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

Richard Christiansen has been a Chicago-based, award-winning arts reviewer and reporter for 45 years, first at the Chicago Daily News and then at the Chicago Tribune, where he retired as chief critic and senior writer in 2002. He is the author of A Theater of Our Own: A History and a Memoir of 1,001 Nights in Chicago, published in 2004 by Northwestern University Press.

On Jan. 14, amid the snow and ice of Chicago, I fly out of O’Hare to join up with 20 fellow voyagers who have come together for a Steppenwolf-sponsored visit to the London theater scene. The chief enticement for this travel is the chance to see Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County in its much heralded guest engagement, with most of its original cast intact, at the National Theatre of Great Britain, and this treat does not disappoint. We enjoy a rich, fresh, perfectly calibrated matinee performance in the National’s Lyttleton auditorium on Sunday, Jan. 18, and we note that the English audience is taking to the show with roaring approval. After the show, there’s a long, lovely, familial dinner at the restaurant Orso, with Tracy and cast members, including sterling new additions Chelcie Ross and Steppenwolf ensemble member Gary Cole, trading tales of life on the London stage. (In general, they liked it.)

In our four days together, we in the group found many more events and people that made our trip take spark. There were other shows to see (none that generated the excitement of August, however), and there were individual expeditions to theaters, museums and art galleries. We had informative, specially scheduled sessions with Nicholas Hytner, the National’s innovative Artistic Director, and from two topnotch London critics who have seen and been impressed by the robust theater work in Chicago, Michael Billington of The Guardian, and Matt Wolf of the International Herald-Tribune, At one of several dinner gatherings, in the company of our travel mates, I talked with Martha Lavey, Steppenwolf’s Artistic Director, about future goals and plans for the theater: development of new audiences, nurturing of new works, encouraging and increasing a deep interest among theatergoers in the issues expressed in the plays that Steppenwolf presents. (more…)

Dear Chicago family, it has been ages since I wrote, but here’s a slightly belated postcard from London…

Reflections on an amazing, unforgettable trip…never say never, but I believe the Steppenwolf ensemble may never be able to deliver August: Osage County more powerfully than we did in London…as a group we felt a sublime reward for toiling so long in this particular vineyard…

We actors felt it internally as a growing force. Here and there we whispered grateful backstage sentiments about it. Then it was simply a fact.

It required many months of practice in this play and it was a condition decades of accumulated practice with each other can sometimes bring about. But what we achieved during the London run of Osage is something I had never quite felt before, perhaps because these particular conditions had never existed in our theatre’s history before…because of all that came before it, because of Tracy’s and Anna’s deep understanding of us, because of a million lucky circumstances, we managed in London an alchemy of craft and absence of craft that still feels rare and mysterious and precious. (more…)

I returned on Monday from London where we had brought a group of Steppenwolf supporters on a London theater tour. On our final day in London, we saw the Sunday matinee performance of August: Osage County at the National Theatre. It was remarkable. The cast was so fluid, so expressive and the play emerged with such clarity and intensity. Their time together has served the production mightily and I was impressed, once again, with the power of ensemble.

I had a similar experience recently when I returned to our production of The Seafarer. I have returned to the production during the course of its run and as time goes by, the ensemble grows tighter and the relationships grow deeper. I hear something new every time I see it because the actors are always subtly shifting in their emphases of character and language. (more…)

We’re coming toward the end of our sojourn here at the Royal National Theatre and it has truly been extraordinary. The National is an incredible place to work.

For one thing, the actors performing at the theatre at any given time share a common courtyard from which they can (if curtains are open) see each other. We’d heard that when one company at the theatre (there are 3) is at the 5 minute call of it’s opening performance, the actors from the other shows all bang on the windows and howl with encouragement and support. Curiously we waited for the 5 call on our opening night, and sure enough - surrounding us all were these smiling faces, banging on the windows, howling their support. We were deeply touched by this tradition and just this past weekend, as Oedipus was closing, we returned the favor. Closings are not the traditional moment to do “the window banging” and both War Horse and Oedipus had opened by the time we arrived so it was wonderful to see all the Oedipus cast members throw open their dressing room curtains (in genuine surprise) and take in our heartfelt support of them. Ralph Fiennes, (Oedipus) as yet somewhat reclusive, was beaming and waving, clearly moved by our support. (more…)

My journey with August: Osage County has gone far beyond anything I could have imagined. It began in October 2007 when I booked the position of understudying Jean Fordham. Not only was this my Broadway debut, it was my first professional job. I was six weeks into my freshman year at NYU and excitedly decided to go on a leave of absence. I understudied for a while and then had the great privilege of taking over the role for three months. I was part of the cast from April through all of the Tonys excitement until the end of July. It really was a dream come true. At the end of this past summer I was getting ready to go back to school and restart my freshman year. Then I got an offer to do August at the National Theatre in London. Needless to say, my plans changed.

Our rehearsal process for the London run began in Chicago. This was my first visit to the city and couldn’t have come at a better time with all of the Obama excitement lingering in the air. It was wonderful to revisit the piece with almost all of the originals; many of whom had been out of the play since the Tonys. Anna’s direction was brilliant and inspiring. I hadn’t had much of a chance to work with her before, since I took on my role in the middle of the run, so being under her direction for a week was a real treat. She guided the piece to a place of such truth and darkness, making slight changes in blocking that had felt inorganic (the end of Act I feels more powerful than ever), adding layers to certain moments, always making the work deeper and more real. (more…)