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

Hi, I’m Polly and I play the role of Jean in Dead Man’s Cell Phone. My character, Jean, is shy and old fashioned, so I wish I could post on this blog with a fountain pen or a typewriter.

We just finished our first week of rehearsal and I feel happy and exhausted. We told all sorts of stories in rehearsal, mostly funny stories, but some sad ones too.

It takes a while to adjust to being in a new place. Ensemble member Molly Regan, who plays Mrs. Gottlieb, and I both came in from New York, so we are being housed in Steppenwolf apartments about a block from the theater. It is great to be so close to work. One of my favorite things about doing plays out of town is living in a new place. It makes me think that I am in the circus. And in a way, I am! (more…)

This is a wonderfully exciting moment for all of us at Steppenwolf–the time when we announce our new season. We have been reading and discussing plays for months now in preparation for just this moment. Those of us in the artistic office have been framing the issues of the season and balancing the interaction of the plays in creating a lively and vigorous conversation on those themes. We have been in discussion with our ensemble artists, assembling the directors and actors for the productions. We use the forum of our blog to announce those plays and artists first to you, our dedicated patrons. You have the inside scoop.

When we began shaping our thoughts about 2007-2008, we were galvanized by the knowledge that we are in the midst of an important presidential election. Change is in the air. Issues of American identity, questions about what constitutes American citizenship and responsibility are being vigorously discussed and debated. We felt it was crucial for Steppenwolf’s season to participate in this discussion. We look to the 2007-2008 season as one that foregrounds the American voice. Five playwrights: one, an elder statesman of the American theater who spent his artistic life interrogating the question of citizenship; two, ensemble members who make vivid and specific the articulation of the personal with the political; two, new voices in the American theater who are gaining prominence as important chroniclers of how we live now. (more…)