Born during the 1975 in a North Shore church basement, the Steppenwolf has gone on to become one of the country's best-known theatres, with its own beautiful complex located in Lincoln Park (1650 Halsted Street). Emphasizing a collective prospective to dramatic art, Steppenwolf shows have earned a reputation for being high-quality emotional experiences. Pioneers of an "in your face" Chicago school of acting, most of the original members have moved on to New York or Hollywood. But, after something of a mid-life crisis, it has begun to put things back together again, playing off both its ensemble stars (John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, etc.) and Hollywood guests (Ethan Hawke, Martha Plimpton).
In 1985, this bastion of the Chicago arts scene won the Tony award for regional theater excellence. Steppenwolf Theatre Company received the 1998 National Medal of Arts from President and Hillary Clinton, recognizing one of the most important companies in the history of American theatre.
The Steppenwolf Theatre sponsors many outreach programs, particularly focusing on high school students. Lately, the Steppenwolf Theatre has expanded past the general "bounds" of theater and sponsors series for vocal, jazz, dance and other forms of performance art (for example, its fantastic interdisciplinary Traffic series). It is wheelchair accessible. Past productions have included Balm in Gilead, Vicious, Born Yesterday, Curse of the Starving Class and Your Home in the West, The Grapes of Wrath (2 Tony Awards), and the recent revival of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, which was nominated for a number of Tony's, and went on to Broadway.
During their 20-year history, the ensemble has included John Malkovich, Joan Allen, John Mahoney, Gary Sinise, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Cole, and Kevin Anderson, Randall Arney, Robert Breuler, Kathryn Erbe, K. Todd Freeman, Frank Galati, Francis Guinan, Moira Harris, Tim Hopper, Tom Irwin, Terry Kinney, Martha Lavey, Mariann Mayberry, Amy Morton, Sally Murphy, Martha Plimpton, Eric Simonson, as well as many others.
Reviewed by Centerstage:
Detail of a Larger Work
Skylight
The Weir
See also our review of the Steppenwolf at 25 photography.
For more information, visit their website: http://www.steppenwolf.org/
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