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

Ensemble members Martha Lavey and Tracy Letts at Monday’s press conference after Tracy won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play August: Osage County.

We’re pleased to announce that Tracy Letts received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for drama for his play August: Osage County today. As you may know, the prize is awarded annually “for a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life.” As an award-winner, Tracy joins the company of the most eminent playwrights of the American theater, including Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Thorton Wilder, Tony Kushner, and Sam Shepard. We extend our warmest congratulations to Tracy for this honor.

So, it’s a day of celebration here in the Steppenwolf offices. We couldn’t be more proud of Tracy. And the success of August: Osage County is particularly meaningful as the play exemplifies the very heart of Steppenwolf’s mission. Commissioned as part of our New Plays Initiative, its development process reflected our philosophy that new play development must be tailored to the individual playwright’s needs and geared toward production. At each step along the way — from the first reading to the production now running on Broadway — August gained vitality through the participation of an ensemble of artists with a long history of collaboration. Finally, August’s success was contingent upon the culture of risk-taking that we on the staff are proud to share with you in our audience. Many theaters might have balked at August’s ensemble of thirteen, and many audiences may have shied away from an unknown new play clocking in at three plus hours. Together, in the belief that innovation requires a little audacity, we took a chance and embraced this play. On this celebratory day, please take a moment with us to enjoy the success you helped to create.

Dennis Letts, actor in August: Osage County, and father of ensemble member Tracy Letts, passed away this past Friday, February the 22nd. Dennis taught writing and literature in several colleges and universities, including Southeastern Oklahoma State University, before he began acting professionally at age 50, appearing in numerous films, television shows, and theater productions. It was a joy for Steppenwolf that Dennis became a part of the theater’s life.

Tracy has written the following words about his dad:

“My father was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in September of last year, following the Chicago run of August: Osage County and prior to the Broadway transfer. His choice to persevere with the New York production in the face of his devastating diagnosis is a testament to his love for the project and the people involved. Dad had a full and fascinating life, and August: Osage County was the cherry on top. My family will be forever grateful for the many kindnesses shown to Dad by the wonderful people associated with the production.”

The giddy highs of opening night and crazy-good reviews had us floating for a couple weeks before reality set back in…In the world of challenges we’ve been fighting cast colds, flu, throat infections, stomach flus for 2 or 3 weeks…and many of us felt the first long run repetition “wall,” which I guess I would describe as a mental/emotional resistance to successfully pretending that you don’t know the story you are telling—because of course one of the fundamental tasks for us actors is to trick our brains and hearts into nightly innocence as to what will ensue…So, for a bit there, many or most of us were hanging on by our fingernails physically, emotionally and mentally to try and survive–much less fulfill–this beautiful play 8 times a week…BUT, I think for the most part we are all feeling better on all fronts and having fun again…thank god! (more…)

You guys, the response to August: Osage County has been downright SURREAL…we couldn’t have paid our own mothers to pen the now dozens of incandescent reviews we have received (including the #1 entry in Time Magazine’s 10 Best Theater Shows of 2007)…We sold 1.8 million dollars of tickets in our first six days and the list of backstage visits has a People magazine glow; playwright Conor McPherson, Mike Nichols, Elaine Stritch, Ian McShane, Winnie Holzman and family (creator of My So-Called Life and book writer of Wicked) Bernadette Peters, and on and on–teachers, relatives both near and long lost, fellow artists, celebrities…

One of my personal favorite aspects of all of this hoopla has been the press and audience response to the ensemble work in the play. I remember scouring about 25 reviews in 1984 (or 1985?) when we opened Balm in Gilead Off-Broadway, looking for some, any, appreciation of the ‘cirque du soleil’ ensemble work necessary to make that play fly and of course simultaneously looking for NY appreciation of why Steppenwolf exists ….NOT A WORD would I find, only the usual spotlight on 3 or 4 performances in generally glowing reviews…WELL, THIS TIME there has hardly been a mention of our play without gorgeous gushing appreciation of the ensemble work inherent and of the national treasure singularity of our dear Steppenwolf as a theater…

Sometimes I guess ya gotta wait till you’re grey, but it sure is sweet whenever it comes…

Below are my answers to some questions for our NY website for your amusement….if you all have specific questions for us actors, post them here and we’ll do our best to answer ! (more…)