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

We all piled into a giant van after four hours of rehearsal on Sunday afternoon - all five members of our cast, our lighting designer, our stage manager, and our technical director. The entire experience felt an awful lot like the class trip we all took to Washington, DC (or Six Flags, maybe) in middle school. Another van met us in NY and took us to each of our respective apartments (all separate) in New York. I haven’t heard from Lauren or Kobie yet, but Amy says she feels like Doris Day in hers. Tomorrow is a twelve hour day - thank god - since we have an audience the very next day. This experience is destined to feel like a race - although I think we all feel more ready than we ever did over the summer after only six days of rehearsal. Still, I’m sure we’d all appreciate as many prayers and blessings as possible this week!

I just finished the marathon weekend of plays and post-show discussions (Friday-Sunday, August 17-19). Most interesting, those discussions. The First Look 101ers who stayed after the shows finally could talk to the actors and ask the questions we’ve been saving since the first readings, and make comments. Conversely, the actors could ask us questions, too. And then there were the non-101 audience members who stayed and asked questions and offered comments.

All in all, for me, they were three fascinating sessions. And I thought, perhaps some of the things I heard/learned also might interest the 101ers who couldn’t be at the post-show discussions and, in hindsight, also deepen their understanding and appreciation of the plays and characters, as well as the process we have studied the past three months. So, in the order in which they were presented this past weekend: (more…)

My father-in-law was in a bad car accident three days ago. My husband watched it from our driveway, after we had all had a wonderful dinner together out in our garden. I was putting my daughter to bed, when I heard the screech of tires and metal on metal. Although my father-in-law went to the hospital in an ambulance, immobilized on a gurney, he did walk out four hours later under his own power.

We’ve been living with the heaviness in the middle of the body that comes after trauma. Every morning feels worse than the one before. There are mind numbing insurance forms to fill out, police reports, and every telephone conversation begins with reference to a claim number. In the evening, we pick broken glass out of the flower-beds. My mind bounces between “thank god” and “if only” like some unstable electron. (more…)

I love tech.

I know, I know — actors reading this are going to groan or roll their eyes, maybe both. Those to whom I’ve said this always get an “are you crazy?” look on their faces. For them, they say, it’s usually the most boring part of their process: very repetitious, very tedious; a long, long, long day.

But I’m not an actor; I’m a just a First Look 101er, a theatergoer with a passion for the theater and for learning more about the process to get that play on stage for me to see.

For me, who never had been privileged to be able to watch part of a tech rehearsal before the First Look 101 program was offered in 2006 — it’s beyond fascinating. To see the precision needed. To see the collaboration of all the tech staff among themselves, with the director, actors and playwright. To recognize the tedium the actors talk about: Over and over, they go through the motions/words of the scene being teched, in real time, in costume with props, so the sound and light directors can work their magic (more…)

Tranquillity Woods

Gary

When the Messenger Is Hot

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