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

For the first time in my life, I finally saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream last Wednesday night. How could it be that I had waited so long to see this play? Why had it eluded me all this time? And to be very honest, I had never even read the play!

I knew there was someone named Hermia, a play within a play, that someone turned into a donkey, and a lot of magic. After working as an assistant director on The Tempest, I was intrigued to see this sister play, to be able to check ‘See A Midsummer Night’s Dream‘ off of my To Do list, and to test my Shakespeare ear, hopefully well-tuned over several weeks of Tempest rehearsals.

There is a scene around a group of would-be actors who are debating how to represent the fantastical elements of their play. How might one represent a tiny hole in a great wall onstage? One cannot bring in an entire wall. They conclude “Some man or other must present Wall; and let him have some plaster, or some loam, or some roughcast about him, to signify wall; and let him hold his fingers thus, and through that cranny shall Pyramus and Thisbe whisper.”

For me, this was a miraculous revelation: Shakespeare promoting suggestion, theatricality and imagination on the stage! That a man, entering from stage right, planting himself firmly in one place, holding a bucket of plaster and proclaiming “I am a Wall” is SHAKESPEARE! That’s Shakespeare? (more…)

Tina Landau was cool enough to share with some of us on the staff the songs and artists that she was listening to as she began her work on The Tempest, and if you have seen that show, you can see the amazing way music affected that show.

That, along with Ferdinand’s line “The ditty does remember my drown’d father” delivered as the spirits sing to him, got me thinking about the old music/memory connection and of stories I have heard from actors about how strongly they are brought back into the mind of a character they once played if they hear a song used in the show.

And I really love the idea of a private “mix” for a show: actors sometimes make their own private soundtrack to listen to every night pre-show to enter the character’s world. Also, if you have another job—or just a LIFE - listening to your mix on the way to the theatre takes you out of the ‘daily details’ part of your brain and into the part where the play is. (more…)

Aaaaaand We’re Off…

Now that The Tempest is open, I feel I can just relax and do the show. First previews and opening night for me are always ultra stressful - friends, colleagues, reviewers - it all excites me and stresses me at the same time, not to mention Shakespeare…if I nervously “go up” and ad-lib contemporary language, that’s one thing - ad-libbing iambic pentameter is something else entirely.

But, tackling Shakespeare on the Steppenwolf stage for the first time - I’m just honored that I could be a part of it. I’ve never had a chance to work with so many members of the ensemble, and to see the preparation that everyone does for their respective roles really inspires me. So proud to be a part of this company, and this show. (more…)

Wait! There’s more. We just opened The Tempest and I can’t wait to hear your responses to the production. As you know, it is the first Shakespeare play we have presented on our subscription series (we did a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream years ago for our student series). I look forward to hearing your interpretations of the play and the production.

Here we are in April and we still have five more Steppenwolf productions yet to open on our season, as well as two productions by visiting companies. Our final subscription series play, Up by Bridget Carpenter, directed by ensemble member Anna Shapiro, begins rehearsal in May and plays through the summer; our Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of Of Mice and Men opens at the end of April; our First Look Repertory of New Work premieres three new plays (Sex with Strangers by Laura Eason, Honest by ensemble member Eric Simonson, and Ski Dubai by Laura Jacqmin) in July. Our visiting companies are Rivendell with The Walls and 500 Clown and the Elephant Deal in our Upstairs Theatre.

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Steppenwolf’s production of The Tempest opened this Sunday after a week and a half of previews. It has been a fascinating process to follow - from the pre-rehearsal training of the three actors playing the spirits at the Actor’s Gymnasium where they worked with Aerial Coach Sylvia Hernandez DiStasi to the final rehearsal where Director Tina Landau worked with ensemble members Frank Galati and Alana Arenas on some of the subtle aspects of the first Prospero/Miranda scene.

The show has grown and changed tremendously through the preview process, in part because so many of the production elements, and there are many of them, could not be fully utilized until the cast and crew were in the theatre together.

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