Lusia Strus and Mariann Mayberry in Steppenwolf’s “Good People.” Now firmly in my 30s, its amazing the number of my friends who are living paycheck to paycheck — including, to a degree, me. Getting ahead is tough, sometimes impossible, and with the recent news that college grads are earning significantly less than in 2005, the… Read More Steppenwolf’s excellent ‘Good People’ questions our bootstrap pulling power
The cast of Steppenwolf Theatre’s “Three Sisters,” now playing through August 26. What is it about Steppenwolf’s production of Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters (Here, simply called Three Sisters) that left me mostly cold? Was it Tracy Letts’ vaguely contemporary new adaptation of the 1901 play that required one of its key actors to utter… Read More HuffPo Review: Steppenwolf’s ‘Three Sisters’ Is Heavy-Handed Drama With Slight Emotional Weight
Shannon Matesky and Harry Groener in Steppenwolf’s “The March” When adapting a 400 page epic novel for the stage, you usually have about three options: 1) Make the play 6 hours long to cover all the ground in the source material; 2) Try to dutifully cram everything into a 2-3 hour long play; 3) Use… Read More Steppenwolf’s ‘March’ fumbles and falls out of line
Hit the Wall, a powerful new play about the Stonewall Uprising produced by the relatively newbie theater company The Inconvenience, is one of those shows everyone in Chicago is talking about. Written by Inconvenience company member Ike Holter and directed by Eric Hoff, the play premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre’s Garage Rep Series in February and… Read More HuffPost Review: ‘Hit the Wall’ Throws Emotional Punches as It Breaks Down Barriers for Gay Rights
Four middle-aged men stand in the bottom of a giant pool baring their souls (and their bodies) in a desperate attempt to win the affections of an etherial figure who watches from her plasma TV above, as if the sad display below were some sort of competitive reality TV show. If they fail in meeting… Read More Chicago Like a Local: Steppenwolf’s ‘Penelope’
There’s nothing remarkable about Middletown, a fictional town that’s the inspiration for Will Eno’s new play that debuted in 2010 at NYC’s Vineyard Theatre and is now receiving a solid Steppenwolf production. Yet, sometimes the biggest life insights come from looking at the everyday: the choices we make, the community we build, the dreams we… Read More ‘Middletown’ at Steppenwolf takes us to the middle of nowhere and everywhere
It’s rare that I leave a theatre completely ambivalent. I mean, I almost forgot that I saw Steppenwolf’s production of The Hot L Baltimore a few hours after returning home yesterday. “It’s already 7pm? What the hell did I do today? Oh, yeah: I saw that play about the people in that hotel.” While I… Read More ‘The Hot L Baltimore’ at Steppenwolf: raze this hotel and start over
Her face says it all: Jane (Nina O’Keefe) stars as Hedda in the play-within-the-robot-play. On rare occasions do I leave a show not knowing what the hell I just witnessed, except for the fact that it was all sorts of awesome. Such is the case with Sideshow Theatre Company’s Heddatron — a funky, if flawed, one act featuring five… Read More Sideshow Theatre Company’s ‘Heddatron’: Ibsen + robots = ftw
Sally Murphy and Stephen Louis Grush: two intimate strangers In watching Sex with Strangers, Laura Eason’s provocative new play exploring how the online world has impacted the way we interact with each other, my mind started spinning. So please bear with me as I do a brain dump … I’m not sure if you’re aware,… Read More Steppenwolf’s ‘Sex with Strangers’ may make you revisit your privacy settings
From a just-released press announcement: Steppenwolf Theatre Company is pleased to announce its new American play Detroit by Lisa D’Amour and directed by ensemble member Austin Pendleton will open on Broadway early fall 2011. Detroit makes its Broadway debut following world premiere at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, September 9 – November 7, 2010. Casting for… Read More Steppenwolf’s ‘Detroit’ to play Broadway in Fall 2011
It’s a relatively quiet period for Chicago theatre, with many shows either ending runs or getting ready to open. So, another list-y blog post! As usual, there are a barrage of shows opening in the first few months of the new year. Where to start? In no particular order, here are a few things I’m… Read More What I’m looking forward to in 2011 (so far, anyway)
Tracy Letts as George lays the ground rules, as Martha (Amy Morton) cowers in Steppenwolf’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” I once had a friend who was a chronic liar. Well, lying isn’t the right word — let’s say she made up her own reality. She would tell me stories of boyfriends she had or… Read More Steppenwolf’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ is taught, thrilling and unexpected
“Steaks done yet?” The cast of Steppenwolf’s “Detroit” gets down and dirty. Do you know your neighbors? I mean, really know them? Or are they more like strangers who just happen to share proximity with you, and the thought of extending the relationship past the property line has “bad idea” written all over it. A… Read More Fire up the grill! Steppenwolf’s ‘Detroit’ adds extra fuel to that neighborly get-together
Marylouise Burke tells it like it is in Bruce Norris’ “A Parallelogram” “You’ll see,” sighs the blunt older Bee, played by the delightfully dry Marylouise Burke, to her younger, more hopeful counterpart who’s begging for a preview of what lies ahead. The aptly named Bee has buzzed through time, courtesy of a nifty remote control,… Read More On-demand destiny: Steppenwolf’s provocative ‘A Parallelogram’ examines the big questions
A warning: if you’re planning to visit your first absurdist, post-apocalyptic Samuel Beckett play, you might want to do a bit of research first. I’ve always heard: some people “get it,” some people don’t. I don’t think that I “don’t” get it — I just need to process it. Which I’m still doing. I’m sure… Read More ‘Endgame’ @ Steppenwolf Theatre
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