Synopsis

Bee is a young woman who believes she has the uncanny ability to see the future, and maybe even alter it. With the click of a television remote, we loop through time in this dark, funny world premiere about a woman bent on reinventing her own destiny - and possibly the world.

Bruce Norris has on ongoing collaboration with Steppenwolf where his plays The Unmentionables, The Pain and the Itch, We All Went Down to Amsterdam, The Infidel and Purple Heart (also in Galway, Ireland) were commissioned and produced. Anna D. Shapiro won a 2008 Tony® Award for her direction of Steppenwolf’s critically-acclaimed production of August: Osage County. Other Steppenwolf directing credits include the 2008-2009 season production of Up as well as Three Days of Rain, Drawer Boy, I Never Sang for My Father and Man from Nebraska. She is also head of the Graduate Directing Program at Northwestern University.

Running Time

Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes, including 1 Intermission

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 stage effects(such as strobe lights or theatrical fog) that might have a bearing on patron comfort, please contact the box office at 312-335-1650.

Watch & Listen

Cast & Artists

The Artists

Featured Ensemble Members

The Cast

Reviews

“Fascinating, compelling, smart and uncompromising... it makes your head spin in all the right ways.” – Chicago Tribune

“Highly entertaining and exceptionally thought-provoking comedy.”- Variety

“Highly recommended!” - Chicago Sun-Times

“If you only see one play this year, see Steppenwolf Theatre’s A Parallelogram” – Chicago Theatre Blog

Program Articles

In Contemplation of Giant Questions

Playwright Bruce Norris discusses the making of A Parallelogram with Director Anna D. Shapiro and Artistic Director Martha Lavey.

Letter from Artistic Director on A Parallelogram

Our beliefs about how we can or cannot control our own destiny are germane to the decisions we make about how to interact with the world.

Thinking Ahead: Everyday Psychics and A Parallelogram

Can we know the future in advance?

Uncovering Illusion in the Work of Bruce Norris

In the search for a scapegoat, Norris’s characters first try to condemn other people and finally come to painful self-knowledge.

Unfreezing the Play

Theater is a series of ongoing interpretations.

Running Time

Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes, including 1 Intermission

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 stage effects(such as strobe lights or theatrical fog) that might have a bearing on patron comfort, please contact the box office at 312-335-1650.