Theatre Communication Group (TCG), the national organization for nonprofit professional theatre. † member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble. * member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers.
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MAN IN LOVE // CAST & BIOS A new play by Christina Anderson Directed by Robert O’Hara Cast
(in alphabetical order)
Alana Arenas †* Darlynn Tim Frank Leigh Keith D. Gallagher* Walker Ryan Lanning Bernice Namir Smallwood* Paul Pare, Jr. Claire Wellin Hazel Understudies
Tim Frank Paul Pare, Jr., Walker Claire Wellin Darlynn Additional Staff
Dramaturg Aaron D. Carter Assistant Director Nathan R. Green Fight Choreographer Matt Hawkins dIALECT COACH Eva Breneman Stage Manager Cassie Wolgamott* Assistant Stage Manager Ashley Singh PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Vanessa Rundle Assistant Scenic Artist Zoe Shiffin Setting: a segregated metropolis. Time: the early years of the Great Depression. There will be no intermission. † member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble. * member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers.
Alana Arenas (Darlynn) joined the Steppenwolf ensemble in 2007 and created the role of Pecola Breedlove for the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Bluest Eye, which also played at the New Victory Theater Off-Broadway. She recently appeared in Middletown, The Hot L Baltimore, The Etiquette of Vigilance and The Brother/ Sister Plays at Steppenwolf and The Arabian Nights at Lookingglass Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Kansas City Repertory Theater. Other theatre credits include: The Tempest, The Crucible, Spare Change and The Sparrow Project (Steppenwolf Theatre); Black Diamond (Lookingglass Theatre); Eyes (eta Creative Arts); SOST (MPAACT); WVON (Black Ensemble Theater); and Hecuba (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Television and film credits include: The Beast, Kabuku Rides and Lioness of Lisabi. She is originally from Miami where she began her training at the New World School of the Arts. Alana holds a BFA from the Theatre School at DePaul.
Tim Frank (Leigh) is thrilled to be making his Steppenwolf debut with this year’s First Look Rep. Chicago credits include: Up & Under (Circle Theatre); A Fairy Tale Life (Apollo Theatre); and The Trial (Merle Reskin Theatre). Television credits: True Blood (HBO). Tim received his BFA from The Theatre School at
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MAN IN LOVE // CAST & BIOS DePaul. Special thanks with love to Jess and Jeary.
Keith D. Gallagher (Walker) moved to Chicago from Baltimore to study acting at DePaul University. Chicago credits: Tracks with TUTA, Chicago (Viaduct Theatre and Chopin Theatre); Arcadia (Court Theatre); Shining City (Goodman Theatre); Lt. of Inishmore and Awake and Sing (Northlight Theatre). Regional credits: Shining City (Huntington Theatre); Lt. of Inishmore (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis); and The Gospel According to James (world premiere at Indiana Repertory Theatre). Television credit: Detroit 1-8-7. Thanks to Caitlin and everyone else who came to see me.
Ryan Lanning (Bernice) is elated to make his Steppenwolf debut. Other Chicago credits include: The Adventures of Pinocchio (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Candide (Goodman Theatre); Alien Queen (The Scooty & Jojo Show); Joe DiPietro’s F**king Men (Bailiwick Chicago); Grey Gardens (Northlight Theatre); The Fantasticks and Candide (Porchlight Music Theatre); A Man of No Importance, Kiss of The Spider Woman and the North American premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera (Bailiwick Repertory
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Theatre). Ryan received a BMA from the University of Michigan.
Namir Smallwood (Paul Pare, Jr.) is honored to return to Steppenwolf. Chicago credits include Lost Boys of Sudan (Victory Gardens Theater); and The Hot L Baltimore (Steppenwolf Theatre). Regional credits include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Guthrie Theater); Phoenix Fabrik and Pa’s Hat (Pillsbury House Theatre); Blue (Penumbra Theatre); and Life Is a Dream (Ten Thousand Things Theater). Namir received his BFA from the UMN/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program.
Claire Wellin (Hazel) is delighted to return to Steppenwolf, where she was last seen in To Kill A Mockingbird. Other Chicago credits include: Jailbait and Killer Joe (Profiles Theatre). Television and film credits include: Reconstruction (NBC/Universal), Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC) and Emmett’s Last Stand (The Big Mouth Frog). She received her BFA in Musical Theatre from Minnesota State University, Mankato and also studied Italian Culture & Film at the American University of Rome. Claire is also a singer, songwriter and violinist currently trying her hand at guitar. She would like to thank her beautiful family, friends and Marisa dearest. www. clairewellin.com.
MAN IN LOVE // CAST & BIOS Christina Anderson (PLAYWRIGHT) Christina Anderson’s plays include: Drip, Hollow Roots, Blacktop Sky, Inked Baby and Man in Love. Her work has been produced by or developed with Playwrights Horizon, Crowded Fire, A.C.T., About Face Theatre, The Public Theater, Penumbra Theatre and other theaters all over the country. Awards and honors include ASCAP Cole Porter Prize (Yale School of Drama), Schwarzman Legacy Scholarship awarded by Paula Vogel, Susan Smith Blackburn nomination, Lorraine Hansberry Award (American College Theater Festival), Van Lier Playwriting Fellowship (New Dramatists), Wasserstein Prize nomination (Dramatists Guild), Lucille Lortel Fellowship (Brown University) and Core Writer (Playwrights’ Center). American Theatre magazine selected Anderson as one of fifteen up-and-coming artists “whose work will be transforming America’s stages for decades to come.” Born and raised in Kansas City, KS, she obtained her BA from Brown University and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama’s Playwriting Program. Through the National New Play Network, Anderson is currently a playwright-in-residence with Magic Theater in San Francisco. Read more at www. christinaranderson.com.
Robert O’ Hara (Director) has recently released his film writing and directing debut, The Inheritance. He received the 2010 NAACP Best Director Award for his direction of Eclipsed by Danai Guiria. He received the 2010 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play for Antebellum and an OBIE Award for his direction of the world premiere of the critically acclaimed In The Continuum at Primary Stages. He wrote and direct-ed the world premiere of Insurrection: Holding History at the New York Shakespeare Festival; the piece received the Oppenheimer Award for Best New American Play and was subsequently published by both TCG and Dramatist Play Service. He directed the world premiere of The Brother/Sister Plays (Part 2, co-production at McCarter Theater/ New York Shakespeare Festival). His new play Etiquette of Vigilance was produced by Steppenwolf’s First Look Rep in 2010. His play Bootycandy, under his direction, was presented at the Woolly Mammoth Theater. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at NYU/Tisch School of the Arts.
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MAN IN LOVE // CAST & BIOS
Robert O’Hara, Nathan L. Green and Namir Smallwood in rehearsal. Photo by Joel Moorman.
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Aaron D. Carter (DRAMATURG) is currently
Cassie Wolgamott (Stage Manager) is thrilled
the Literary Manager at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Previously, he served as the Literary Manager at Victory Gardens Theater where he played a key role in the IGNITION Festival, and was involved in the production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, Year Zero, Love Person and Living Green, among others. As a new play developer and dramaturg, Aaron has worked with many theaters and labs including WordBRIDGE, The Kennedy Center, TimeLine Theatre, Route 66 and Chicago Dramatists. Aaron graduated from Ohio University with an MFA in Dramatic Writing where he studied under Charles Smith and Erik Ramsey.
to be returning to Steppenwolf. Most recent credits include: The Homosexuals (About Face Theatre) and The 48 Hour Musicals (The Music Theatre Company). In Chicago: Betrayal, Gary, Fair Use, The Glass Menagerie, To Kill a Mockingbird, Venus (Steppenwolf Theatre); Million Dollar Quartet (Apollo Theater); The MLK Project (Writers’ Theatre); The Sparrow (The House Theatre/Broadway In Chicago); and the Gay Games Opening Ceremony at Soldier Field. Regional credits include work with ArtsPower National Touring Theatre, Catharsis Productions, Opera Illinois, Portland Stage and the Colorado, Illinois and Virginia Shakespeare Festivals. In the spring, Cassie will be stage managing the SYA production fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life. Many thanks to the amazing team of stage managers on First Look and to Kelly for all her support.
Robert O’Hara and Christina Anderson in Conversation
Rob e rt O’H a r a : Where did you grow up? C h r i sti n a A n d e r so n : Kansas City, Kansas. R O: What is the most outrageous thing that has been said about your work? C A : Based on reading or hearing my name, people sometimes assume I’m a white woman. This assumption ruffles feathers since I often write Black American stories. Friends telling others about my plays have to say, “Don’t worry, she’s black.” R O: What three playwrights’ careers would you most like to emulate? C A : Lynn Nottage, Paula Vogel and Sarah Ruhl. R O: When did you decide that you would live your life as an artist, and why? C A: When I was 16, I attended the now defunct Young Playwrights’ Summer Conference run by the Playwrights’ Center. I spent two weeks reading plays, writing scenes and seeing shows with a group of high
school students. I had no idea what it meant to “be a playwright,” but I had contact with people such as Sarah Ruhl, Naomi Iizuka, Daniel Alexander Jones and Jeffrey Hatcher. During my time there I fell in love with writing plays. I decided I wanted to do it for the rest of my life. R O : What pet peeves do you have as an artist? C A: The first thing that comes to mind: messy stacks of paper. If I can get my hands on it, I’m straightening it out! R O : What/Who is Man in Love in love with? C A: The male characters in the play are in love with love. And that love exists in another person, in the self, in the fantasy, the reality. That love is at times warped or broken; other times innocent and pure. R O : Do you expect a backlash because of the subject matter of Man In Love? C A : I hadn’t considered a backlash until
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you asked this question! As with all of my plays, I want the audience to talk about it afterwards. I want them to argue about it on the car ride home. With Man in Love I’m examining race, gender and society in striking ways. I chose to write a story of a black serial killer because it’s a subject that ignites a series of follow-up questions. I was never interested in writing a crime drama or a “whodunit.” I was interested in staging a society’s reaction to these crimes, especially if the victims were black women. The crimes cause a ripple effect within the play world that I want the audience to track. R O: Where, when and why is Man in Love set? C A : The play takes place in a metropolis during the early years of the Great Depression. The time period is significant for two reasons. First, I read an article by criminologist Anthony Walsh that discusses black serial killers throughout American history. One of his arguments is that before World War II the police were less likely to take action if the victims weren’t white. One could argue that’s still the case today. Secondly, the early 1930s saw high levels of unemployment, economic chaos and immense poverty regardless of race and gender. It was a time where men roamed the sidewalks and filled the parks. Lack of food created gaunt bodies. Death and despair coexisted with making ends meet and hunting for a good time. I was fascinated by the
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idea that Paul Pare, Jr. commits his crimes in this environment. I focused on a fictionalized urban environment so that I could examine city culture. I researched several major cities and was equally drawn to the common strands and unique differences. R O : What frightens you most about doing Man In Love? C A: Staging Paul Pare, Jr. with his victims. I’ll know in rehearsals that we’ve hit the right tone if my heart breaks a little during those scenes. R O : Are you in love? C A: Yes. In many ways.
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WANT // CAST & BIOS A new play by Zayd Dohrn Directed by Kimberly Senior Cast
(in alphabetical order)
Audrey Francis* Julia Janelle Kroll Marley Mark L. Montgomery* David Kendra Thulin Lee Mick Weber* Henry Understudies
Max Lesser David, Henry Kendra Thulin Julia Additional Staff
Dramaturg Derek Matson Assistant Director Jonathan L. Green Stage Manager Jonathan Nook* Assistant Stage Manager Olivia Castillon production assistant Vanessa Rundle Assistant Scenic Artist Zoe Shiffrin Setting: A flophouse in California. A former mansion on the beach, now stripped bare and run-down. Time: Present There will be no intermission * member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers.
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Audrey Francis (Julia) returns to Steppenwolf where she was last seen as Frankie in Where We’re Born. Other Chicago credits include: A Girl with Sun in Her Eyes (Pine Box Theater); Talking Pictures and The Actor (Goodman Theatre); Awake and Sing! (Northlight Theatre); Othello and Another Part of the Forest (Writers’ Theatre); Desire Under the Elms (The Hypocrites); and The Credeaux Canvas (Circle Theatre, Jeff Nomination). Television credits include: Donnie Brasco: The Documentary and ER. Film credits include: The Promotion, Dustclouds, Just Act Normal and Chicago Overcoat. Directing credits include: Sugar Syndrome (Chicago Dramatists); The Most Liquid Currency in the World and Life and Limb (Pine Box Theater); and Sexual Perversity in Chicago (University of Chicago). Audrey is the proud owner of Black Box Acting Studio and sends endless gratitude to her team and students for working hard and being fearless.
Janelle Kroll (Marley) is thrilled to be performing in Want. She has participated in readings at Victory Gardens Theater and Steppenwolf Theatre. Theatre credits include: Hair, How I Learned to Drive, Peter Pan and Ghetto (Northwestern University). She spends much of her time creating and performing songs, which can be heard
WANT // CAST & BIOS at janellekroll.com, and has been featured at Chicago venues such as Double Door, Subterranean, SPACE and Uncommon Ground. Additionally, she contributed to the Macy’s web series Ragged Road, interviewing music industry professionals across the country. Many thanks to her friends and family, along with the team at Stewart!
Mark L. Montgomery (David) returns to Steppenwolf, where he previously appeared in The Time of Your Life and A Tale of Two Cities. Other Chicago credits include: more than a dozen productions at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, including Twelfth Night, Troilus and Cressida, Rose Rage, Henry VI (Parts 1, 2 and 3) and As You Like It; Randall Bartleman in Fascination and Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Apple Tree Theatre); He in Stage Kiss (Goodman Theatre); In the Belly of the Beast: Letters from Prison (The Journeymen Theater Company, After Dark Award); In the Next Room or the vibrator play (Victory Gardens Theater) and productions at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, Northlight Theatre and Writers’ Theatre, among others. New York credits: The Seagull and Mamma Mia! on Broadway; Our Town (Barrow Street Theatre); Macbeth (The Public Theater); The Runner Stumbles (The Actors Company Theatre) and Madras House (Mint Theatre Company). His
regional credits include: Cassius in Julius Caesar at American Repertory Theatre, as well as the 2009–2010 tour in France. He has been seen on television in Law & Order, Guiding Light and BOSS.
Kendra Thulin (Lee) is thrilled to be a part of Steppenwolf’s First Look Rep. Chicago credits include: Festen (dialect coach), Harper Regan (2010 Non-Equity Jeff Award Actress−Principal Role) and Pornography (Steep Theatre); State of the Union (Strawdog Theatre); The Thin Man (City Lit Theatre); and The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (Red Twist Theatre). Kendra is a professor in the theatre department of Columbia College where in addition to teaching acting and voice, she has vocal/dialect coached over fifty productions.
Mick Weber (Henry) is happy to make his Steppenwolf debut. Chicago theatre appearances include Madagascar (Next Theatre); The Good Negro (Goodman Theatre); Hanging Fire (Victory Gardens Theater); Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theater Short Shakes); Bus Stop (Writers’ Theatre); Thyestes (Court Theatre); and Gypsy (Porchlight Theater Company). In New York, he has been seen in several Off-Off Broadway shows as well
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WANT // CAST & BIOS as Off-Broadway in Balm in Gilead (Circle Rep and Minetta Lane) and Another Paradise (Players Theater). His film and television credits include: Chicago Code, Law and Order, Happy Accidents, Apology, Polio Water and TV Funhouse. He has been a member of Actors’ Equity for 27 years.
Zayd Dohrn (Playwright) Full-length plays include Outside People (The Vineyard Theatre/ Naked Angels); Sick (Berkshire Theatre Festival); and Reborning (The Public/ SPF). His work has also been produced and developed at Playwrights’ Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Rep, Ars Nova, Kitchen Dog, Theatre for One, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Southern Rep, Alchemy Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre of London. He is currently writing screenplays for American Film Company, Wildwood Enterprises and Vox3 Films, and developing a drama series at HBO. Zayd earned his MFA from NYU and was a Lila Acheson Wallace Fellow at Juilliard, where he twice received Lincoln Center’s Lecomte du Nouy Prize. He teaches playwriting and screenwriting at Northwestern University.
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Kimberly Senior (DIRECTOR) returns to Steppenwolf after directing The North Plan for First Look last year, producing First Look in 2009 and dramaturging Pursued by Happiness in 2008. Chicago credits include: Madagascar, The Overwhelming and The Busy World is Hushed (Next Theatre); The Conquest of the South Pole, Uncle Vanya, Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, Fuddy Meers and Knives in Hens (Strawdog Theatre); Bad Dates and Mouse Cop (Fox Valley Repertory); Bug and The Pillowman (Redtwist Theatre); Thieves Like Us (The House Theatre); All My Sons and Dolly West’s Kitchen (TimeLine Theatre); among others. Regional: A Few Good Men (Peninsula Players) and Mauritius (Theatre Squared, Fayetteville, AR). Upcoming: Waiting for Lefty (American Blues); Old Times (Strawdog Theatre); Moonlight and Magnolias (Fox Valley); The North Plan (Theater Wit); After The Revolution (Next Theatre); and Cripple of Inishmaan (Redtwist Theatre). Kimberly is an Artistic Associate at Next Theatre, Strawdog Theatre and Chicago Dramatists. She is on the faculty of Columbia College Chicago (2010 Excellence in Teaching Award Winner). Kimberly is a proud member of SDT. www.kimberlysenior.net.
WANT // CAST & BIOS
Janelle Kroll and Mark L. Montgomery in rehearsal. Photo by Joel Moorman.
Derek Matson (Dramaturg) Derek Matson returns to First Look having dramaturged Laura Eason’s Sex with Strangers in 2009 and Laura Marks’s Bethany in 2010. Elsewhere in the Chicago area, he has worked as a dramaturg at American Theater Company, The House Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Chicago Opera Vanguard and Northwestern University. He assisted Mary Zimmerman for productions of Armida and Lucia di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera, and he is the Associate Editor of the annual Season Companion at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Derek studied acting at the Cours Florent in Paris, and his translations from French, Spanish, and Italian have been featured at Wolf Trap Opera, the Montreux Comedy Festival, Eastman School of Music, and Cornell University, where he earned his MA in Theater and Performance Studies.
Jonathan Nook (Stage Manager) is extremely proud to be returning for his fifth year of First Look. He has worked on: No Sugar Tonight featuring Jeff Garlin and Animals Out of Paper (Steppenwolf’s Next Up); The North Plan and Sex with Strangers (First Look Rep); and The 3rd and 4th Annual First Look Repertory of New Work (Steppenwolf Theatre). Other stage management credits include: Orlando, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, The Year of Magical Thinking, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Piano Lesson (Court Theatre); Waiting For Lefty (American Blues Theater); Radio Macbeth (Court Theatre/SITI). He has also worked with American Players Theatre and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre.
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Kimberly Senior and Zayd Dohrn in Conversation
K i m b e r ly S e n i o r : From what seed did the idea for Want grow? Z ayd D oh r n: I saw some close friends move in and out of addictions and rehabs: for alcohol, drugs, anorexia, shopping. The compulsions all seemed to feed each other, and they grew out of a similar impulse, which was both deeply personal and also shared and cultural. It felt like something worth writing about. K S: Where do you write? Do you have a special space? Z D: Mostly in coffee shops. Anywhere that’s crowded, noisy, and public. Being around other people makes me feel less distracted. And caffeine makes me feel like I like writing. K S: I have read two of your plays−Want and Sick−both one word titles, both societal “ills”−is this coincidental, or intentional? Z D: I think it’s a coincidence. My other plays have multiple-word titles. But Want and Sick feel like part of the
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same project to me: they’re both plays about people trying to contend with a sick culture by withdrawing from the culture entirely. And they’re both about whether that cure ends up being worse than the disease. K S : What number draft of Want is this one? (I have a July draft) Z D : The third. Two theaters−Playwrights Horizons and Victory Gardens−did readings of previous drafts, and I worked on the script both times after hearing it out loud. K S : How did the character of Lee end up in the house? In the play? Z D : I always imagined she met the others in rehab. The religiosity of AA turned her off, and she wanted to try something less mainstream. David’s alternative approach and nonconformist attitude appealed to her. She ended up in the play for the same reason: I was interested in having a character who wasn’t credulous. Someone who, like most of us, thinks she’s too smart and skeptical to follow a guru or be seduced into a cult.
K S: Do you think “wanting” is curable? Z D : I don’t think it’s curable. Desire and ambition are part of what make us human. But I do think the insane consumerist greed of 21st century capitalism is treatable. At least I hope it is. K S: If you could dine with any writer−living or dead−who would it be and why? Z D: Rachel DeWoskin. And I’m lucky, because I have dinner with her every night. K S: What are some of your greatest influences in art, music, etc.? Z D: David Simon, Chris Ware, Anne Carson, Bob Dylan, Spike Lee, Andrew Jarecki, Rem Koolhaas, Harmony Korine, Werner Herzog, Phil Ochs… K S: Describe a typical day in the life of Zayd Dohrn. Z D: Write in the morning, teach in the afternoon, play with my daughters in the evening, stay up with my wife at night. That’s on a good day. K S: What do you want? Z D: Inspiration. Health and happiness. A just world. A better jump shot.
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OBLIVION // CAST & BIOS A new play by Carly Mensch Directed by Matt Miller Cast
(in alphabetical order)
Rammel N. Chan Bernard Marc Grapey* Dixon Elizabeth Rich* Pam Fiona Robert Julie Understudies
Max Lesser Male Understudy Kendra Thulin Female Understudy Additional Staff
Dramaturg Kelly Kerwin Assistant Director Catherine Allen Stage Manager Tess Lauchaire* Assistant Stage ManageR Kelly Crook PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Vanessa Rundle Assistant Scenic Artist Zoe Shiffrin Setting: Brooklyn, New York. Time: Present There will be one 15-minute intermission. Oblivion was commissioned by Playwrights Horizons with funds provided by Kate and Samuel Weingarten. * member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers.
Rammel N. Chan (Bernard) is happy to be a part of the cast of Oblivion. Previous credits include: the sketch comedy shows You’re Not My Captain, America and Sketches with Wolves (Second City Training Center); An Overhead Project (Gorilla Tango Theatre); and 365 Sketches: Red, White and Beer (Strawdog Theatre). He has also recently performed in The Ritual (Chopin Theatre) and in The Naked 24 Hour Play Festival (Stage 773). Rammel writes for Robot vs. Dinosaur, plays with the independent Improv Team Park-N-Ride and is currently enrolled in the Second City Conservatory. He is represented by Paonessa Talent. As always, overwhelming gratitude to Jack, Pat and Marianne.
Marc Grapey (Dixon) At Steppenwolf Theatre Company: a lawyer, a messenger, a son, a dead man. At Goodman Theatre: a stockbroker, another dead man. At Victory Gardens Theater: lawyer, doctor, father, hippie, cross-dresser, reporter, vagrant. Drury Lane Theatre: producer. Next Theatre: agent. Chicago Shakespeare Theater: murderer, lord mayor, soldier, another soldier, a mighty man of Pisa. Famous Door Theater: business man, artist, ward boss, pimp. Broadway: poker player, bachelor. Marc has been nominated for a Jeff award for Best Actor (business man) losing out to a holy man.
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OBLIVION // CAST & BIOS Elizabeth Rich (Pam) is tickled to be back at Steppenwolf where she previously appeared in Cherry Orchard, The Pillowman and A Tale of Two Cities. Chicago credits include: Hannah and Martin and The Cradle Will Rock (TimeLine Theater); The Cider House Rules, Early and Often and Ghetto (Famous Door Theatre); Our Town and The Duchess of Malfi (Writers’ Theatre). Regional credits include: Dollhouse (Goodman Theatre); Photograph 51 and Hannah and Martin (Theater J); The Scene (The Alley); Enemies: A Love Story (The Wilma); Rx (Chautauqua); and Cradle of Man (Florida Stage). Films: Wings and Beer, The Weekly Session and The Transfiguration of Harold Maines. Television: Law and Order: Law and Order: SVU and Missing/Reward. Fiona Robert (JuliE) is incredibly excited to be working at Steppenwolf for the first time. Recent Chicago credits include: Peter and the Wolf (The Chicago Symphony and Lookingglass Theatre); The Long Red Road alongside Tom Hardy and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (Goodman Theatre); and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and High School Musical 2 (Circle Theatre). Regional credits include: Charlotte’s Web and The Sound of Music (South Bend
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Civic Theater). She has also appeared in numerous plays at the Chicago Academy for the Arts High School where she is currently a senior. Endless thanks to her loving family, friends, teachers and everyone at Gray Talent Group for their continuous support.
Carly Mensch (Playwright) Plays include Oblivion (Playwrights Horizons commission); Now Circa Then (Ars Nova, TheatreWorks); All Hail Hurricane Gordo (Humana Festival, Cleveland Play House); and Len, Asleep in Vinyl (2nd Stage/Uptown Series). Carly has developed work at The Kennedy Center, Marin Theatre Company, New York Stage & Film, Manhattan Theatre Club, Center Theatre Group and Ars Nova, where she was the 2008 Playwright in Residence as well as a founding member of Play Group. Carly is a graduate of The Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace Playwrights Program. She is currently a story editor on Showtime’s Weeds.
Matt Miller (Director) is a Chicago based director, teacher and dedicated Indians fan. As a stage director, Matt’s recent credits include: the critically acclaimed revival of The Weir (Seanachai Theatre Company); the world premiere of A Girl With Sun in Her Eyes (Pine Box
OBLIVION // CAST & BIOS
Rammel Chan, Fiona Robert, Elizabeth Rich and Marc Grapey in rehearsal. Photo by Joel Moorman.
Theater); 4000 Miles (staged reading for Steppenwolf’s First Look Repertory 2010); and the world premiere of Graceland (Profiles Theatre, Top 10 Plays of the Year 2009, Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times). As an Associate Casting Director with Tenner Paskal & Rudnicke Casting, Matt’s film credits include: the Chicago casting for The Weatherman, The Amityville Horror, The Ice Harvest, Stranger Than Fiction, Let’s Go To Prison!, The Breakup, The Promotion, The Express and Public Enemies.
Kelly Kerwin (DRAMATURG) is a dramaturg, director and curator. She has worked for such companies as Steppenwolf, The House Theatre of Chicago, Collaboraction, The Inconvenience and Atlantic Theatre Company in New York. She currently curates and hosts a monthly performance series with Salonathon at Beauty Bar. She holds a BFA in Dramaturgy/Dramatic Criticism from The Theatre School at DePaul.
Tess Lauchaire (STAGE MANAGER) is delighted to be back at Steppenwolf after stage managing Where We’re Born as part of the NEXT UP series earlier this year. She has worked at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Goodman Theatre, the Raven Theater and the side project theatre. She spent the better part of this year at Lookingglass Theatre, where she was the Assistant Stage Manager for Lookingglass Alice, Peter Pan and Ethan Frome.
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Matt miller and carly mensch in Conversation
M att M i l l e r: Oblivion asks some great questions about the parameters of parental responsibility with regard to the spiritual/religious education of their children. What was your religious upbringing, if I may ask? C a r ly M e n sch: I went to Hebrew school up until my bat-mitzvah, but that was more of a social experience than a religious one. My real education from my parents was a moral one. They put a premium on things like honesty and integrity. I remember I once lied to my brother in a very silly way−I told him that baby powder was dangerous to sprinkle on little boys’ arms−and this spiraled into an all-night door-slamming stand-off between me and my parents over telling the truth. Their argument was humanistic: lying wasn’t bad because some higher power said so, it was bad because I was scaring the shit out of my brother and reaping emotional havoc on our family. MM : In the play, Julie’s increased involvement with the basketball team in the midst of her search for spiritual enlightenment is an especially interes-
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ing plot point to me. Any thoughts on the sports/religion intersection? C M : I’m conflicted here. Part of me thinks there’s huge intersect. I was a pretty serious soccer player up until college−weekend travel teams, varsity captain−so I know first-hand the religiosity of sports. That sense of discipline and ritual and devotion to something larger than yourself. Long-distance runners often talk about running as meditative, which sounds to me like the kinetic version of prayer. On the flip-side, I think most team sports− competitive sports is maybe a better term−are at their core more concerned with contained, finite goals than with anything open-ended. To win the game. To break a record. To beat your best score. Faith feels more open-ended. Less narcissistic. MM : Despite the gravity of the ideas and issues Oblivion explores, the play has a great sense of humor. Do you have any comedic heroes/mentors? C M : I feel like I’m supposed to say Mark Twain and Beckett, when really my com-
edy heroes are Woody Allen, Tina Feyand the British guys who write for that BBC show The Thick of It. Oh, and novelists Zadie Smith and David Foster Wallace. MM : The character of Bernard has a rather intense appreciation for Pauline Kael, the film critic. You mentioned to me briefly that this idea was partly inspired by your own interest in the author David Foster Wallace. Can you talk about that a little bit? C M : I’m obsessed with David Foster Wallace. I read his books in a near continual loop, scouring the pages for answers about how to live a meaningful life on this planet. He’s what I guess you call a landmark author, a literary Bob Dylan for people of my generation: over-educated yet spiritually malnourished 20-somethings who fear they’re overdosing on the excesses of entertainment and media yet have no idea what to do about it. But then he died. Or rather, he killed himself. After his death, I felt lost, confused, lonely. I found myself re-reading his books more closely than ever before. I even started talking to him. Regularly checking in with him. A sort of, what would DFW do? And I realized he was the closest thing I had to a religion.
MM : And conversely, what’s your favorite part of the process? C M : That first flash of an idea. When for a brief period, you think you’re going to be writing the most beautifully wonderful thing on earth. MM : Anything you’re looking forward to doing in Chicago this fall? Have you spent much time here before? C M : I’m super psyched to see Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park. And visit President Obama’s house. And maybe ride a riverboat. MM: What’s the best perk about writing for Weeds? C M : Weeds has a history of making bold decisions and taking on extremely taboo subjects with unflinching gusto. That’s very empowering for a young writer. We also get a lot of funny pot paraphernalia sent to the office, like a frisbee you can smoke out of.
MM : What’s the most stressful part of the playmaking process for you as a playwright? C M : Casting.
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FIRST LOOK REPERTORY OF NEW WORK // STAFF Chelsea M. Warren (Set Design) Chicago projects include: scenery for The Kid Thing (Chicago Dramatists & About Face Theatre); Pornography and A Brief History of Helen of Troy (Steep Theatre); They’re Playing Our Song (Fox Valley Rep); Educating Rita (Shattered Globe Theatre); A Separate Peace (Steppenwolf for Young Adults); K. (The Hypocrites); Precious Little (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble); Mrs. Caliban (Lifeline Theatre); production design for Acis and Galatea (Chicago Cultural Center and Millennium Park Stage). International work includes: La Femme des Sables (companie Unikaji, Paris and Zagreb) and Stones/Air (Barossa International Sculpture Park, southern Australia). Chelsea received her MFA in Stage Design from Northwestern University and teaches at Columbia College. www.chelseaMwarren.com; www.blogminic.com. Myron Elliott, Jr. (Costume Design, Oblivion) returns to First Look Rep, his work previously seen in Ski Dubai, Honest and Sex with Strangers. Chicago credits include: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter and To Kill a Mockingbird (Steppenwolf for Young Adults); Dental Society Midwinter Meeting (At Play Productions/Chicago Dramatists); Eclipsed (Northlight Theatre); I Do, I Do, Phantom (Theatre at the Center); Speech & Debate (American Theatre Company); and reasons to be pretty, Kid Sister, Some Girls, This is How it Goes and In a Dark, Dark House (Profiles Theatre). Other design collaborations include productions with Stages St. Louis, Ohio Light Opera, Cincinnati Playhouse, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Aurora University, College of Wooster and Berkshire Theatre Festival.
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David Hyman (Costume Design, Man in Love) is thrilled to be working in The Garage again. Chicago credits include: The Real Thing (Writers’ Theatre); The Homosexuals and Pony (About Face Theatre); Cherrywood (Mary-Arrchie Theatre, directed by David Cromer); A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant (Next Theatre); Heddatron (Steppenwolf GARAGE Rep with Sideshow Theatre, Joseph Jefferson Award Award for Specialization in Design); Medea with Child and Theories of the Sun (Sideshow Theatre); punkplay (Steppenwolf GARAGE REP with Pavement Group), amongst others. Off-Broadway: Orange and Hat & Grace (SoHo Repertory). Upcoming: fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life (Steppenwolf Theatre). David is an Artistic Associate of About Face Theatre and a graduate of Northwestern University. For more info and samples of his work, visit www.DavidBHyman.com. Crystal Jovae Mazur (Costume Design, Want) is thrilled to be collaborating with Steppenwolf this season. Chicago credits include: Night of the Living Dead (Theatre-Hikes); The Crowd You’re In With (16th Street Theatre); Laer’s Last Prayer (Ghostlight Chicago); La Muerte del Maestro (Tympanic Theatre Company); People We Know (the side project theatre); Frankenstein, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Charlotte’s Web (Notre Dame College Prep); and Spring Awakening (Promethean Theatre Ensemble). J.R. Lederle (Lighting Design) has designed lights for the inaugural First Look, and for First Look 2006, 2007 and 2009. He has designed over twenty other productions at Steppenwolf, including last season’s Sex with Strangers and this season’s The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter for Steppenwolf for Young Adults. His work has also been seen at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Piven
Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, About Face Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre, Writers’ Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Walkabout, Itinerant Theatre Guild and Indiana Repertory Theatre. J.R. also designed lighting for seven years of the Steppenwolf Traffic Series, and five Steppenwolf performances in Chicago’s Millennium Park. He has served as head of the Lighting Department at Steppenwolf Theater Company since 1995.
Miles Polaski (Sound Design) is a sound designer, composer and musician in Chicago. He has been a company member, sound designer and music curator with 2nd Story since 2007. In 2010, Miles received a Jeff Award for his sound design on Mouse in a Jar (Red Tape Theatre). Miles has had the pleasure of working with many Chicago theatre companies. Favorite past credits include: The Original Grease (American Theater Company); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (The Gift Theatre); Uncle Vanya (TUTA); The Kid Thing (Chicago Dramatists and About Face Theatre); A Christmas Story (Fox Valley Rep); Talk Radio (The Gift Theatre); Dr. Egg (Redmoon Theater); The Hairy Ape (The Hypocrites/Goodman Theatre); Bloody Bess (Backstage Theatre); and Of Mice and Men (Steppenwolf Theatre). Martha Lavey (Artistic Director) has been an ensemble member since 1995 and has appeared at Steppenwolf in Middletown, Endgame, Up, Good Boys and True, LoveLies-Bleeding, Lost Land, I Never Sang for My Father, The House of Lily, Valparaiso, The Memory of Water, The Designated Mourner, Supple in Combat, Time of My Life, A Clockwork Orange, Talking Heads, SLAVS!, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Ghost in the Machine, A Summer Remembered, Love Letters, Aunt Dan and Lemon and
Savages. Elsewhere in Chicago she has performed at the Goodman, Victory Gardens, Northlight and Remains theaters and in New York at the Women’s Project and Productions. She has served on grants panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, The Theatre Communications Group (TCG), Three Arts, U.S. Artists and the City Arts panel of Chicago. Lavey holds a doctorate in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, is a member of the National Advisory Council for the School of Communication at Northwestern and is on the board of TCG. She is a recipient of the Sarah Siddons Award and an Alumni Merit Award and honorary Doctorate of Arts from Northwestern University.
David Hawkanson (Executive Director) prior to Steppenwolf was the Managing Director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, under the artistic leadership of Joe Dowling. Before the Guthrie, he served for eight years as the Managing Director of Hartford Stage Company in Connecticut with Artistic Director, Mark Lamos. Earlier in his career, he was Managing Director of the Arizona Theatre Company and a Guest Administrator at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre. He was a former senior staff member at the National Endowment for the Arts and subsequently chairman of its Theater Program. He has also had an active career as an arts consultant and trustee for such national organizations as the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the Ford Foundation’s Working Capital Fund, National Arts Stabilization Fund, the League of Resident Theatres, Theatre Trustees of America, Theatre Communications Group and the American Arts Alliance. He currently serves as a trustee of Door County’s Peninsula Players and the League of Chicago Theatres and is Chairman of the Arts Alliance Illinois.
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Learn more about First Look and the rest of our 2011/12 season at steppenwolf.org.
Download Steppenwolf’s iPhone App. Order tickets, watch videos and listen to podcasts.
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blog.steppenwolf.org
THE FIRST LOOK READINGS Thursday, N O V 3, 2011 AT 3:00PM
fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life A new play by Sarah Gubbins | Directed by Joanie Schultz Featuring: Fiona Robert, Zoe Levin, Ian Daniel McLaren, Bradley Grant Smith, Lily Mojekwu* When Jo, a junior in LaGrange, IL, is assigned to read The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, she discovers an unshakable kinship to Carson McCullers’ central character John Singer. Later, when Jo is victim of a gay-bashing incident at school, she must decide whether to seek revenge or redemption. A story of isolation, fitting in and finding oneself, fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life is a play about surviving high school and how literature still has the power to transform how we see the world.
Friday, N O V 4, 2011 AT 3:00PM
Miss Marx; Or the Involuntary Side Effect of Living A new play by Philip Dawkins | Directed by Jimmy McDermott Featuring: Nicole Wiesner*, Benjamin Sprunger, Sara R. Sevigny, Annabel Armour,* Gary Houston,* Lance Baker,* Michael Salinas, Heather Townsend Eleanor Marx is sexy, young and very revolutionary. Miss Marx; Or the Involuntary Side Effect of Living shows how fighting gender inequality in Victorian England comes easily to Miss Marx on the soapbox, but is much harder in the bedroom. When her tumultuous common-law marriage to fellow socialist Edward Aveling begins to disintegrate, she turns to loved ones for solace, including family friend Friedrich Engels. You know, because her dad is Karl Marx.
Saturday, N O V 5, 2011 AT 11:00AM
Mud Blue Sky A new play by Marisa Wegrzyn | Directed by Edward Sobel Featuring: Janet Ulrich Brooks,* Molly Glynn,* Kirsten Fitzgerald,* Nick Vidal One long night in a grungy chain hotel room near O’Hare Airport is enough to make anyone question their aspirations in life, but for middle-aged flight attendants Beth and Sam, it’s just part of a never-ending layover that goes with the job. When Beth’s 18-year-old pot purveyor shows up in full prom gear in the parking lot offering a new perspective, she begins to doubt her twilight existence between time zones. Mud Blue Sky reminds us how the small kindnesses we afford each other at 4 am can inspire us to grab onto life before it flies by. * member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers.
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Sarah Gubbins FML: How carson mccullers saved my life
What’s the first thing you do when you sit down to write a play?
What techniques do you use to overcome your own personal writer’s block?
Plug in my headphones.
Clean the house.
What’s the last thing you do before you hit the print button for your “final draft”? Tell myself I can always rewrite later.
Are you conscious of when you hit the middle of the process? What does that moment look like? From the moment I start writing−that’s the middle; the beginning takes place in the thinking and fantasizing about the play and the end never comes.
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Are there any “rookie moves” that you think writers sometimes fall into? Not pushing through the awful drafts. How long would your dream writing process for a single play take? Totally depends on the play. But at least a year. Maybe two.
THE PYRAMID CHALLENGE: PLAY & PLAYWRIGHT IN 55 WORDS In One Word, what is your play about?
Awakening In Two Words, where is your favorite place to write?
Back porch In Three Words, how vital are other people’s opinions when you are working on a piece?
Crucial, Invaluable, Expendable In Four Words, if this play could be given as a gift to one person, who would it be and why?
M r. Wh ite, i n g ratitu de In Five Words, what dreams do you have for the characters in your play?
To stand up for themselves In Six Words, describe what happened on your least favorite writing day.
I didn’t write a single word In Seven Words, describe what happened on your favorite writing day. The characters wouldn’t shut up for hours In Eight Words, what did the first version of this play look like?
Quite different from this version, messier and sprawling In Nine Words, what is your play about?
Figuring out what you want and who you are In Ten Words, in what future projects should we look out for you?
An epic political play questioning the definition of citizenship today
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Philip Dawkins miss marx; or the involuntary side effect of living
What’s the first thing you do when you sit down to write a play?
Are there any “rookie moves” that you think writers sometimes fall into?
Organize my thoughts. By which,
That’s specific to every writer, don’t
I mean, organize my Post-it notes.
you think? Some writers have an Achilles heel, while others have an
What’s the last thing you do before you hit the print button for your “final draft”?
Achilles wrist, or an Achilles earlobe.
Shut down the computer, and don’t
be another writer’s strength.
I think one writer’s novice move can
look at it for at least two weeks.
Are you conscious of when you hit the middle of the process? What does that moment look like?
How long would your dream writing process for a single play take? Oh, I have no idea. Depends on the play. Some are a beast to drag out of
Yes, because I storyboard my plays
me; those I wish I could sneeze onto a
using Post-it notes on the wall. So, I
page and be done with it. But others
know I’ve hit the middle point when I
are an amazing journey, and I enjoy the
feel like the first half of the play is off
ride. I guess, creation is always about
the wall.
journey, so it’s a never-ending process, really. I suppose every play I write is
What techniques do you use to overcome your own personal writer’s block?
just another chapter in the process of
I read other excellent writers
case, I hope it’s never over.
and immerse myself in fabulous, fabulous words.
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telling my life to the universe. In that
THE PYRAMID CHALLENGE: PLAY & PLAYWRIGHT IN 55 WORDS In One Word, what is your play about?
Labor In Two Words, where is your favorite place to write?
Post-its
In Three Words, how vital are other people’s opinions when you are working on a piece?
Extremely, and Not In Four Words, if this play could be given as a gift to one person, who would it be and why?
Eleanor. She earned it In Five Words, what dreams do you have for the characters in your play?
That their work be remembered In Six Words, describe what happened on your least favorite writing day.
I had to go to sleep In Seven Words, describe what happened on your favorite writing day.
Sitting in a castle, typed “the end” In Eight Words, what did the first version of this play look like?
Much more believable and a lot less true In Nine Words, what is your play about?
The sacrifice that comes with loving another human being In Ten Words, in what future projects should we look out for you?
Productions of FAILURE, REYKJAVIK, HOMOSEXUALS, and MISS MARX hopefully soon
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Marisa Wegrzyn mud blue sky
What’s the first thing you do when you sit down to write a play?
Are there any “rookie moves” that you think writers sometimes fall into?
Search the Social Security online baby name database for the right character names.
A monologue beginning with “Remember when...” usually puts the brakes on a scene. Don’t “remember when.” Nobody cares. Also don’t write complex food preparation into a play. I once worked backstage on a play, and I had to prepare awful food the actors ate on stage. I will never write food into a play that’s more complicated than breakfast cereal.
What’s the last thing you do before you hit the print button for your “final draft”? Make knee-jerk rewrites that destroy the play. Change it back five minutes later. Then print.
Are you conscious of when you hit the middle of the process? What does that moment look like? The entire process feels like one long middle that never ends.
What techniques do you use to overcome your own personal writer’s block? Share the half-finished work with a smart friend who will say “I can’t wait to find out how this ends.”
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How long would your dream writing process for a single play take? 45 days
THE PYRAMID CHALLENGE: PLAY & PLAYWRIGHT IN 55 WORDS In One Word, what is your play about?
Exhaustion In Two Words, where is your favorite place to write?
Kitchen table In Three Words, how vital are other people’s opinions when you are working on a piece?
Opposite of vital In Four Words, if this play could be given as a gift to one person, who would it be and why?
Whoever won’t regift it In Five Words, what dreams do you have for the characters in your play?
Sound sleep, a better tomorrow In Six Words, describe what happened on your least favorite writing day.
Bags and bags of stupid shit In Seven Words, describe what happened on your favorite writing day.
Lost track of time, place, sou nd, self In Eight Words, what did the first version of this play look like?
Twenty pages. Two characters. Funny lines. No hope. In Nine Words, what is your play about?
When you’re neither here nor there, where are you? In Ten Words, in what future projects should we look out for you?
A commission with Yale Rep and maybe some television work
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steppenwolf staff Martha Lavey Artistic Director Artistic Erica Daniels Associate Artistic Director
Rebecca Rugg Artistic Producer Aaron Carter Literary Manager Jacob g. padrÓn Associate Producer
Nick Ward Casting and School Associate Kendra miller Artistic Programs Assistant Tracy Letts Amy Morton Anna D. Shapiro Rick Snyder Jessica Thebus Associate Artists polly carl Artistic Consultant Sheldon Patinkin Artistic Consultant Steppenwolf for Young Adults Hallie Gordon Artistic and Educational Director
Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise Executive Artistic Board Kate holst Human Resources and Professional Leadership Programs Coordinator Brian Hurst Finance Coordinator Lupe Garcia Quiles Events Management Associate Angela johnson Office Management Associate & Receptionist Richard Kang IT Associate James Palmer Executive Assistant Jackie Snuttjer Finance Specialist Development SANDY KARUSCHAK Director of Development ERIC EVENSKAAS Director of Individual Giving and Donor Services DEBORAH STEWART Director of Foundation and Government Relations KENDRA VAN KEMPEN Director of Special Events
Megan Shuchman Education Manager
JESSICA GRETCH Individual Giving Coordinator
Lauren Sivak Education Assistant
PAUL G. MILLER Development Coordinator
Amanda Jane Dunne Larry Grimm Ali hoefnagel Robert Hines III l’oreal jackson Ashley roberson Samuel roberson Emilio Robles NIcole Ripley Carla Stillwell John Wilson Teaching Artists
Suzanne Miller Donor Services Coordinator
Administration David M. Schmitz Managing Director Rachel Domaracki Director of Finance
Lauren Fisher Special Events Associate LOUISE GERAGHTY Donor Relations Associate KALEIGH LOCKHART Corporate Relations Associate Marketing, Publicity & Audience Services LINDA GARRISON Director of Marketing and Communications YAEL EYTAN Marketing Director
Heather C. Joireman Events Management Director
DAVID ROSENBERG Communications Director
Scott Macoun IT Director
THOMAS WEITZ Digital Assets Director
Erin Cook Company Manager
erika Nelson Marketing Manager
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LUCAS CRAWFORD Associate Marketing Manager JOEL MOORMAN Digital Content Producer LUIS A. IBARRA Graphic Designer SUSANNAH KIM Digital Design Associate TAMARA TODRES Director of Audience Services JIMMY FREUND Audience Services Manager STEPHANIE HELLER Audience Services Subscription Manager Mike brunlieb MATTHEW LYLE Audience Services Supervisors Allan Waite Group Sales Associate Roseann Bishop TARA BRANHAM Rebecca Butler ALI HOEFNAGEL LACEY HOLMES SOTIRIOS LIVADITIS MARISSA MCKOWN PETER PARSONS MEG SANTISI Audience Services Associates Operations JAY JUSSAUME Director of Operations CORY CONRAD Facilities Manager Antonio Ibarra Facilities Coordinator Trumaine Hardy RYAN PALMA Facilities Staff VICTOR DAVID Tika Ram Kafley HAROLD KRIPPS Ethan ozaniec Custodial Staff EVAN HATFIELD Director of Audience Experience LIBET WILFONG House Manager l. adelina treviÑo bradshaw RON BOGACKI Ashten Burris Kassandra Deans Tate geberhoff Heidi Germann al heartley
ROBERT HINES III JESSICA LIND kim lyle kendra miller Becky Mock Christine Olivier Danielle shindler Cat Tries peter vankempen Front of House Staff MUSTAFA CHAUDHRY DONALD COULSON Indra Kafley PETER VAN KEMPEN Parking Staff LAUREN LOUER, THE SAINTS Volunteer Usher Coordination Production AL FRANKLIN Production Manager DIXIE UFFELMAN Associate Production Manager RUSSELL POOLE Technical Director Robert S. Brown Assistant Technical Director
David Hawkanson Executive Director JESSICA STRATTON Wardrobe Supervisor Melissa tulchinsky Staff Wardrobe MARTHA WEGENER Audio Engineer GREGOR MORTIS Assistant Audio Engineer J. R. LEDERLE Lighting Supervisor ERNESTO GOMEZ House Electrician MALCOLM EWEN CHRISTINE D. FREEBURG LAURA D. GLENN MICHELLE MEDVIN DEB STYER ROSE MARIE PACKER KATHLEEN PETROZIELLO Stage Managers Call Center CASEY VANWORMER Associate Campaign Director PATRICK WALSH Associate Sales Manager
Aoife Carolan SYDNEY CRISTOL CHARLES FRYDENBERG MARILYN HILLARY ali hoefnagel christopher aler MELissa Rosenberg KEN BLENC Rania SalemManganaro christopher grubb Terrence Mosley Scenic Carpenters michael wise Melissa rutherfoord Call Center Charge Scenic Artist Representatives ROGELIO RIOJAS Scene Shop Foreman
Jenny DiLuciano Properties Master ANDRIA SMITH Assistant Properties Master CHARLES MOSER Master Properties Artisan RICK HAEFELE House Carpenter DAWN PRZYBYLSKI Stage Carpenter CARYN WEGLARZ KLEIN Costume Director MAE HASKINS Assistant Costume Designer LAUREL CLAYSON Head Draper KEVIN PETERSON Shop Foreman Myron Elliott Staff Draper
l. adelina treviÑo bradshaw alicia graf alfred heartley mary hungerford nora mally katherine marshall Jennifer mccledon rebecca noble brianna parry joseph pauli
michael porter nijeul porter rachel spear cassidi stuckman jessica trier barbara trinh staci weigum Apprentices
board of trustees Executive Committee
Trustees
Emeritus Trustees
Nora Daley Chair
Sarah Beardsley
J. Robert Barr
Michael W. Bender
Lawrence Block
Eric Lefkofsky
Terri L. Cable
John N. Fox, Jr.
Secretary
Keith Cardoza
Gloria Scoby
Paul W. Goodrich
Dennis Cary
Treasurer
Beth Boosalis Davis
Past Chairpersons
Henry S. Bienen
J. Scott Etzler
Carole L. Brown
William L. Atwell
Rich Feitler
Douglas R. Brown
Larry D. Brady
Nene Foxhall
Michael Cahan
Douglas R. Brown
Scott P. George
Elizabeth H. Connelly
Laurence Edwards
Lawrence M. Gill
Lynn Lockwood Murphy
John N. Fox, Jr.
Robert J. Greenebaum, Jr.
Geoff Nyheim
Elliott Lyon
John H. Hart
Deborah H. Quazzo
Gordon Murphy
George A. Joseph
Randall K. Rowe
William H. Plummer
Donna La Pietra
Bruce Sagan
Bruce Sagan
Martha Lavey
Harry J. Seigle
Gloria Scoby
Ronald J. Mallicoat, Jr.
Stephanie B. Smith
Donna Vos
Janet Melk
Helen Zell
David C. Pisor Kenneth J. Porrello Merle Reskin Francis C. Sadac Michael R. Salem John R. Samolis Manuel “Manny” Sanchez Anna D. Shapiro Colette Cachey Smithburg John R. Walter
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The Steppenwolf ensemble first began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park church, the ambitious brainchild of three high school and college friends: Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney and Gary Sinise. Fast forward 36 years and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company has become the nation’s premier ensemble theater— redefining the landscape of acting and performance. The ensemble has grown to 43 members who represent a remarkable generation of actors, directors and playwrights. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions from Balm in Gilead and The Grapes of Wrath to August: Osage County—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and nine Tony® Awards—have made the theatre legendary. Steppenwolf’s artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its sharp appetite for groundbreaking, innovative work. That work is represented in production photos displayed throughout the theatre.
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Joan Allen
Kevin Anderson
Alana Arenas
Randall Arney
Kate Arrington
Ian Barford
Robert Breuler
Gary Cole
Katherine Erbe
K. Todd Freeman
Frank Galati
Francis Guinan
Moira Harris
Jon Michael Hill
Tim Hopper
Tom Irwin
Ora Jones
Terry Kinney
Tina Landau
Martha Lavey
Tracy Letts
John Mahoney
John Malkovich
Mariann Mayberry
Tarell Alvin McCraney
James Vincent Meredith
Laurie Metcalf
Amy Morton
Austin Pendleton
Jeff Perry
William Petersen
Yasen Peyankov
Martha Plimpton
Rondi Reed
Anna D. Shapiro
Eric Simonson
Gary Sinise
Lois Smith
Rick Snyder
Jim True-Frost
Sally Murphy
Molly Regan
Alan Wilder
coming next to the
steppenwolf garage
Thre e p ro d u c t i o ns f ro m s o m e o f C h i c a g o ’ s most innovative thea t re c o m p a n i e s , p re s e n t e d i n ro t a t i n g repertor y.
Fe b 2 — Ap r i l 8, 2012 H e Who, presented by Th e atre Zarko H i t the Wall , p resented by Th e Incon venience Oo H r ah! , p resented by L iveWire ch icag o
Tickets $20
/
Passes on sale NOV 18 Single Tickets on sale DEC 9