Welcome Tarell Alvin McCraney to the Steppenwolf Ensemble
Posted by Joy Meads on 4/28/2010
(Joy is the Literary Manager at Steppenwolf)
Hello blog readers!
Many of you may have heard the exciting news we announced last week: Tarell Alvin McCraney, the extraordinarily gifted actor and playwright who wrote The Brother/Sister Plays, has joined the Steppenwolf ensemble. Those of you who have seen The Brother/Sister Plays, or saw Tarell act on stage in our production of Theatrical Essays a few years back, already understand why this news is so exciting (for those of you who haven’t gotten to see Tarell’s extraordinary plays: hurry! They close in just a few weeks, and, biased though I am, you’ve got to believe me that these plays are not to be missed). But I thought you all might appreciate the opportunity to get to know the newest member of the Steppenwolf family a little better. So I’ve pulled some links to articles, videos, and interviews that will give you a fuller picture of Tarell, his approach to his work, his theatrical aesthetic, and the many reasons we’re so proud to include him in our ensemble.
Steppenwolf video and podcast interviews with Tarell
The New York Times profile of Tarell, with links to audio interviews
Story about Tarell from NPR’s All Things Considered
Article about Tarell from The Times of London
April 28th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
I also love the Artist’s Statement Tarell wrote for the McCarter Theatre’s production of THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS, part of which we excerpted for our lobby display. I can’t link directly to it, because it’s on a flash site, but visit http://www.mccarter.org/tarell/ and click on “Tarell Alvin McCraney” at the top. (The entire site is worth exploring–it includes videos from an engaging talk Tarell gave at a local library, as well as insightful articles about his work from the McCarter’s artistic staff.)
April 28th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Me again! I just realized that some of you might be interested in sending Tarell a message welcoming him to the ensemble. Would you like to wish him luck, or share your reaction to the news? If you leave your messages here in the comments, I’ll pass them along to Tarell. And I’ll also share his response here.
After he stayed for one of our post-show discussions, Tarell shared with Martha how impressed and moved he was by our audience’s engagement and intelligence, and the general caliber of the performance. The ability to form an extended relationship with you all is one of the greatest privileges of membership in the ensemble, and I know Tarell would appreciate hearing from you all as that relationship begins.