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

Today was the beginning of our third week of rehearsal. We’ve done a few runs of the show and are going back to scene work and then we’ll do more runs and scene work and go on like this for awhile. This is the first time I have done any Pinter and it is very much a… learning experience. Working with a text without the writer present is often about “decoding” what it all really means ie:

Emma: “Ever think of me?”

Jerry: “I don’t need to think of you”

Emma: “Oh?”

Jerry: “I don’t need to THINK of you”

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And we’re off! The Pillowman goes into tech on Saturday and starts previews on Thursday, September the 14th. Thus begins Steppenwolf’s 31st season.

It’s incredibly exciting, the start of a new season. We’ve been thinking about these plays for a long time–assembling the artistic and production teams, beginning the design processes, assembling the dramaturgical information and artists’ profiles for our magazines and programs, considering how to reach audiences who may have particular interest in each of the shows, creating events specific to each of the shows, and on and on. But all of the pre-planning simply anticipates THE DAY, the moment rehearsal begins and the production is given birth. It is when, finally, we meet YOU, our audience, that the real fun begins. As you know, we will be conducting post-show conversations for every performance this year. I hope that many of you will stay for a discussion–we dearly cherish your response to our work and appreciate, in the conversations you engender, the creation of a public square at Steppenwolf.

Last season, we dedicated ourselves to new work. We took the opportunity of our 30th season to foreground our role in the creation of new work and you responded with the sense of adventure and sophistication that distinguishes the Steppenwolf audience. (more…)