Lobby & Amenities

The entrance to the 1700 Theater is through Steppenwolf’s popular Front Bar, a welcoming space that opens in the late afternoon, offering patrons a place to gather for drinks, coffee, bites to eat, or just an inviting collaborative space to gather for creative conversation.

The entrance to both Front Bar as well as the 1700 Theater are zero-step entry ground-level spaces closest to Steppenwolf’s valet parking lot with accessible parking spaces. The 1700 Theater Lobby space also features two multi-stall all-gender restrooms directly next to the 1700 Theater entrance.

HISTORY

Since 2016, the 1700 Theater has served as the home for Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series which provides space and resources to local performing artists of all kinds: dancers, musicians, theatre makers, puppeteers, comedians, drag artists, storytellers, poets and more. 1700 also hosts work from local Chicago Theatre Companies for multi-week runs, providing institutional resources, support and visibility to forge new relationships between artists, communities and audiences.

Since opening its doors, the 1700 Theater has been a bustling space, hosting more than 400 unique engagements for 1200+ performances of work from thousands of local performing artists and companies committed to creating brave, bold and innovative live experiences.

Previous presentations in the 1700 space have included collaborations with CLATA, D-Composed Ensemble, Definition Theatre, Eighth Blackbird, The Gift Theatre, Lucky Plush Productions, Alex Grelle, Bambi Banks and Teatro Vista Productions, among many others.

1700 Theater Inquiries

As a space that hosts a multidisciplinary performance series, we are primarily interested in connecting with Chicago-based artists who have an existing body of presentable work that incorporates diversity across genre, form, and perspective. Invitations to see work are welcome and can be directed to lookout@steppenwolf.org. Please note, we do not accept unsolicited full-length scripts.