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

Last week at Steppenwolf was the final week of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble’s production of The Walls which was presented under the Visiting Company Initiative in the Garage Theatre.   Over in the Downstairs Theatre, Steppenwolf’s final subscription series play, Up, began its first week of previews.  And finally, this past Saturday night in the Upstairs Theatre, another visiting company, 500 Clown had their first preview performance of their production of 500 Clown and the Elephant Deal.

In addition, tomorrow all three of the plays of The First Look Repertory of New Work, Honest, Sex with Strangers, and Ski Dubai all begin rehearsal simultaneously.

It will be a busy and full summer at Steppenwolf and we look forward to hearing your responses to the work and to continuing our conversation with you.

I am not terrifically computer literate. I took calligraphy in high school instead of computers or typing (though my hand writing is Catholic-school-girl lovely). I only use the internet to send emails and occasionally self diagnose illnesses. I type with one finger. After months of ridicule from friends, I finally have a Facebook profile that I have no idea how to navigate and never, ever remember to check. Last week, John Zinn asked me to compose a blog entry for Rivendell’s production of The Walls (which is part of Steppenwolf’s Visiting Company Initiative).

I am not quite sure what one writes in a blog so I went and read all the Steppenwolf blog entries over the past few years. Bad idea. Now not only am I typing in a slow, one fingered method but am completely intimidated by all these articulate, creative, wildly literate postings I have read. What shall my blog be, that is the question. And that is the question that has me totally stymied. (more…)

Late last Sunday afternoon I was writing opening night cards for the wonderful cast and crew of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble’s production of The Walls (part of Steppenwolf’s Visiting Company Initiative). Doing so made me think back over the years of this play’s development—and the amazingly generous community of artists who have taken part in it.

In 2004, Rivendell artistic director Tara Mallen approached me about a commission. Her idea hinged on a development format that would incorporate the Rivendell ensemble, as actors and thinkers, from the earliest stages of the creative process. I was intrigued … and, at first, hesitant. For me, writing plays has always been a solitary pursuit — I tend to shut myself away with a script for a good long time before I feel ready to share, let alone collaborate. But at the time I had also been feeling constricted by the traditional new-play development process (create draft of play, short rehearsal period, public reading, audience discussion; create revised draft, another short rehearsal, another reading, more feedback, and so on). (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…)

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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