STREAMING SEPT 29 – OCT 24
NYT CRITIC'S PICK
TRACY LETTS PLAYS LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE
As we prepare for our return to the stage, we are excited to share three new virtual projects for the 2021/22 season written by ensemble member Tracy Letts. These gripping pieces create the opening landscape of this season and will mark a bridge between where we have been and where we are going. Our virtual stage is a celebration of the profound connection that theatre—in whatever form it finds itself—offers us all.
“These plays share at least one thread: a world off-kilter. But since I wrote these pieces, the actual world has undergone some hair-raising transformations, which have cast mysterious new light on these plays. They feel very much like stories for 2021.” – Ensemble member Tracy Letts
TICKET INFO
Tickets are no longer on sale.
Single tickets grant access to all three virtual plays for $20.
Students, teachers, artists & essential workers get access for $10.
Access is FREE with a Steppenwolf 2021/22 Classic Membership.
If you are having difficulty purchasing tickets, feel free to call Audience Services during business hours at 312-335-1650 for assistance.
Playwright Tracy Letts
Tony & Pulitzer Prize winning playwright & actor Tracy Letts is the author of plays August: Osage County, Killer Joe, Superior Donuts, Man from Nebraska and more. Steppenwolf will raise the curtain once again on our blistering and extraordinary revival of Tracy’s play BUG in November, welcoming audiences back with the previously sold-out award-winning production. The Steppenwolf production of his acclaimed play The Minutes begins performances on Broadway at Studio 54 in March 2022.
About the Plays
NIGHT SAFARI
A monologue filmed in a studio location
Written by ensemble member Tracy Letts
Directed by Patrick Zakem
Featuring Rainn Wilson
Run time: 13:40 minutes
The nocturnal habits of the Panamanian Night Monkey, the life cycle of the Paradoxical Frog, and the mating rituals of middle-aged male homo sapiens. This wry monologue poses the question: are we so distant from the whims of our biology? Enjoy your tour, and please remember—do not feed the animals.
“Wilson is terrific… managing to make boorishness and hostility human if not sympathetic. In merciless close-ups, he looks as if he’s actively curdling.” – The New York Times
THE OLD COUNTRY
A filmed vignette, inhabited by puppets
Written by ensemble member Tracy Letts
Directed by Patrick Zakem
Featuring ensemble members William Petersen and Karen Rodriguez with Mike Nussbaum
Run time: 9:21 minutes
Two men in a diner drain the last drops of their coffees and think about ordering dessert. In the denouement of their (physical, intellectual, and sexual) lives, they wax nostalgic and try to communicate across a wide divide.
“Deepened by the choice to stage the piece, written for humans, with [papier-mâché] puppets… their sad gorgeousness and apt materiality — Ted’s stringy white hair looks like Scotch tape, as if it alone were holding him together — give 'The Old Country' the weight of universal tragedy, in just eight minutes.” – The New York Times
THE STRETCH
A monologue filmed in a studio location
Written by ensemble member Tracy Letts
Directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro
Featuring ensemble member Tracy Letts
Run time: 15:55 minutes
And they’re off, for the 108th running of the El Dorado Stakes! But this race is long-distance... and maybe not what it first seems…
“Shapiro trusts the words to score the play’s points in passing, and in Letts’s imperturbably dense performance they do.” – The New York Times
Watch & Listen
Cast & Artists
NIGHT SAFARI
Artists
Playwright Tracy Letts†
Director Patrick Zakem
Director of Photography Robert Benavides
Editor Allen Cordell
Sound Design Sarah D. Espinoza
Artistic Producer Leelai Demoz
Production Manager Elise Hausken
Casting Director J.C. Clementz, CSA
Production Stage Manager Laura D. Glenn*
CAST
Gary Rainn Wilson*
Additional Staff: Kevin Yoshimitsu (First Assistant Camera), Lawrence Le (Gaffer), Marilyn Loud (Audio), Abigail Bradley (Hair & Makeup), Liberace Cruzuee (Production Assistant), Jean-Paul Claude (Teleprompter), Erin Cook (Infection Control Specialist), c2 (Captioning), Bridget Melton (Audio Describer)
Special thanks to Rainn Wilson, Carlton Norris, Erin Cook, Joel Moorman, Will Allan, Tom Irwin, Snorty and Amy
THE OLD COUNTRY
Artists
Playwright Tracy Letts†
Director Patrick Zakem
Puppet and Production Designer Grace Needlman
Director of Photography Christopher Rejano
Editor Allen Cordell
Sound Designer & Original Music Pornchanok Kanchanabanca‡
Artistic Producer Leelai Demoz
Production Manager Elise Hausken
Casting Director J.C. Clementz, CSA
Production Stage Manager Laura D. Glenn*
Puppeteer (Landy) Felix Mayes
Puppeteer (Ted) Mike Oleon
Assistant Puppeteers Grace Needlman & Sarah Hahm
Additional Staff: JuJu Laurie (Production Assistant), Patrick Dowdle (First Assistant Camera), Nils Fritjofson & Karen Thompson (Lighting Technicians), Myles Wakefield J. (Props Assistant), Robert Needlman (Scenic Fabricator), c2 (Captioning), Bridget Melton (Audio Describer)
THE STRETCH
Artists
Playwright Tracy Letts†
Director Anna D. Shapiro†‡
Director of Photography Camrin Petramale
Editor & Sound Designer Allen Cordell
Artistic Producer Leelai Demoz
Production Manager Elise Hausken
Casting Director J.C. Clementz, CSA
Production Stage Manager Laura D. Glenn*
CAST
Announcer Tracy Letts†*
Additional Staff: Patrick Dowdle (First Assistant Camera), Alan Chow (Audio), Karen Thompson (Lighting Technician), Matthew Chapman (LookOut Production Supervisor), Shannon Higgins (Hair & Makeup), Sarah Hahm (Teleprompter), Christine D. Freeburg (COVID Safety Manager), c2 (Captioning), Bridget Melton (Audio Describer)
Special thanks to Erin Cook and Patrick Zakem
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for nonprofit professional theater.
† denotes a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble.
* denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.
+ denotes a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829 of the IATSE.
‡ denotes a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
Content Advisory
Steppenwolf does not offer advisories about subject matter, as sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have any questions about content, age-appropriateness or visual effects that might impact your viewing experience, please contact the box office at 312-335-1650.
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Experience the full 2021/22 season with added benefits, including access to these Tracy Letts virtual productions.
Sponsors
Night Safari Grand Production Sponsor