Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble http://blog.steppenwolf.org Fri, 09 May 2008 15:01:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0 en And SUBMIT Was Born http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/09/and-submit-was-born/ http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/09/and-submit-was-born/#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 14:51:25 +0000 Anthony Moseley Sketchbook (08) http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/09/and-submit-was-born/ Every year, SKETCHBOOK is reborn. For this year’s reincarnation, we have introduced the SUBMIT program. SUBMIT is geared to allow our community of artists, audience, patrons and volunteers to contribute their stories, thoughts, and ideas to the experience of the festival. We figured that this was already happening in regards to choosing the plays, directors and actors, so why not just open it up, all the way. To be more specific, this year we received over 400 submissions of short world premiere plays (of under 7 minutes in length), 100 director applicants and 600 actors in building our 14 world premiere short plays. In our eyes, each audience member is also “submitting” their most precious asset, their time, to SKETCHBOOK. Without it (our audiences time), there would be no SKETCHBOOK. So, why not open a portal for everyone to share what’s in their minds and find a way to integrate it into the experience…. And SUBMIT was born.

We started by coming up with 13 core queries about life.

  1. What is your first memory as a child?
  2. Tell us about the most memorable moment with one of your parents.
  3. Have you ever experienced love-at-first site? If so, please share.
  4. Tell us about your biggest fear.
  5. How has the internet played a role in your sexual relationships?
  6. Who has the power?
  7. How do you feel about the American economy?
  8. What was something you said to your spouse or loved one that you didn’t mean or regret saying?
  9. How do you support the American soldier?
  10. Define Yourself.
  11. What’s the best birthday present you ever got?
  12. Tell us about any near death experiences you have had.
  13. What do you believe is life after death?

Then we created different ways for the audience to use technology to easily get their answers to us

And bam, people started sending stuff in (click here to hear one of my favorites entitled “when i was 16 I fell in love with this guy”.)

And now, with 9 days until the SKETCHBOOK opens I am working furiously with the design team and a core group of 5 talented actors, to create artful and transcendent moments from our favorite submissions that will take the audience from one play to the next. Oh boy, you say? Me too!

When all is said and done, we will have received over 5000 submissions of different kinds (including the live audience format), and hopefully, along the way we’ll get a glimpse of what it means to be alive today, leveraging technology to enhance the medium that makes us feel most alive and in the moment….. live theatre.

To view some of the submissions and learn more about how to submit. Go to www.collaboraction.org

]]> http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/09/and-submit-was-born/feed/ For The Joy of Writing http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/07/for-the-joy-of-writing/ http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/07/for-the-joy-of-writing/#comments Wed, 07 May 2008 19:26:26 +0000 Majdi Badri General http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/07/for-the-joy-of-writing/ Since the beginning of the Young Adult Council we have wanted to put together a play writing workshop and on May 10th from 11 to 3, it will come to pass. Aaron Carter, no not the singer, will be our leading playwright for the day. He is an awesome guy who I’ve been able to work with before and I’m really happy that he agreed to lead the workshop. The council had wanted to put one together, a workshop, for the longest time because writing, at least for the joy of writing, has kind of faded to the background of most teens. Plus, it not only builds on writing skills but on confidence. Sharing your written work is almost as difficult as getting on stage and reciting someone else’s.

It doesn’t seem difficult to do, trying to organize a workshop, but arranging space, marketing and contacting writers is a mite tougher then we had originally thought. No worries though, because we have had a lot of help from the Steppenwolf staff, like Ed Sobel, who gave us names and e-mails of writers. We drafted proposal after proposal, corrected them, and then began on flyers. Soon, after most of the council had run out of ink in their pens, we had it. This is the Council’s first public workshop and it is bound to be good. I actually can’t wait for it, I’m so excited.

]]> http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/07/for-the-joy-of-writing/feed/ Carter’s Way Post Show Blog Discussion http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/02/carters-way-post-show-blog-discussion/ http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/02/carters-way-post-show-blog-discussion/#comments Fri, 02 May 2008 14:44:35 +0000 David New Carter's Way http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/02/carters-way-post-show-blog-discussion/ Ora Jones and Keith Kupferer in Carters WayI find my deepest satisfaction as Associate Artistic Director at Steppenwolf in being able to sit in the theatre with our audiences at the end of the evening for post-show discussions. It is fortifying to follow the process of play selection, during which we choose plays for their resonance with how we live today, through rehearsal and performance, and ultimately get the chance to engage our audience in conversation about the ideas and themes of the play as they touch their own lives. Carter’s Way, though set in 1935, provided fertile ground for conversation for how we live our lives today. We knew when we chose to banner our season under the question, “What does it mean to be an American?” that race would be part of that conversation. And it was. Audiences acknowledged that progress has been made in the areas of the acceptance of interracial relationships and the abolishment of segregation - in both its formal and unspoken forms - but also acknowledged that race is still, distressingly, very much a part of our dialogue as Americans. People frequently referenced the rhetoric of the current presidential campaign as evidence.

But the discussions moved beyond acknowledging the play’s treatment of race to include topics of political machinery, capitalism, the exploitation of artists, the illusory nature of individual independence and freedom in a world where the “fat cats” are the ones controlling things (and profiting from them) and further explored the artist’s finding an individual voice, the forgiveness of an artist’s flaws in light of his artistic output, and the influence of technology on art. Others simply saw a powerful love story at the heart of the tragedy.

And I suppose this is what I most admire about what our ensemble member Eric Simonson, who wrote and directed the play, accomplished in this production: an American tragedy, a love story that manages to incorporate such wide-reaching social and political aspects of what it means to be an American.

Perhaps you stayed for one of the post-show discussions. If you didn’t, perhaps you’d like to post a blog response about your experience of the play and the ideas and themes it contains. Please don’t hesitate to do so. At Steppenwolf we place a high value on our conversation with you - in person or on the blog. And even occasionally, but meaningfully, by snail mail.

]]> http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/05/02/carters-way-post-show-blog-discussion/feed/ Week Four of Dead Man’s Cell Phone http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/04/30/week-three-of-dean-mans-cell-phone/ http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/04/30/week-three-of-dean-mans-cell-phone/#comments Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:17:12 +0000 Polly Noonan Dead Man's Cell Phone http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/04/30/week-three-of-dean-mans-cell-phone/ Polly Noonan in rehearsal Hey, it is beautiful outside! And it’s WEEK FOUR of Dead Man’s Cell Phone. Funny to think about us still wearing these rainy day costumes when summer comes! The excitement so far: one understudy has gone on (bravo Dana), one onstage bloody nose (me), several uninvited phone rings during performance (hello audience!). WOW, live theatre!

We bought our crew dinner between shows this Saturday. The weekends are long; two shows both days, so it was lovely to have dinner in the building. Mary Beth made brownies and I scrambled to a store to grab strawberries. Our stage manger Chris had a visit from her baby Joan and her husband, actor Tom Cox. When we first met Joan she was crawling, but by the time our show closes she will be walking!

Sunday was the closing night for Carter’s Way. I wonder if those actors feel wistful or ready to be done. We wish them well, Upstairs theatre to Downstairs theatre!

Tonight’s show was almost sold out, so we had to start a tiny bit late — the parking garage filled up early, and the theatre management wanted to give audience members a few extra minutes to park their cars. Part of the reason the garage filled quickly is that GIANT TENT covering the outdoor portion of the parking lot. It is going to house the Steppenwolf Gala Saturday night! It should be exciting. The party chair who called to invite each of us said it will be “the event of the season.” We’ll see!

This week should be fun. On Monday I flew to Washington DC to attend the Helen Hayes Awards, and then I flew right back Tuesday morning to perform Tuesday night. In case I had any plane trouble, Cora, the actress understudying the role of Jean was on standby, ready to jump into my costume if need be! Hooray and thank you for Cora! Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Woolly Mammoth Theatre) got a bunch of nominations for its premiere. I was nominated in a category called Outstanding Lead Actress. I didn’t win, but it is an honor to be nominated and I LOVED the party.

The Lemonheads are going to play at the Abbey Pub on Thursday and Friday night to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of It’s a Shame About Ray. David Singer, who created the music for August: Osage County, is opening. So maybe Tracy Letts and his girlfriend, actress Nicole Wiesner, will be at the show.

On Saturday, May 3, we have the day free, and then we have to gussy up for the gala. I have decided to bring my mother as my date because I think she will get a kick out of it! There is a special One Night Only performance by members of the Steppenwolf ensemble, I don’t think they have room for all of us in the theatre, but rumor has it we can crowd into the cry room and have a peek. I sure hope so!

I think the party will be extra special this year. With Letts winning the Pulitzer and so many people attached to August nominated for awards (I can’t keep track), this is a very exciting time to work at Steppenwolf. I think Anna Shapiro and Tracy Letts should christen the side of the main building with a bottle of champagne. And maybe someone can rig the giant Steppenwolf sign to blink throughout the night. It could be very disco. Those are my party suggestions, I wonder if they will be taken!

Hey, did anybody see the TimeOut piece about actors in Chicago this week? It was the talk of our green room! What did you think?

]]> http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/04/30/week-three-of-dean-mans-cell-phone/feed/ The Nature of Our Business http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/04/29/the-nature-of-our-business/ http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/04/29/the-nature-of-our-business/#comments Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:14:59 +0000 James Vincent Meredith Carter's Way http://blog.steppenwolf.org/2008/04/29/the-nature-of-our-business/ Ensemble member James Vincent Meredith in Dead Man's Cell Phone.Hard to believe that Carter’s Way just closed. It’s amazing, this business we’re in. So intensely close, yet so transient. On the last day of a show, I’m always a little broken up inside. It kind of feels like a break up, the end of a relationship. Not just with the actors you see everyday, but with the faces you get used to backstage, like Caleb and Rick and Noelle and Jamie and Gregor and Becky and Dawn and Martha W and Malcolm and Lauren and others. You remember small things, like waving to the Front of House person who sees you as you enter the theatre on the other side of the double doors, just before you head downstairs–how they always wave back. The box office employee who gives you an unexpected compliment on the show when you really needed it that day. The amazing artists who understudy us, who see the show all the time, surely tire of it, and yet are always warm and welcoming every time we come in (particularly Justin, for some reason).

And of course the other actors you work with day in and day out. People you see more often than your partner, your husband, your wife. People who you have to get so close to so quickly. People who you have to learn to trust and have confidence in. It’s hard to explain. You see these people everyday for 2 or 3 months at least, and then….

Nothing.

Eight shows a week. Learning everyone’s rhythms and personalities (and, probably in my case, moody streaks). Figuring out who likes to joke around before a show, and who needs to be alone. Who prefers the exact replica onstage every night, and who likes to explore a little more (within the existing framework, of course). Learning what we all need and want and require to do our best work. And then….

Nothing.

Well, that’s a misnomer. We all have friends and families we’ve missed, that we’re dying to get back to, and now we get to give them much needed and deserved time. But I’m going to miss everyone. As per the nature of our business, we’ll probably all see each other again at various times and places. But never again will this whole group be together exactly as it was on Sunday. That’s the part about this that I’ve never been able to get used to, that I’ll never get used to.

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