Morton played ferocious daughter Barbara in the Steppenwolf and Broadway productions of Letts' August: Osage County.

Detroit, a new play by Lisa D'Amour, will get its world premiere in the fall. The new plays Middletown, by Will Eno, and Laura Eason's Sex With Strangers will also be staged. The latter was seen in a developmental production at Steppenwolf in summer 2009 in the First Look program; this is the first time a First Look show has gone on to a mainstage Steppenwolf run.

The season's theme is "public/private self," artistic director said in her March 10 announcement.

"The five plays we have chosen explore how the public and private aspects of our lives unfold in an increasingly complex world," Lavey said in a statement. "We have chosen five stories that, in their unique ways, reveal the dual nature of our public/private lives and the multiple communities in which we circulate. The dynamic interplay between our public and private selves is home to both our darkness and our brilliance."

Steppenwolf ensemble members currently confirmed for the 2010-2011 season include Alana Arenas, Kate Arrington, Robert Breuler, K. Todd Freeman, Tina Landau, Tracy Letts, Amy Morton, Sally Murphy and Yasen Peyankov. Additional casting to be announced. The Steppenwolf Theatre Company 2010-2011 Subscription Season includes:

Detroit
A new play by Lisa D'Amour
Featuring ensemble members Kate Arrington and Robert Breuler in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre
Sept. 9-Nov. 7
"Picture-perfect couple Ben and Mary fire up the grill to welcome the new neighbors who've moved into the long-empty house next door. Three barbeques later, the fledgling friendship veers out of control, shattering Ben and Mary's carefully maintained semblance of success — with comic, unexpected consequences. Detroit is a fresh, off-beat look at what happens when we dare to open ourselves up to something new."

Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Directed by Pam MacKinnon
Featuring ensemble members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre
Dec. 2, 2010–Feb. 6, 2011
"On the campus of a small New England college, George and Martha invite a new professor and his wife home for a nightcap. As the cocktails flow, the young couple finds themselves caught in the crossfire of a savage marital war where the combatants attack the self deceptions they forged for their own survival. Ensemble members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton face off as one of theatre’s most notoriously dysfunctional couples in Albee's hilarious and harrowing masterpiece."

Sex with Strangers
By Laura Eason
Directed by associate artist Jessica Thebus
Featuring ensemble member Sally Murphy with Stephen Louis Grush in the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre
Jan. 20–May 15, 2011
"Ethan is a hot young writer whose online journals of 'sexcapades' are the buzz of the blogosphere. Olivia is an attractive 30-something whose own writing career is fizzling. They hook up, sex turns into dating and dating into something more complicated. A break-out hit at Steppenwolf's 2009 First Look Repertory, Sex with Strangers explores how we invent our identity — online and off — and what happens when our private lives become public domain."

The Hot L Baltimore
By Lanford Wilson
Directed by ensemble member Tina Landau
Featuring ensemble members Alana Arenas, K. Todd Freeman and Yasen Peyankov in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre
March 24–May 29, 2011
"The Hotel Baltimore used to be the swankiest place in town — now it has a date with the wrecking ball. Eviction notices just went out to its residents, who live on the fringes of society and call the seedy hotel home. This acclaimed play from the author of Balm in Gilead is filled with everyday humanity — unexpectedly intimate and moving. Helmed by visionary director Tina Landau, Hot L Baltimore reveals the private lives of an unconventional community about to be turned inside out."

Middletown
A new play by Will Eno
Directed by Les Waters
Featuring ensemble member Alana Arenas in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre
June 16–Aug. 14, 2011
"Mary Swanson just moved to Middletown. About to have her first child, she is eager to enjoy the neighborly bonds a small town promises. But life in Middletown is complicated: neighbors are near strangers and moments of connection are fleeting. Middletown is a playful, poignant portrait of a town with two lives, one ordinary and visible, the other epic and mysterious."

To purchase a 2010-2011 subscription, call (312) 335-1650 or visit www.steppenwolf.org.