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

(James is the Lighting Designer for A Parallelogram. He shared with us his schedule and what he does at each stage of the production process when working on a Steppenwolf show)

Pre-production (February through late June): Lighting design is the alchemic member of the design department. Unlike scene, costume and sound designs, you can’t draw or make models of it, construct mock-ups, or hear it ahead of the actual time in the theatre. So in the pre-production phase, it’s important to assemble as much information about the play and how we are going to do it as we can.

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(Robert is a teaching artist with Steppenwolf for Young Adults)

When I first found out that I was going to lead post-show discussions for Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had studied Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in graduate school, but felt intimidated by the prospect of leading discussions about a play so many have studied.

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(Devon was the co-author and co-director of The Twins Would Like To Say, part of the Visiting Company Initiative Garage Rep)

Today is June 10, 2010. The first ever Garage Rep closed on April 25, 2010. So, I’ve had some time to reflect, take stock and evaluate. One of the things I’m really left to think about is the audience experience - both of the rep as a whole and for our show The Twins Would Like to Say.

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As the Production Management Apprentice, I have had the opportunity to be wowed by the amazing staff of the Production Department on multiple occasions. Most recently, I had the fortune of shadowing our Assistant Costume Designer, Mae Haskins, as she began shopping for costume pieces for A Parallelogram. After spending one day with her, I felt as though I had been trained to become an undercover agent on a deadly mission.

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(John is the Marketing Director at Steppenwolf)

“This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco
this ain’t no fooling around
This ain’t no Mudd Club or CBGB
I ain’t got time for that now”

Anyone remember THAT song? “Life During Wartime” - Talking Heads. It burst onto the scene in 1979, then reappeared in their live film Stop Making Sense. I used to put on one of my dad’s way-too-big-for-me suits and jerk-dance around to it like David Byrne. As I understand it, it’s about some kind of urban guerrilla movement gaining momentum in NYC - and the protagonist is getting caught up in it - it feels like something that is going to change (or end?) society, and he is reflecting back to when he used to hang at the (now defunct) NYC punk clubs Mudd Club and CBGB. I do miss my punk youth… anyway, I was thinking about it as I was putting together the EXPLORE event for Endgame, which happens this Friday. How do you put together a rockin’ party for Samuel Beckett’s Endgame? Well, it turns out that you think about “Life During Wartime.”

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