Steppenwolf’s Complete 2005-06 Subscription Season

Chicago—Steppenwolf Theatre Company announces its complete 2005-2006 subscription series, concluding with the world premiere of The Unmentionables by Bruce Norris, directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro and featuring ensemble members K. Todd Freeman, John Mahoney, Laurie Metcalf and Amy Morton. Steppenwolf Theatre Company commemorates its 30th season with all new work. The 2005-2006 season will open with Last of the Boys by acclaimed playwright Steven Dietz (Fiction, Lonely Planet), featuring ensemble members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton, directed by ensemble member Rick Snyder. The production will run September 15-November 13, 2005. Steppenwolf follows with ensemble member Frank Galati adapting and directing after the quake, an acclaimed collection of short stories from Japanese writer Haruki Murakami in the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre from October 20, 2005-February 19, 2006. In January, Steppenwolf co-founder Terry Kinney directs ensemble members Tracy Letts, Amy Morton and Molly Regan in The Well-Appointed Room, a world premiere work by Richard Greenberg, running January 12, 2006-March 12, 2006 Next, Steppenwolf will launch Love Song by John Kolvenbach. Ensemble member Austin Pendleton directs the off-beat romantic comedy featuring ensemble members K. Todd Freeman and Tim Hopper. The subscription series will conclude with The Unmentionables by Bruce Norris, directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro and featuring ensemble members K. Todd Freeman, John Mahoney, Laurie Metcalf and Amy Morton. The author of The Infidel, Purple Heart, We All Went Down to Amsterdam and The Pain and the Itch has created yet another dynamic play specifically for the Steppenwolf ensemble. In a posh home in a small town in Africa, a wealthy American entrepreneur, flamboyant government representative, young Christian missionary and his girlfriend meet by accident. When one of them goes missing, they are forced to confront their benevolent notions of themselves and the realities of the world they think they control. The result is a stunning comedic effect: hilarious characters with something vital to say. The Unmentionables will run in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre, June 29, 2006-August 27, 2006. In addition to the Subscription Series, Steppenwolf will launch Love-Lies-Bleeding by Don Delillo, directed by ensemble member Amy Morton. The world premiere drama will run from April 27-May 28, 2006 in the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre and June 17-25, 2006 at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre as part of The Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays. Five-play season subscriptions are on sale now through Audience Services online at www.steppenwolf.org or at (312) 335-1650. Audience Services hours are 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. everyday and 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on days with evening performances. Subscription prices range from $160 to $275. Student subscriptions are 1/2 price with a current valid I.D. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday evenings. Seniors (62 and older) receive a $10 discount on subscriptions. Audio-description, sign language interpreted, post-show discussion, and lecture series are available. For group reservations (10 or more people), call Group Sales at (312) 654-5629. Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s mission is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon. The company, formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through ongoing group work. Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of thirty-six artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking and textual adaptation.