Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

There’s a lot going on at the theater these days. We have our production of The Pillowman continuing in the Downstairs Theatre through November the 12th, and Upstairs, our production of The Bluest Eye plays to student audiences on week day matinees and for general audiences on the weekends. The Bluest Eye then moves to the Duke Theatre in New York for three-week run. This is the first time that we have taken a Steppenwolf for Young Adults production to New York.

We began rehearsals today for Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited for its run at the 59E59th Theatre in New York. The Sunset Limited will run in New York from October the 24th through November the 19th with its original cast of Austin Pendleton and Freeman Coffey, and its director, Sheldon Patinkin. So for a couple of weeks, Steppenwolf will have two productions running in New York.

Our New York presence with these two shows follows fast upon the New York premiere of The Pain And The Itch by Bruce Norris, a playwright nurtured by Steppenwolf (and under the direction of Steppenwolf ensemble member, Anna Shapiro).

In late November, John Kolvenbach’s Love Song, which was premiered at Steppenwolf last season, will begin previews in London’s West End.

The on-going life of these plays, all of which premiered at Steppenwolf, speaks to the viability of our new play development program at Steppenwolf. It’s tremendously exciting for us to launch new work, and to do so for our Steppenwolf audiences whose appetite for innovation and challenging work is extraordinary.

Meanwhile, we’re meeting as an artistic office to discuss the 2007-2008 season. We’re focusing on American work. 2007-2008 represents that interval before our next presidential election. The issues of citizenship are actively and, often, contentiously being engaged and debated. What questions do you want to see being debated and engaged on the 2007-2008 season? What do you need as an American citizen? What is the conversation you want to have at that moment in our social, cultural, political life as a nation? We have our ideas – we are eager to hear yours. Let us know what matters to you, now.

This entry was posted by Martha Lavey on Thursday, October 19th, 2006 at 9:48 am and is filed under The Pillowman, Love Song, The Sunset Limited, The Bluest Eye. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.