World Premiere Comedy The Pain and the Itch Infects Steppenwolf This Summer

Chicago—Steppenwolf Theatre Company concludes the 2004-2005 subscription season with The Pain and the Itch by Bruce Norris, directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro, featuring ensemble members Tracy Letts and Mariann Mayberry, with Lillian Almaguer, Kate Arrington, Darragh Quinn Dolan, Jayne Houdyshell, James Vincent Meredith and Zak Orth. The Pain and the Itch begins performances on June 30, 2005, in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre. Something's been gnawing at the avocados in Clay and Kelly's kitchen. This upper-middle-class Chicago couple will go to any lengths to protect their family from whatever creature has threatened their domestic bliss, but the sense of invasion will not stop. They are joined for Thanksgiving dinner by grandma Carol, uncle Cash and his foreign girlfriend Kalina. It’s a holiday gathering…Steppenwolf style. The Pain and the Itch is a dark, dark comedy that challenges the safety and comfort of American life. The Pain and the Itch is the latest collaboration between Bruce Norris and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Norris’ The Infidel and We All Went Down to Amsterdam were produced in the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre. Purple Heart was presented in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre and then traveled to the Galway Arts Festival. Anna D. Shapiro, Steppenwolf's newest ensemble member, directed The Infidel, Purple Heart and will direct The Pain and the Itch, as well as next summer’s The Unmentionables for Steppenwolf's 30th season. Ensemble member Tracy Letts returns to the Steppenwolf stage after an acclaimed performance in fellow ensemble member Austin Pendleton's Orson's Shadow playing Off-Broadway at the Barrow Street Theatre. Letts appeared at Steppenwolf earlier this season in The Dresser. Also an accomplished playwright, Letts' Man From Nebraska, which premiered at Steppenwolf, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Ensemble member Mariann Mayberry last appeared at Steppenwolf in the world premiere of Wendall Greene and appears on screen this summer in War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg. Kate Arrington last appeared at Steppenwolf in The Violet Hour by Richard Greenberg and will return to Steppenwolf next season in his world premiere The Well-Appointed Room. Jayne Houdyshell recently received a 2004 OBIE Award for her performance in Lisa Kron's Well at The Public Theater. James Vincent Meredith was recently seen in the hit About Face Theatre production Take Me Out in the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre. Zak Orth makes his Steppenwolf debut; he has appeared on stage in Major Barbara at Roundabout Theatre and A Place at the Table at MCC and in the films Wet Hot American Summer, Woody Allen's Melinda & Melinda and the upcoming Hair High with Steppenwolf ensemble member Martha Plimpton. Sharing the role of the four year-old daughter Kayla are newcomers Lillian Almaguer and Darragh Quinn Dolan. The designers of The Pain and the Itch are Dan Ostling (sets), James F. Ingalls (lights), Janice Pytel (costumes) and Robert Milburn and Michael Bodeen (sound). Edward Sobel is the production dramaturg. The stage manager is Robert Satterlee and Michelle Medvin is the assistant stage manager. Previews for The Pain and the Itch are June 30-July 9, 2005. The production opens Sunday, July 10, 2005, at 6:00 p.m., and runs through August 28, 2005. Curtain times are: Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30 p.m., as well as Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:00 p.m. and Wednesday matinees on August 10, 17 and 24 at 2:00 p.m. There will be no Sunday evening performances on August 14, 21 and 28. Tickets are $20-$60. Contact Audience Services at 312-335-1650, or visit steppenwolf.org. The performance on July 27, 2005 will be sign language interpreted for the deaf and hard of hearing. The performance on July 28, 2005 will be audio-described for the blind and sight impaired. The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust is the Exclusive Production Sponsor of The Pain and the Itch. Additional support provided by the Steppenwolf Auxiliary Council. Free post-show discussions presented by Artistic Director Martha Lavey and Associate Artistic Director Curt Columbus will be held after the Wednesday matinee performances. Post-show discussions with the cast or artistic staff are held Tuesdays and Thursdays during the regular run. This project was commissioned through Steppenwolf's New Plays Initiative. Steppenwolf gratefully acknowledges its 2004-2005 season sponsors: Premier Benefactors—Ogilvy & Mather, Inc., and Sara Lee Foundation; Grand Benefactors—American Express, Bank One, Fidelity Investments, The Shubert Foundation, Inc., The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and United Airlines; Benefactors—Deloitte, Lord, Bissell & Brook, LLP, and Vinci. Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s programs are partially supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency grant and by a CityArts Program 4 grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Steppenwolf’s New Plays Initiative is generously sponsored by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Zell Family Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Vince Club Family Foundation, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, and support from the members of the Directors Circle. 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-five artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking and textual adaptation.