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

As summer draws to a close, and we begin a new season, I’m reminded of ways in which the challenges of doing something truly different and new may be severe, but the rewards compensate in equal measure. As I write, downstairs in our rehearsal room Frank Galati is hard at work on a brand new piece, Kafka on the Shore, which promises to be a moving and thrilling experience. Just a few weeks ago, our First Look Rep concluded successfully, with Jason Wells‘ play Perfect Mendacity already scheduled for a world premiere production at the Asolo Theatre in Florida this Spring, and some percolating world premiere interest for the other two plays from the Rep as well.

Something else happened at the end of the summer that could have significant impact on Chicago, and particularly on playwrights in Chicago, for years to come. A former agent at a highly respected agency in NY has moved to Chicago and started her own company to represent clients based here. There has not been, to my knowledge, a licensed agency representing playwrights in Chicago for many, many years. Particularly encouraging is this agent’s interest in identifying Chicago playwrights and exporting their work nationally and internationally. Imagine a Chicago where playwrights not only come to gain experience, exposure and collaborative relationships they then leave behind for the greener pastures of New York or Los Angeles, but instead come to do all those things and stay. They sustain a life and career in the theater living and writing here, because someone is working hard everyday to ensure they are getting the national attention and remuneration they deserve. In a season when many eyes turned to Chicago as a theater city, particularly with respect to a community that generates and supports new work, it’s a beautiful notion. No doubt this agent will find challenges, but a tip of the hat to her for doing something new and very much needed.

It’s been a little over a week since the last First Look play closed. And it feels like an eon ago that we—cast and crew—were meeting as strangers around folding tables in Yondorf Hall for the first table reading of Fair Use. So what happens now that Sy’s office chair has been rolled onto a cargo van, the Nerf football returned to storage, and Madi’s three inch heels boxed up? Well, the dust clears, the Hypocrites load in to the Garage, and I head to my favorite neighborhood coffee shop to do some more rewrites.

“Whoa there, kiddo! Did you say rewrites?”

Yes, gentle Steppenwolf blog reader, I hear that hint of incredulity creeping into your voice. You thought the time for rewrites was long past. I can see your logic, considering the play has been performed, and before nine audiences no less. But it’s not quite done. Over those nine performances I got to scrutinize how the play was landing. I was able to see where Meredith’s staging strengthened moments of storytelling and where the actors’ unscripted character interactions clarified intentions—the toss of a fortune cookie, the pulling out of a chair. I noted where the play lost momentum and where it seemed to soar. And I heard a death knoll for a few jokes, (”elaborate Butoh apologies”…may you rest in peace). But I also heard the laughter, the gasping, the headshakes, and the “oh no he didn’ts” of those nine different audiences. So with all that in mind, it’s time to work on this final draft, the post-production draft of Fair Use. To all of you who came and sat in the audience, thanks—your participation will be written into the play.

As First Look Rep enters its third and final week, there is no question the festival has been a success. All three new plays have been met with genuine enthusiasm from audience members, and from a marketing standpoint the shows have sold amazingly well. But despite these successes, the Rep’s ultimate goal has not yet been reached. Yes, it’s nice to put up three pieces of quality developmental theatre, but the Steppenwolf Garage is not meant to be the final destination for these new plays. The hope is that other theatres will become interested in the projects and produce the newly minted scripts elsewhere - giving the plays life after First Look.

One way we nudge this process along is by hosting Professionals Weekend, a three-day event during which professionals from all over the country are given the opportunity to see what First Look is all about. In addition to learning about the play development process and mingling with one another, the hope is that some of these professionals might go back to their home theatres and exclaim (with reckless abandon), “Let’s put on one of these shows in our next season!” Or at least, that’s the idea. (more…)

Truth be told, tech rehearsals get a pretty bad rap. They are known for their epic length, their mind numbing stop-and-start rhythm and their all-around tedium. But in reality, it’s usually just actors who trade these disparaging remarks about the infamous tech rehearsal. The play’s design team on the other hand, probably finds the experience to be somewhat of a coming out party. The carefully crafted lighting, sound, costumes and set are all unveiled in one fell swoop, and all these elements must then wrestle with each other (and the actors) until the rocky tech smoothes out into a fluid piece of theatre. The day can feel a little like Goldilocks and Three Bears: this lighting is too bright, this lighting is too dark, but this lighting is juuuuuussst right. The truth is, tech is not for the actors at all, it’s for the designers: to nail sound cues, tweak transitions, locate missing props and set the lighting just so. And complain as they might, no actor would dare forfeit these wearisome tech hours. Long as they are, it’s the technical elements that ultimately round out the world of the play, allowing the audience to lose themselves in a theatrical, yet believable world.

Tech for First Look is a whirlwind process: the cast, crew and design team arrive in the Garage Theatre at 11am and don’t leave until 9pm in the evening. The idea is to tech the whole show in that concentrated time frame – an arduous task for even the most experienced stage mangers. (more…)

So one of the most rad things about having a team of crack designers is how invested they get in the world and characters of the play. Case in point: props. If you pay special attention to the book our fictional novelist wrote you might notice that the book jacket is adorned with rave reviews (totally invented) from the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Chicago Tribune. If you had super laser vision, you could read the certificates in the bookcase, my favorite being Sy’s basketball award from Harvard Law. And I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you how cool it is to overhear the costume designer talking about what kind of watch Bec would wear or how Sy’s idea of accessorizing differs from Madi’s.

Despite the fact that we only had eight hours to tech through the entire show (a feat I had no doubt our rockstar director and her team would accomplish), as the playwright in the room you want to try and be useful. So I did what I could.

11:00 Walk through space with the cast. Totally love it up that we’re in a theater. (more…)