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

One of the interesting outcomes of our decision to program our subscription series across both our Upstairs and Downstairs theaters is that it produces a concurrent run of our subscription shows. Currently, we have Carter’s Way in the Downstairs Theatre and Dead Man’s Cell Phone in the Upstairs Theatre. Just having both shows in our house produces a dialogue between them. In a season dedicated to the question, “What does it mean to be an American?”, these two plays activate interesting parallels and contrasts.

Parallels: both shows are, in at least one thread of their narratives, love stories. Both plays feature a new technology–in Carter’s Way, the radio; in Dead Man’s Cell Phone, the…cell phone–and raise some questions about how that technology changes the boundaries of one’s sense of self. (more…)

When Justin Kaufmann of Schadenfreude opened last night’s Traffic show – A Celebration of Chicago Sketch Comedy - by classifying his troupe as “regular” (compared to kevINda which is, umm, African-American), it was pretty clear that I had better loosen up and pluck that pin out of my — well, you know.

And yet, nothing (let me repeat: nothing) could have prepared this genteel Southerner for the spate of offensive, appalling, embarrassing and (ultimately) hysterical sketches presented last night. Even I couldn’t keep a straight face when kevINda offered a theory on the private sex life of Martin and Coretta King. And, yes, actually, it is totally obvious that Curious George is shrewdly designed to indoctrinate children towards pro-slavery political views. (more…)

I love watching post show discussions. I don’t often participate in them, because I’m always concerned that I’m going to get a question to which I have no answer. But I’m always in awe of the way the moderators lead the discussions, coaxing the audience into lowering its guard and speaking freely about what they’ve seen. I’ve witnessed post shows where members of the audience couldn’t stop expressing the love they had for a show, and I’ve seen post shows where they couldn’t stop expressing how the show made them throw up in their mouth a little. And that’s cool with me. I know that people may be a bit reluctant to criticize a show when the actors are out there, so I sometimes sit unseen in the balcony so that I can hear honest opinions. And I really value them. Sometimes there’s a plot point that wasn’t clear or even audible (towards the end of a recent show, after I made a statement to Marilyn [Ora] critical to the plot, I heard an audience member whisper “Wait — she’s pregnant?”), and our moderators will need to clarify what some audience members might have missed, or misunderstood. Sometimes a character didn’t ring true, or a moment didn’t seem plausible, or the writing in this scene was great, but maybe not in that scene; the feedback that the audience gives is really valuable to me. You get to see what maybe worked that night, and maybe what didn’t. Perception is reality, right?

Completely unrelated, but here’s another cell phone story — I’m sure that if you’re reading this blog, you probably go to the theater fairly regularly, and surely have a cell phone story of your own. Last week, we were coming up on the end of a show. Probably 15 minutes from the end, so pretty high tension, climax of the show, all that stuff. A phone rings. Nothing new, it’s happened before. Loud, but still, it’s happened before. PeeWee’s in the middle of some dialogue with an important piece of plot. The audience member answers the phone. And it must be one of those Sprint or Nextel beep phones, because there’s no beep, but all of us (audience and actors alike) can hear the whole conversation, including the person on the other end of the line: (more…)

I’m still sleeping blissfully on the new mattress, but only when I have the time, as we started previews last week. When we are finally in front of an audience, we actors learn so much more about the play. Lines that we forgot were funny are now funny again. We rehearse all day and then perform at night.

Today was the last day to work with our design team. We spent much of the day going over transitions, tightening, making small changes and honing scenes with lights and sound. You don’t often get an extra day like this one. Then we saluted our designers with champagne before they headed back to various parts of the country! (more…)

JEAN (played by Polly Noonan):
Hello?
I think that there is a dead man sitting next to me.
I don’t know how he died.
I’m at a cafe.

Explore more moments from Dead Man’s Cell Phone.