The Steppenwolf ensemble first began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a school in Highland Park, Illinois, the ambitious brainchild of three high school and college friends: Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney and Gary Sinise. Fast forward 50 years and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company has become the nation’s premier ensemble theatre with 51 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions have made this theatre legendary – from the early phenomenon of Balm in Gilead, to The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County, Downstate, The Brother/Sister Plays, and more recently, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Purpose.

Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 14 Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prize-winning commissions and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair, Keating Crown—Steppenwolf continually redefines the landscape of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf operates as a not-for-profit organization relying on community support to produce or present engaging plays, readings and other events every year on our three stages. The theatre’s artistic programming draws a multi-generational audience of nearly 200,000 from the greater metropolitan Chicago area, with a broader impact that reaches all around the globe. 

OUR HISTORY