BUG BIOS Randall Arney (Dr. Sweet) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 1984 and served as artistic director from 1987-1995. Steppenwolf (directing): True West, Slowgirl, The Seafarer, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Death and the Maiden, Curse of the Starving Class, Killers, The Geography of Luck, Picasso at the Lapin Agile (directed subsequent national and international productions). Steppenwolf (acting): Born Yesterday, Ghost in the Machine, The Homecoming, Frank’s Wild Years, You Can’t Take It with You, Fool for Love, True West, Balm in Gilead, Coyote Ugly. As artistic director of Steppenwolf, Arney oversaw the creation of a new state-of-the-art theater, which is Steppenwolf’s current home. Broadway transfers under his leadership include The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Song of Jacob Zulu (six Tony Award nominations) and The Grapes of Wrath (1990 Tony Award – Best Play). Arney recently served as the artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles (1999-2017). Education: MFA, Illinois State University; he has taught at the University of California Los Angeles, Steppenwolf, around the US and in Tokyo. Member: SAG-AFTRA, SDC, AEA. Carrie Coon (Agnes White) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2019. Steppenwolf: Mary Page Marlowe, Tracy Letts’s adaptation of Three Sisters, The March, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Broadway: Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Tony nomination Bios
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– Best Featured Actress in a Play; Theatre World Award). Off Broadway: Mary Jane (2018 Lucille Lortel Award, Obie Award, Drama Desk nomination); Placebo (Playwrights Horizons). Film: Gone Girl, The Post, Widows, Avengers: Infinity War, The Nest. Upcoming: Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Television: The Sinner (Critics’ Choice Television Award nomination), HBO’s The Leftovers, FX’s Fargo. She won a Critics’ Choice Television Award for her performance in HBO’s The Leftovers and a TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama for her performances in The Leftovers and Fargo. Upcoming: The Gilded Age. Jennifer Engstrom (R.C.) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Lindiwe, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The North Plan, Hir (u/s). New York: Excuse My Dust (A Dorothy Parker Portfolio) curated and performed by Engstrom. Chicago: Small Mouth Sounds, Simpatico, The Mutilated, Fatboy, 3C (A Red Orchid Theatre); Sweet Bird of Youth (Goodman Theatre); A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf (Writers Theatre); Sky Girls (Northlight Theatre); The Hot l Baltimore (Mary-Arrchie Theatre). Regional: Simpatico (McCarter Theatre); Angels in America (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); A Streetcar Named Desire (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Film: SLICE, Swing Shift. Television: Chicago Fire. For BZ. Steve Key (Jerry Goss) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: One Arm, The Libertine, As I Lay
Dying. Broadway: SWEAT. Off Broadway: The Effect (Barrow Street Theatre); Blue Surge (The Public Theater). Chicago: Feathers & Teeth, Vigils, Zoo Story, Blue Surge (Goodman Theatre); Grace,
County (Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award for Best Play), Man from Nebraska (Pulitzer finalist), Bug and Killer Joe. He also wrote the screenplays for the films August: Osage County, Bug and Killer Joe. He won the
Better Late (Northlight Theatre); Rest, Circle Mirror Transformation (Victory Gardens Theater); Brothers Karamazov (Lookingglass Theatre); The Unseen (A Red Orchid Theatre); The Rainmaker, Orpheus Descending (American Blues Theater); Coyote On A Fence, Talk Radio (Shattered Globe Theatre). National Tours: August: Osage County, SWEAT. Film: Public Enemies, Hayseed, Canvas, 1,000 Acres. Television: FBI: Most Wanted, The Good Fight, Boss, Chicago Fire, Elementary, Mob Doctor, Law & Order: SVU.
2013 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as George in the Tony Award-winning revival of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which premiered at Steppenwolf. He joined the Steppenwolf ensemble in 2002, where he has appeared in American Buffalo, Betrayal, The Pillowman, The Pain and the Itch, The Dresser, Homebody/Kabul, The Dazzle, Glengarry Glen Ross and Three Days of Rain, among others. He has also appeared in Broadway productions of All My Sons and The Realistic Joneses. Film appearances include Little Women, Ford v Ferrari, The Post, Lady Bird, The Lovers, Indignation, Christine, The Big Short, Imperium, Wiener-Dog and Guinevere. TV roles include Homeland, The Sinner, and Divorce. Coming in the spring of 2022, he can be seen in the HBO series about the 1980’s Los Angeles Lakers. In 2019, Steppenwolf’s production of Linda Vista ran at Broadway’s Hayes Theater and was a New York Times Critic’s Pick. Steppenwolf’s production of The Minutes had its 2020 Broadway production interrupted during previews by the pandemic. It will resume performances on Broadway at Studio 54 in March 2022 with Letts in the cast.
Namir Smallwood (Peter Evans) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2017. Steppenwolf: True West, BLKS, Steppenwolf for Young Adults’ Monster, Man in Love, The Hot l Baltimore. Broadway: Pass Over. Off Broadway: Pipeline, Pass Over (Lincoln Center). Chicago: The Lost Boys of Sudan (Victory Gardens Theater); Charm (Northlight Theatre); The Grapes of Wrath (The Gift Theatre); East Texas Hot Links (Writers Theatre). Regional: Marin Theatre Company, Pillsbury House Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Guthrie Theater. Television: Chicago Fire, Betrayal, Elementary, American Rust (Showtime). Tracy Letts (Playwright) is the author of The Minutes (Pulitzer finalist), Linda Vista, Mary Page Marlowe, The Scavenger’s Daughter, Superior Donuts, August: Osage
David Cromer (Director) Broadway: The Sound Inside; The Band’s Visit (2018 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical); Brighton Beach Memoirs, The House of Blue Leaves. Off Broadway: The Treasurer (Playwrights Horizons); Man from Nebraska (Second Stage); The Band’s Bios 9
