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

Steppenwolf’s production of Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone closed last week after an 18-week run in the Upstairs Theatre. That is a longer run than usual for a production in Chicago and it is interesting to note what is rewarding and what is challenging in sustaining an extended run.

Over the course of the run Polly Noonan, who played the central character of Jean, talked about constantly discovering the play. Polly had been in a previous production of the play at Wooly Mammoth in Washington DC, so her ongoing discovery of the play is even more striking. Yet, right up to the last week of performances, she spoke of learning new things about the play through the playing of it.

The challenge for the actors, of course, is to maintain a sense of freshness that convinces the audience that what they are seeing is occurring for the first time. Over the course of almost 150 performances the actors must maintain a sense of discovery, surprise, and spontaneity. Some nights it can seem quite natural and others it ends up being a lot of work.

One of the most powerful ways for the actors to create “the illusion of the first time” is a sense of play. A slightly different inflection, a variance in the timing, a shift in perception of what their partner on stage is giving them that night – these things can alert the actor’s senses to being present to their fellow actors and to the situation. This “play” enlivens the performance and keeps it from being merely a recitation of lines and a repetition of movement.

It is also interesting to note that the company experienced a cast change mid-run. Ensemble member Molly Regan opened the show as Harriet Gottlieb, mother of the titular dead man. Mid-run Molly left the production to join the Broadway cast of August: Osage County replacing ensemble member Rondi Reed. Marilyn Dodds Frank took over as Harriett for the rest of the run. The cast had someone new to play the show with - new dynamics, new responses, and new discoveries.

The production began performances around the Ides of March in wet and sleety weather and closed on a beautiful summer’s day at the end of July. The seasons had changed, but the spirited cast’s sense of “play” (and of the play) had only deepened.

This entry was posted by David New on Monday, August 4th, 2008 at 2:09 pm and is filed under August: Osage County, Dead Man's Cell Phone. 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.