Rising playwright Robert Aguirre-Sacasa (Based on a Totally True Story) and Steppenwolf ensemble member Tracy Letts (Bug, Killer Joe) will each get a new work staged in the 2007-08 season, in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre.
Aguirre-Sacasa's Good Boys and True (Dec. 6, 2007-Feb. 10, 2008) will be directed by ensemble member Amy Morton and feature ensemble member (and artistic director) Martha Lavey. In it, "Brandon Hardy is brilliant, athletic and charming, the kind of young man that makes St. Joe's Preparatory School proud," according to Steppenwolf. "When the Ivy League-bound senior becomes the center of a scandal that threatens to destroy his future, his mother must sort fact from fiction. A potent, riveting world premiere drama from a dynamic young writer."
Letts' Superior Donuts (June 19-Aug. 17, 2008) will be directed by ensemble member Amy Morton and feature ensemble members Jon Hill and Yasen Peyankov.
According to Steppenwolf, "Arthur Przybyszewski owns a decrepit donut shop in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. Franco Wicks, a black teenager who is his only employee, wants to change the shop for the better. Steppenwolf concludes the season with ensemble member Tracy Letts' provocative world premiere comedy about the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive power of friendship."
The new Steppenwolf season will begin Sept. 13-Nov. 11 with Arthur Miller's The Crucible directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro and featuring ensemble members Alana Arenas, Ian Barford, Francis Guinan, Ora Jones, Tracy Letts, James Meredith and Alan Wilder, with Kelly O'Sullivan. Carter's Way, written and directed by ensemble member Eric Simonson, with music by Darrell Leonard, featuring ensemble member Robert Breuler, will make its Chicago debut Feb. 28-April 27, 2008.
After a run at Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Oscar-winning ensemble member Simonson's play with music arrives at Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre. "It's Kansas City in 1936, the peak of the city's legendary jazz era, with jam-packed live clubs, lucrative recording deals, and a new device called radio," according to Steppenwolf. "Oriole Carter, a brilliant black saxophonist, is in the center of it all. Can he survive without selling out?"
Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone will play March 27-July 27, 2008, under the direction of associate artist Jessica Thebus, featuring ensemble members Kate Arrington, Ian Barford and Molly Regan, with Coby Goss in the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre.
"Jean starts answering Gordon's phone because he's, well, dead, and can't answer it himself. When the phone won't stop ringing, and she can't stop answering, Jean is forced to look at her connections and find her calling. An insightful, fantastic journey…"
Sarah Ruhl gained widespread recognition for her play The Clean House, which won the prestigious Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2004 and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2005. She also won the 2006 MacArthur Fellowship.
Subscription packages start at $185. Visit www.steppenwolf.org for more information.
