Curious Theatre Branch, with co-producers Chicago Danztheater Ensemble, Chicago Dramatists and Labyrinth Club, are pleased to announce the 37th annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival, September 20 - October 26 at four venues across Chicago. The month-long festival of shows will kick off with a special “afternoon tea” edition of the Full Moon Vaudeville, this concert launches the festival on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. at Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave., headlined by art/folk/cabaret act The Crooked Mouth and other special guests. 

Throughout its nearly four decades, Rhinofest has endeavored to welcome as many participants as possible, both as artists and as audience members. To that end, artists pay no fee to apply or to produce their works at Rhinofest and all tickets are offered at pay-what-you-can pricing, with a $25 suggested price. Tickets and details for all upcoming shows will be available Sunday, Sept. 6 at Rhinofest.com.

Since its inception in 1989, as a single weekend of shows in the Wicker Park neighborhood, this unique and mutable fringe festival has expanded and contracted to fit the time and has become the longest running Fringe Festival in Chicago. Festival events will take place at four venues this year: Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave. in Humboldt Park; Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen in River West, Labyrinth Arts Club, 3658 N. Pulaski Rd. in the Irving Park neighborhood and Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave. 

The 37th Rhinofest will feature mostly original work from Chicago artists and companies, including new work from The Fat Theater Project, the 10th anniversary of Ira Murfin’s An Interview, a new work by Jessica Wright Buha, new work from Drinking and Writing Theater, and, of course, an evening of short works by The Curious Theatre Branch, Rhinofest’s host. New to the Festival in 2026 are partnerships with Chicago Danztheater, a beautiful space in Andersonville, featuring movement-based work and a creativity workshop called Maps, Guides & Legends: a generative writing and interdisciplinary art-making workshop on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.  

This year's festival will feature plays, music and performances from more than 35 companies and solo artists. Among the highlights are: 

The Full Moon Vaudeville

Facility Theater, 1138 N. California Ave.

Sunday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m.

The annual bacchanalia headlined by art/folk/cabaret act The Crooked Mouth 

includes a variety of acts to inaugurate the festival featuring cool things as yet unknown and a rare afternoon teatime show.

Make Out the Words 

by The Curious Theatre Branch

Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.

Saturday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 4 at 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. 

Make Out the Words: two new short plays inspired by the unproduced writing of the late Matt Rieger, by Curious ensemble members Charlotte Lastra and Chris Bower. The show also features a performance of Rieger's own text by Beau O'Reilly. 

A strange encounter on a train leaves an aimless woman desperate for answers, and a flood with no explanation leaves a couple with a basement full of ruined Moby Dicks.

Drinking and Writing Theater: Miersten Wolf

Labyrinth Arts Club, 3658 N. Pulaski Rd.

Thursdays: Sept. 24, Oct. 1, Oct. 8, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.

In this 70-minute musical, three stories are interwoven with 10 original songs. The stories include the truthful biographical information of the writer, the history of Chicago's problem/solution with its waste and, lastly, a fictional story of a crib keeper on Lake Michigan who dreams of a mysterious woman named Miersten Wolf.

Works in Progress

By Jeff Glassman, Mark Enslin and Susan Parenti

Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.

Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m.

Works in progress include Radish is My Teacher by Jeff Glassman, a collection of scripts for puppets by Susan Parenti and a libretto by Mark Enslin about a stranded international volunteer incarcerated firefighter. Both Susan Parenti & Jeff Glassman have had new works produced here in Chicago and around the country over the last decade.

The Metamorphosis aka The Adult Show/I'm a Bug!!! aka the Kids Show

By Jessica Wright Buha

Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave.

Sundays: Oct. 4, Oct. 11, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25 at 11 a.m.

This staged reading presents TWO works-in-progress that will happen at the same time (in two separate rooms). 

The Metamorphosis aka The Adult Show, is a five-actor immersive show based on Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis.” 

I'm a Bug!!!! aka the Kids Show, is a two-actor/teaching artist show for kids based on Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis.” This second piece will also serve as child care for audience members going to see The Metamorphosis.

Shaking the Beckett: 

The Magic of Lady M. and A Needless & Wasteful Requirement

By Fat Theater Company

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10 at 9 p.m. 

These two one acts are both subjective and satirical interpretations of the works of two theatrical masters: William Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett. The Magic of Lady M. by Laura Scruggs reimagines the tragedy of “Macbeth” as a feminist political satire in a style akin to John Waters or “Ru Paul's Drag Race.” A Needless & Wasteful Requirement by Robert MacCrae follows two actresses awaiting the performance rights to produce Waiting for Godot, which becomes an existential absurd comedy in the vein of Beckett himself. 

An Interview

By Ira Murfin

Sunday, Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. at Labyrinth Arts Club, 3658 N. Pulaski Rd.

Saturday, Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

An Interview is an ongoing series of encounters between rotating pairs of participants, who meet across a table in front of an audience to first revisit an interview conducted during the previous installment and now to conduct a new, unrehearsed conversation. Every performance is specific, unique and unrepeatable, while each encounter is connected to all the others by the format and sequence that carries through the project’s 10-year history. 

Special Event: Maps, Guides & Legends

Led by Sherry Antonini and Jenny Magnus

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W. Foster Ave.

Saturday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Maps, Guides & Legends is a generative writing and interdisciplinary art-making workshop. A writing and creativity day based on the idea that doing is learning, and experiments and games are an explosive way to try new things. Antonini and Magnus have been teaching together for 30 years, from the incredible Interdisciplinary Arts Department at Columbia College Chicago back in the day to writing classes at The School of the Art Institute and everything in between. This duo knows how to have fun and get ideas rolling. Anyone can get ready to begin, begin again or find a way through the middle of a project. Open to writers and interdisciplinary artists at all levels, this workshop will point to new project routes, productive detours and discoveries of what can be found along unpaved roads. 

About the Rhinoceros Theater Festival

The event that became the Rhinoceros Theater Festival began in 1988 as an offshoot of the Bucktown Arts Fest and in its first year featured just two days of performances, including work by Curious Theatre Branch co-founders Jenny Magnus and Beau O'Reilly. Curious went on to produce the Rhino across many neighborhoods and venues over the years, with events variously taking place in Wicker Park/Bucktown, Rogers Park, Andersonville and Avondale; at spaces including the Lunar Cabaret and Full Moon Café, the Neo-Futurarium, the Society for New Things, The Garage, The Firehouse, Remains Theatre and Prop Thtr. In the mid-2000s, Rhinofest settled at Prop Thtr in Avondale as its long-term base and Prop and Curious co-produced the festival among a shifting group of curators for many years. Following the closure of Prop's Elston Ave. space in 2020 and a year off during the height of the pandemic, Rhinofest now returns to its expanded form, producing shows by more than 50 artists at multiple venues.

Collaboraction Theatre Company announced today two major productions for its 2026-27 season: the world premiere of Chicago writer Willie Round’s Mud Life this fall, and the return of Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till in February.

“For our 31st season, at our House of Belonging, Collaboraction opens our chamber of change to Chicagoans to cultivate new knowledge, empathy, dialogue, and action with two plays by writing partners and Collaboraction Company Members, G. Riley Mills and Willie Round. One play is in the present. The other in the past. Both impact our future,” said Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley. “Mud Life, set in a worn down recording studio on Chicago’s West side and based on Willie's actual life, is a raw, revealing look at the hopes and dreams of escaping poverty and scarcity through music. The other is based on the heartbreak of Mamie Till-Mobley's life, an excavation of the once-erased courtroom proceeding where a mother and others risked their lives to confront and dismantle white hatred, changing us all, forever.”

Both productions will have multiweek runs at Collaboraction’s new House of Belonging, now anchoring the Kimball Arts Center, 1757 N. Kimball Ave. in Chicago’s Humboldt Park community. Tickets to both productions are already on sale at collaboraction.org.

First is the debut of Mud Life, a raw, intimate drama by and based on Chicago writer, rapper, producer and Collaboraction Company Member Willie Round’s experiences growing up on Chicago’s west side making music.

The plot spins around Anthony and Devontae, two aspiring hip-hop artists from Chicago’s North Lawndale community who are struggling to climb beyond their circumstances while creating music under the control of a manipulative strip-club owner. When an enigmatic outsider offers them a rare shot at escape, their loyalty fractures, and their bond is tested in ways that alter the course of their lives. 

Mud Life first entered Collaboraction’s orbit in 2019 as the seven-minute short play Broke Down Drone in Collaboraction’s Peacebook Festival. That experience spawned an award-winning short film of the same name. More recently, Round returned to the script, which received workshops and readings earlier this summer at both Bramble Theatre and Definition Theatre. 

Collaboraction Artistic Director Anthony Moseley will direct Collaboraction’s world premiere of Mud Life. Martine Kei-Green Rogers, Dean, The Theatre School at DePaul University, is dramaturg.

Previews are Wednesday through Saturday, October 21-24 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run through November 15: Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 pm; Sunday at 3 p.m. Industry Night is Monday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. No show Saturday, October 31. Tickets are $15-$50. 

Collaboraction’s season continues with the return of its critically acclaimed smash hit Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, February 3-March 14, 2027. Back by popular demand, Trial in the Delta is an unforgettable theatrical event that invites audiences to confront the truth, honor a legacy, and experience one of the greatest injustices of all time as if it were happening today.

On September 20, 1955, the trial of the men who murdered 12-year-old Emmett Till began in Sumner, Mississippi, and the world would never be the same. In this immersive, 90-minute live docudrama, Collaboraction transforms the long-buried trial transcript into a gripping theatrical experience that places audiences face-to-face with the people whose testimony spurred the civil rights movement. Actors seated among the audience rise to take the stand as witnesses for the prosecution and defense—including Mamie Till-Bradley—bringing raw, unfiltered history to life. The Chicago Reader called last year’s staging, the first production in Collaboraction’s new home in Humboldt Park, “a sharp reminder of how close the events of 70 years ago are to our own time.” The Chicago Tribune gave it 3-½ stars, noting it “makes plain the injustice of that moment.”

Collaboraction’s fourth remount of the award-winning Trial in the Delta, co-adapted by Willie Round and G. Riley Mills, co-directed by Anthony Moseley and Dana Anderson, will feature a powerhouse cast of returning artists, including NK Gutiérrez as Mamie Till-Bradley, along with new faces. 

Previews are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, February 3-5 at 7:30 p.m. Opening Night is Saturday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. Performances continue through March 15: Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Each show will be followed by a short Crucial Conversation. Tickets are $20-$60. Twelve premium seats inside the jury box are sold at every show. Groups of 10 or more receive a 10% discount. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (312) 226-9633 for more information.

Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till is presented in partnership with The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, as part of the Till Life Matters Initiative. Thanks to this relationship, Trial in the Delta was showcased at The Till Institute’s Emmett Till’s 85th Birthday Commemorative Dinner on July 31, the first public gala at the new Obama Presidential Center.

Also on stage this season at Collaboraction

Collaboration’s new You Belong Here series is keeping the company’s home in Humboldt Park activated year round. 

You Belong Here provides a new platform for independent artists and groups at any stage in their career, with an emphasis on those who live in proximity to the Kimball Arts Center in Humboldt Park. Curated by company member Sandra Delgado, the series is meant to take the barriers out of self-producing by providing free space and equipment, stage management, marketing and PR support and a generous door split model. 

To illustrate, You Belong Here shows this August at Collaboraction include:

Bilingual Improv School’s ¡El Showcase!, Wednesday, August 12 at 7 p.m.

A night of hard-core dance music with Silver October’s HEARTFELT HARDCORE, Friday, August 14 at 8 p.m.

Darshita Jain and Ghutarghoo Productions’ literary reading series Roomani, Tuesday, August 25 at 6:30 p.m.

The People’s Pot & Pantry, serving free, healthy meals to Chicago’s performing arts community, Monday, August 24 at 4 p.m.

The hilarious comedy variety show Max and Binkey: The Funktion, Wednesday, August 26 at 7 p.m.

Bilingual Improv School’s Cómo Se Dice?, Friday, August 28 at 7:30 p.m.

That’s not all. Collaboraction Executive Director Darlene Jackson, aka DJ Lady D, continues to present her new monthly gathering series, The Frequency. Collaboraction’s youth ensemble The Luminaries continues to take over the stage once a month with its open mic night, Radiate.

And Collaboraction looks forward to being a new host site for the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance’s Destinos Festival this fall.

For tickets and more information about any of these shows, visit collaboraction.org. To submit a You Belong Here performance proposal, visit collaboraction.org/you-belong-here.

Note: Free and nearby street parking is available near the Kimball Arts Center. For CTA riders, the 82 Kimball-Homan bus stops right in front of the building. The theater is also a short walk from the Kimball stop on the 72 North and 73 Armitage bus lines. For bikers and pedestrians, the Kimball trailhead on The 606 leads directly to the Kimball Arts Center. 

About Collaboraction

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026, Collaboraction is an award-winning Chicago theater company that uses immersive, socially conscious performance to spark change and build equity. Across all platforms, Collaboraction uses its KEDA methodology - Knowledge, Empathy, Dialogue, and Action - to spark changes in behavior and attitudes that manifest social change.

Collaboraction’s past work includes NBC Chicago’s three-time Emmy Award-winning The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Trial in the Delta, the resulting live stage play film, Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till, live productions of Crime Scene, Moonset Sunrise, A Blue Island In the Red Sea, its annual Peacebook and Sketchbook festivals, and its youth ensembles, The Light and The Luminaries.

Collaboraction receives generous operating support and program funding from the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Marc and Jeanne Malnati Family Foundation, Gary Grube, the Lester and Hope Abelson Fund for the Performing Arts at the Chicago Community Trust, Naperville Rotary Club, Field Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Collaboraction is led by Darlene Jackson, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director; Anthony Moseley, Chief Programming Officer and Artistic Director; and a dedicated board, company members and staff.  For more information, visit collaboraction.org or follow Collaboraction on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok.

The Sarah Siddons Society is honored to present its 2026 Leading Artist Award to James Moore, Music Director and Conductor of Lincoln Center Theatre's Tony Award-winning revival of Ragtime.

Moore will be honored by the Society on Sunday, September 13, 2026 at The CheckOut, 4116 N. Clark St. in Chicago. Following a 6 pm cocktail reception, attendees will enjoy a musical tribute celebrating Moore's career featuring performances by Alfreda Burke, Jim Corti (original Ragtime cast), Rodrick Dixon (original Ragtime cast), Tom Michael and Zoé Sotores, under the music direction of Beckie Menzie and directed by Joan Curto. Single tickets ($125) and sponsorships are currently available at sarahsiddonssociety.org/events-list/2026/leading-artist-award.

The Leading Artist Award (formerly the Leading Lady Award and Leading Man Award) is given by the Sarah Siddons Society to a theatre artist of accomplishment who has a Chicago connection. Moore grew up in the Chicago area. Past recipients include David Cromer, Michael Greif, Courtney Reed, Dominic Missimi, Jackie Taylor, E. Faye Butler, Heidi Kettenring, Jim Corti and Rondi Reed, among others.

Sarah Siddons Society President Martin Balogh comments "The Sarah Siddons Society is extremely pleased to present its Leading Artist Award to James Moore in recognition of his extraordinary contributions as a musical director and conductor to countless Broadway productions. His exceptional artistry, dedication and influence have enriched the American theater and inspired audiences and performers alike. We are honored to celebrate his remarkable achievements with this well-deserved award."

About James Moore:

James Moore's credits include Lincoln Center Theatre: Ragtime, South Pacific. Broadway: Miss Saigon, Gigi, On the Town, Follies, Ragtime, Steel Pier, Company. Off-Broadway: Ragtime (City Center Gala), Road Show (Encores! Off-Center), The Pirates of Penzance (Public Theatre Gala). Tours: Les Misérables (Music Supervisor), The Producers, Kiss Me, Kate, Crazy for You, And The World Goes 'Round. Regional: Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Gypsy (The Muny), Titanic (Signature Theatre), The Music Man, Mame, (The Kennedy Center) Hello, Dolly! (Ford's Theatre). Guest conductor with The Boston Pops, National Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke's. Education: Master and Bachelor of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

About Sarah Siddons Society

Since its inception, the mission of the Society has been to fund scholarships to promising theater arts students at top Chicago area universities including; The Theater Department, Columbia College; The Theatre School at DePaul University; Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, Northwestern University School of Communications and the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University. For additional information, visit sarahsiddonssociety.org.

Red Clay Dance Company, Chicago's premier Afro-contemporary dance company, proudly announces its exciting Season 18: Spectrum programming, including Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward's powerful evening-length work Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar at Northwestern University's Wirtz Center in Evanston in October 2026, and a spring concert featuring work by Sanders-Ward alongside Rena Butler, Beatrice Capote and Bebe Miller at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago in April 2027.

For more information, concert updates and tickets, visit redclaydance.com/season18. Tickets for performances of Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar, October 1-3, 2026, are now available starting at $42, with discounts for students and seniors.

In its 18th season, Red Clay Dance Company celebrates the theme Spectrum, a reflection of how one bold vision has grown into a vibrant movement. Like light passing through a prism, the Company's founding mission has expanded into a diverse community of artists, students, educators, audiences, partners and supporters—each bringing their own unique brilliance to a shared purpose. Season 18: Spectrum honors the collective power of Artivism and the many voices that shape Red Clay Dance Company's story, celebrating the full spectrum of Artivists whose creativity, resilience and collective action are shaping a more just, vibrant and connected future.

"I am thrilled to welcome audiences to our 18th season, Spectrum. Every season is a milestone worth celebrating, and this one feels especially meaningful because it reflects the extraordinary village that has grown from one vision into a movement fueled by so many voices and spirits," says Red Clay Dance Company's Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward. "As we celebrate where we've been and look toward the future through our 1 Million Artivists Strong initiative, I hope this season reminds us all that our unique gifts shine brightest when they come together to create something greater than ourselves."

Season 18: Spectrum kicks off with a performance from Red Clay Dance Company during the free Chicago Live Festival at Navy Pier on Saturday, September 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Fall 2026 concert Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar

In October, the Company stages a reprisal of Vershawn Sanders-Ward's powerful evening-length work Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar at Northwestern University's Wirtz Center (1949 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL) from October 1–October 3, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. daily. A post-show discussion will be held in partnership with the Black Arts Consortium on opening night, October 1, moderated by Northwestern University Professor Thomas F. DeFrantz.

Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar honors the lives, stories and enduring legacy of missing and murdered Black women and girls. Performed by the award-winning Red Clay Dance Company ensemble, with original music by acclaimed Chicago musician Jamila Woods and costume design by Shaqui Reed and Alyna Michelle, the production blends Afro-contemporary dance, storytelling, digital media and immersive design to create a powerful and deeply resonant experience.

Inspired by The Black Girlhood Altar—the mixed-media installation created by A Long Walk Home artists Scheherazade Tillet and Robert Narcisco—this dance performance incorporates elements of the altar into its scenic and visual design, transforming the stage into a living sanctuary for remembrance, healing and collective action.

Spring 2027 concert at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago

Season 18: Spectrum continues with concerts from the Red Clay Dance Company ensemble at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago (1306 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago) on April 8 and April 9, 2027, at 7:30 p.m. daily. The Company will perform Her Table by Rena Butler, Field: New Ground by Bebe Miller, Written on the Flesh by Vershawn Sanders-Ward, and a new work by Beatrice Capote.

Paint the Town Red fundraiser

Red Clay Dance Company's season concludes with its annual Paint the Town Red Fundraiser on Saturday, April 10 at 7 p.m. at Red Clay Dance Center (808 E. 63rd Street, Chicago). Themed A Spectrum Celebration, this evening of entertainment, community engagement and philanthropy supports Red Clay Dance Company's mission to awaken Glocal Artivism and empowerment through dance, and build the Company's 1 Million Artivists Strong initiative to connect and activate supporters who believe the arts can strengthen communities and move justice forward.

About the Season 18 choreographers

Vershawn Sanders-Ward is a visionary director, choreographer, educator, and Artivist who is transforming the landscape of contemporary dance through her art and activism. As the Founding Artistic Director and CEO of Red Clay Dance Company, she blends African diasporic dance forms with contemporary techniques, creating performances that inspire social change and provoke thought. A lifelong advocate for community empowerment, Vershawn uses dance as a platform to explore themes of identity, race, and justice.

She has earned numerous accolades, including the inaugural Walder Platform Award, a Dance/USA Artist Fellowship, a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Award, and a 3Arts Award. Most recently, she was selected as a 2026 Creation Fund Artist in support of her new interdisciplinary work, WE THE PEOPLE, and as a 2026 BTLI Artist-in-Residence, contributing to the creative development of the Bronzeville Trail through community-engaged artistic practice. She is also commissioned to create a new work for the University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance during the 2026–27 season.

Vershawn's choreography has been presented at prestigious institutions including Northwestern University and Loyola University Chicago, with commissions extending across the United States and internationally. An accomplished educator, she holds an MFA in Dance from NYU. Her influence extends beyond the stage through her service as a Board Trustee for Dance/USA. A Community Impact Fellow for the Harvard Business School Club and a featured guest on PBS's The Expressway with Dulé Hill, Vershawn's commitment to equity and inclusion in the arts continues to shape the future of dance, culture, and civic engagement globally.

Rena Butler hails from Chicago and began her studies at The Chicago Academy for the Arts. She studied overseas at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan, and received her BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Rena performed with companies including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, AIM by Kyle Abraham, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, David Dorfman Dance, The Kevin Wynn Collection, Pasos Con Sabor Salsa Dance Company, and Gibney Company. Rena is a recipient of the prestigious 2019 Princess Grace Foundation Award for Choreography and San Francisco's 2024 Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography. She has created works for Het Nationale Ballet in The Netherlands, National Ballet of Canada, San Francisco Opera's Orpheus and Euridice, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Norrdans in Sweden, AIM By Kyle Abraham, Gauthier Dance in Stuttgart, Germany, The Lyric Opera of Chicago's Proximity, Cincinnati Ballet, Le Ballet de L'Opéra Grand Avignon and Arles Youth Ballet Company in France, The New Orleans Museum of Modern Art, SALT Dance, a film for Third Coast Percussion x Devonté Hynes/Blood Orange, Oregon Ballet Theater, The Juilliard School, Oklahoma City Ballet, Parsons Dance, TEDxChicago Virtual Salon 3.0: Design Your Life, Charlotte Ballet, BalletX, and more. She was the featured cover story for Dance Magazine's November 2021 issue.

Beatrice Capote is a Cuban American dancer, choreographer, and educator, and the creator of Capotechnique™, a fusion of Afro-Cuban traditions and Contemporary dance. She is an Associate Professor of Contemporary Dance at Indiana University Bloomington and has received critical acclaim for her work, including her role as Yoruba Consultant and Choreographer for The Half God of Rainfall, which earned a 2023 AUDELCO Award nomination. Capote's choreography centers Afro-Cuban narratives and has been presented at major festivals and venues nationwide. She has collaborated with artists such as Angeìlique Kidjo, Paquito D'Rivera, and Wynton Marsalis, and performed with renowned dance companies including Camille A. Brown & Dancers, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, INSPIRT by Christal Brown, and others. Her honors include the 2024–2025 Mellon Foundation Hemisphere Guest Artist in Residence award. 

A native New Yorker, Bebe Miller first performed her choreography at NYC's Dance Theater Workshop in 1978. She formed Bebe Miller Company in 1985 to pursue her interest in finding a physical language for the human condition. Committed to keeping dance available to a wide spectrum of people and to further the conversation about the role of arts and creativity in our culture, Miller is dedicated to providing access to the creative process and expression to diverse communities. She has created more than 50 dance works for the company and has been commissioned and presented by 651 ARTS, BAM Next Wave, DTW, Jacob's Pillow, Joyce Theater, PICA, REDCAT, Walker Art Center, and Wexner Center for the Arts among others. Her choreography has been performed by Kyle Abraham's A.I.M. (Abraham In Motion), Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Oregon Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Philadanco, Salt Lake City's Repertory Dance Theater, the UK's Phoenix Dance Company, PACT Dance Company of Johannesburg, South Africa, and at a host of colleges and universities including the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. Named a Master of African AmericanChoreography by the Kennedy Center in 2005, Bebe has been a Movement Research honoree, has received four New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" awards, the David R. White Award from New York Live Arts, United States Artists and Guggenheim Fellowships, honorary doctorates from Ursinus College and Franklin & Marshall College, and is one of the inaugural class of Doris Duke Artist Award recipients. Bebe is a Distinguished Professor Emerita in The Ohio State University's Department of Dance and lives in Columbus, OH.

About Red Clay Dance Company

Led by Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward, Red Clay Dance Company is a Black women-led, Black-benefiting professional dance organization that moves the world through Artivism—the integration of art and activism to inspire social transformation. Rooted in the dances, histories, and movement technologies of the African Diaspora, Red Clay Dance creates, performs, and teaches work that uplifts Black voices, dismantles systemic inequities, and cultivates collective joy and liberation.

At the heart of the organization is our professional touring company, Red Clay Dance, Chicago's premier Afro-Contemporary dance ensemble. Now in its 17th season, this award-winning company serves as the artistic engine of Red Clay Dance Company, touring locally, nationally and internationally to share stories of the African Diaspora that challenge oppression, celebrate identity, and ignite agency. Red Clay Dance has graced renowned stages such as Jacob's Pillow, The Yard, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Harris Theater for Music & Dance, the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, the DuSable Museum of African American History, ODC Theater, Dance Mission Theater, The Painted Bride Art Center, and the National Theatre of Uganda. Through technically rigorous and culturally grounded performance, the company affirms African-rooted forms as powerful and enduring modes of innovation, expression, and resistance. 

The touring company's artistic excellence informs our education and community engagement programs, including Making the Artivist Apprenticeship and School/Community Education Partnerships, reaching more than 2,500 students and 4,000 families annually. From our home—the Red Clay Dance Center in Chicago's historic Woodlawn neighborhood—we provide access to high-quality dance training, mentorship, and professional development for artists and community members through our classes and In the Making Membership. Together, our ecosystem of touring, teaching, and training sustains a vibrant hub for Glocal Artivism—proving that dance is not just performance, but a pathway to equity, empowerment, and lasting change.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 51st Season with the world premiere of Chicago playwright Stephanie Alison Walker's biting satire Adirondack Chair Circle, directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon (Downstate, Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), playing October 22 — December 6, 2026 in Steppenwolf's Ensemble Theater, 1646 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Single tickets are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. 

Adirondack Chair Circle will feature ensemble member Caroline Neff (Mr. Wolf, Fool for Love, POTUS, Another Marriage), with additional casting to be announced shortly.

About the Production:

A gaggle of suburban moms, armed with pickleball paddles and hard kombucha, are ready to take on the school board in the fight of their lives: attempting to ban the controversial books available to their kids in the school library. But is this trusted inner circle all on the same page? A piercing world premiere from a Chicago playwright, Stephanie Alison Walker's Adirondack Chair Circle exposes the hilarious hypocrisy of the causes we claim and the company we keep. And has a damn good time doing it.

The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design), Izumi Inaba (Costume Design), Barbara Samuels (Lighting Design), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design), Nicholas Hussong (Projection Design), Kate DeVore (Vocal Coach), Bryar Barborka (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Elise Hausken (Production Manager), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Michelle Medvin (Production Stage Manager) and Kathleen Barrett (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Title: Adirondack Chair Circle
Playwright: Stephanie Alison Walker
Director: Pam MacKinnon
Cast: ensemble member Caroline Neff (Evelyn Grace). Additional casting to be announced.

Location: Steppenwolf's Ensemble Theater, 1646 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, October 22 – Saturday, October 31, 2026
Opening: Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 6 pm
Regular run: Tuesday, November 3 – Sunday, December 6, 2026
Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be 7:30 pm performances on Tuesday, October 27, Thursday, November 5, Tuesday, November 10, Wednesday, November 18, Wednesday, November 25, Thursday, November 26 and Tuesday, December 1; there will be an added 2 pm matinees on Wednesday, November 25 and Wednesday, December 2.

Tickets: Classic Memberships starting as low as $165 are now on sale for Steppenwolf's 2026/27 season at steppenwolf.org/myseason. Single tickets for Adirondack Chair Circle ($20 – $149*) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30. *Pricing includes an $8.50 handling fee

Steppenwolf offers 20 tickets for $20 (no added fees) for each performance of every membership series production. Use promo code 20FOR20 to redeem this offer online, available in advance until they're sold out for every main series show. Limit 2 tickets per person. You can also purchase by phone at (312) 335-1650 on the day-of show at 12 pm for main series performances. Limit 2 tickets per person.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-Described and Touch Tour: Sunday, November 22 at 3 pm (1:30 pm Touch Tour)
Open-Captioned: Saturday, November 7 at 3 pm, Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, November 28 at 3 pm
ASL-Interpreted: Friday, December 4 at 7:30 pm

Education and Engagement:

Throughout the 2026/27 season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to the next generation of theatre learners, makers and appreciators with robust education and engagement programming. Programming includes dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions including Topdog/Underdog, Adirondack Chair Circle, The Comeuppance and Ellen B., in-school residencies in partnership with Chicago Public schools, workshops, panels and events specifically geared towards teens, as well as professional development trainings and resources for educators. For additional information about Steppenwolf's Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip visit steppenwolf.org/education-community/school-teacher-programs/field-trips.

Artist Biographies:

Stephanie Alison Walker (Playwright) is an internationally-produced, award-winning playwright whose work is known for the personalization of the political, humor in darkness and the dramatization of the resilience of women. She is a native Chicagoburbian who has lived all over including London, Buenos Aires, San Juan Island and fifteen years in Los Angeles. She received her Bachelors in English/Creative Writing and Spanish from the University of Colorado and her Master of Professional Writing from the University of California. She began writing plays while working for Fox Theatricals in Chicago. Her play about the housing crisis, American Home, was the inaugural winner of American Blues Theatre's Blue Ink Award. Her play about the mothers of the disappeared in Argentina, The Madres, received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at Teatro Vista in Chicago, Skylight Theatre Company in L.A., Moxie Theatre in San Diego and Shrewd Theatre Company in Austin. It was the 2019 Winner of the Francesca Primus Prize, winner of the Ashland New Plays Festival, the Generations Prize and semi-finalist for the CTG/ Humanitas Prize for playwriting. Her follow-up play The Abuelas, premiered at Teatro Vista and was recently adapted into a short film titled The Birthday Gift. The Art of Disappearing was a finalist for the Primus Prize and enjoyed critical praise for the world premiere in Chicago by 16th Street Theater in 2015. Friends with Guns, her play about liberals and gun ownership was an O'Neill Finalist, winner of Best New Play at the 2019 Valley Theatre Awards, and had its Chicago premiere by A Short Leap Theatre Company in 2025. Sophia Hayden Deserves Better tells the story of the architect of the Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and was recently a part of Gglassfest by Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago. The Ordeal of Water, inspired by the first women to work as Longshoremen at the Port of Los Angeles, was most recently a part of Bay Street Theater's New Works Festival. Adirondack Chair Circle, her play that tackles suburban book-banning moms, was developed at The Inkwell Theater Company and A Red Orchid's Studio at A Red Orchid. Her short plays have been anthologized by Smith & Kraus. Her full-lengths are published by Broadway Publishing, Inc. In addition to writing plays, she is currently adapting Friends with Guns and The Abuelas as features while raising two spirited boys and selling real estate in the suburbs of Chicago. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Honor Roll Playwrights, NNPN Affiliated Artist, and a proud alumni of the Playwrights Union. stephaniealisonwalker.com

Pam MacKinnon (Director) is a Tony, Drama Desk and multi-Obie Award winning director. She is the artistic director of American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She has directed more than eighty productions. Her Tony Award-winning production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? originated at Steppenwolf. Her production of Bruce Norris's Downstate (Steppenwolf, National Theatre and Playwrights Horizons) was celebrated with several Jeff Awards and won Pam her second Obie. She served as president of SDC, the national Union of choreographers and directors.

Caroline Neff (Evelyn Grace) is a Steppenwolf ensemble member. At Steppenwolf, she was last seen in Mr. Wolf, Fool for Love, POTUS, Another Marriage, Describe the Night, Seagull, Dance Nation, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, You Got Older, Linda Vista (also Taper Forum and Broadway), The Fundamentals, The Flick, Airline Highway (also Broadway), The Way West, Three Sisters, Annie Bosh is Missing and Where We're Born. Select theatre credits include: Lettie (Jeff Award Best Actor; Victory Gardens Theater); Uncle Vanya (Goodman Theatre); A Brief History of Helen of Troy (Jeff Award for Best Actress), The Knowledge, Harper Regan, In Arabia We'd All Be Kings (Steep Theatre); The Downpour (Route 66 Theatre); Port (Griffin Theatre); 4000 Miles (Northlight Theatre); Moonshiner (Jackalope Theatre). Regional credits include: Peerless (Yale Repertory Theatre). Film and television credits include: FBI, Three Women, Let the Right One In, The Red Line, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Open Tables and Older Children, and heard in multiple Audible Projects such as: Song of the Northwoods, Crowded Hours, Denali and Boar's Nest. She is a proud company member of Steep Theatre and holds her BA from Columbia College.

Accessibility:

As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production. Assistive listening devices (ALDs), large-print programs and Braille programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/access or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sponsor Information:

United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Julius Frankel Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Rich and Margery Feitler, FROST CHICAGO, Jessica and Dominic Green Family Fund, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Orlebeke Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Sacks Family Foundation, Gary Sinise Foundation, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Thoma Bravo, and Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.            

About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier Ensemble Theater 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, Steppenwolf Theatre has had a long-running and undeniable impact on American Theatre and Chicago's cultural landscape. Founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise, Steppenwolf started as a group of friends in their teens and early 20s performing in the basement of a school in Highland Park, Illinois. 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 E. Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the boundaries of live theater and pushes the limits of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma and Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Artistic Director Braden Abraham, concluded its 2025/26 season by shattering box office, attendance, and fundraising records, and cementing its position as a premier national hub for theatre excellence and community engagement. The critically acclaimed five-show season in the Studio Gang Architects-designed building at 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe, earned a collective 17 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations, recognizing every production, including Hershey Felder's Rachmaninoff and the Tsar, As You Like It, Two Sisters and a Piano, JOB, and Leopoldstadt.

The season was anchored by unprecedented audience demand, including a record-breaking extension for Max Wolf Friedlich's JOB, which became the highest-grossing show in the history of the Gillian Theatre, and the historic staging of Tom Stoppard's Leopoldstadt, the largest and highest-revenue production in the company's history.

"From the moment we started planning, we knew this was an ambitious season. And our success across so many fronts is a testament to the artists, staff, and board of Writers Theatre," said Artistic Director Braden Abraham. "We are fortunate to have one of the most passionate and savvy audiences anywhere, and we were thrilled to welcome so many new patrons through our doors for the first time. I could not be prouder of what we've accomplished together this year."

"At a time when arts organizations continue to navigate significant economic and funding challenges, this season has been a powerful reminder of what is possible when community responds with extraordinary confidence, enthusiasm and generosity," said Executive Director Kate Lipuma. "Record-breaking ticket sales, the most successful gala in our history, and an ambitious season of critically acclaimed productions demonstrate that audiences continue to invest in meaningful artistic experiences."

By the Numbers: A Year of Historic Growth
Writers Theatre saw year-over-year operational growth from the 2024/25 season to the 2025/26 season:

• Single Ticket Revenue: Surged from $1.5 million to $2.45 million, an increase of over 63%.
• Subscribers: Grew from 3,180 to 3,688 patrons.
• Total Attendance: Jumped from 46,600 to 55,917 attendees.
• Average Paid Capacity: Rose sharply from 68% to an outstanding 86%.

Commitment to Artistic Development and New Work

Writers Theatre continued to invest in the Chicago artist community by employing 75 Chicago-area artists on its stages during the 2025/26 season, the highest number in recent history, bringing the theatre's four-season total to 243 unique local actors.

With the belief that language is at the center of the theatrical experience, Writers Theatre continued its long-term commitment to developing new work and being a welcoming home for playwrights. During the 2025/26 season, Writers Theatre began work on two new commissions: Rammel Chan's Tomato Tattoo and Matthew C. Yee's Songs from the Underworld. Additionally, the theatre hosted several readings and workshops over the course of the season to further the development of a number of in-process projects:

• Frankenstein - Kyle Hatley and Dana Omar's ghostly indie rock version of the Mary Shelley classic
• Within Our Lifetime - a new play about psychic mediums in Victorian New England by Erik Hellman
• Aping Jane - a transformational one-woman show about Jane Goodall and her many animal companions by playwright Aurora Real de Asua 

Unprecedented Community Philanthropy
The record-breaking season was fueled by extraordinary donor support. A dedicated campaign united 40 visionary donors who invested over $1.3 million specifically to make the epic scale of Leopoldstadt possible. This generosity propelled total seasonal operating support to nearly $4 million.

Additional philanthropic milestones included welcoming Adam S. Garber (Levenfeld Pearlstein), Mollie Gawronski (BMO) and Katie E. Henderson (Northern Trust) to the Board of Trustees, and raising over $1 million at the 2026 WordPlay Gala, "A Little Night Music," which honored Rick and Deann Bayless.

Beyond the stage, donor support made possible The Stoppard Series, a community education series that invited patrons into meaningful conversations about the timely themes of Leopoldstadt, creating space for dialogue, reflection and connection. The series was highly collaborative, partnering with cultural institutions, including The Illinois Holocaust & Education Center, Sukkat Shalom, Resetting the Table and Jewish Studio Project with lecturers from University of Notre Dame, Loyola University, DePaul University and The School at the Art Institute.

Arts Engagement and Education Expanded Footprint
Mirroring the company's core mission, Arts Engagement and Education at Writers Theatre had a robust year of community integration and academic collaboration. Driven by a commitment to curiosity, excellence, language, conversation and the cultivation of artists of all ages, WT Education engaged nearly 5,000 patrons of all ages. Programming spanned across three areas: Onsite Programs, School-Based Programs, and Theatre for Young Audiences. Highlights include:

• Student Matinees: Welcomed 1,165 students and teachers to performances, marking an increase of 200 attendees.
• Onsite Youth Programs: Engaged 226 community members through pop-up day camps, spring break camps, and Wake Up Words.
• Theatre for the Very Young: Attracted 712 patrons to early-childhood offerings, including Kerfuffle's Bookworms, behold!, and Alliance Theatre's The Birthday of the World.
• The Novel Series, WT flagship program:
• Reached 848 students across 35 classrooms in 11 regional schools.
• Over 54% (6 out of 11) of participating schools are classified as low-income.
• Partnered with Communities in Schools – Chicago to add new institutions, including Johnnie Colemon Elementary and Mather High School.
• Translated 8 out of 14 curricula into Spanish, successfully executing a full residency and final presentation entirely in Spanish.
• Collaborated with 10 returning teachers to build upon multi-year academic programming.

Looking Ahead: The 35th Anniversary Season
Building on this remarkable momentum, Writers Theatre is launching its 35th Season with its first preview on August 13, continuing the company's dedication to world-class storytelling:

Sisters

Written by Matthew Libby
Directed by Jessica Thebus

August 13 – November 8, 2026

Matilda and Greta have always been there for one another, through joy and grief and homework and boyfriends. They're as close as sisters can be—even if Greta is artificial intelligence. As Matilda ages and Greta longs for independence, their relationship begins to be tested like never before. Told over the course of 90 years, Sisters is a riveting and thought-provoking new play about the future of family. 

The Royale

Written by Marco Ramirez
Directed by Tyrone Phillips

October 22 – November 29, 2026

Jay is a really good boxer, so good they call him "The Sport." He's won his last seventy-six fights and has his sights set on being crowned the next heavyweight champion. But it's 1905, and in the Jim Crow era, a Black man doesn't get to fight a reigning white champion. When a surprising chance at the title appears, Jay gears up for the fight of his life—where the stakes are staggeringly high inside the ring and out. Inspired by real-world boxer Jack Johnson, this adrenaline rush of a play by Marco Ramirez (Orange is the New Black, Buena Vista Social Club) is a kinetic and poetic portrayal of what it takes and what it costs to make history. 

Noël Coward's Brief Encounter

Adapted for the stage by Emma Rice

Adapted from the play Still Life and the screenplay Brief Encounter, both by Noël Coward
Directed by Shana Cooper

Choreographed by William Carlos Angulo

Music Supervision by Matt Deitchman

February 11 – March 28, 2027

An ordinary commute becomes a whirlwind instant of once-in-a-lifetime possibility. Laura, a suburban housewife, and Alec, a married doctor, meet by chance in a busy railway station. As their weekly encounters continue and they fall more passionately and wildly in love, the pair is forced to reconsider their settled lives and decide if this romance is undeniably hopeless or worth risking everything for. Based on the beloved Noël Coward film, this critically acclaimed stage adaptation features live performances of an indelible selection of Coward's best songs. You won't want to miss one of the greatest love stories of all time brought to dazzling life with music, movement and theatrical magic.

Creditors 

By August Strindberg 

Adapted by Jen Silverman 
Directed by Braden Abraham 

April 8 – July 3, 2027 

Adi, a struggling painter, is on holiday at the seaside with his glamorous wife, Tekla, who has recently published a wildly successful book. Left alone at the hotel while his wife is celebrated, Adi strikes up a conversation with a magnetic stranger, Gustav. As the two talk into the night, their budding friendship enters darker waters when Gustav becomes fixated on Tekla and Adi's relationship. This classic psychological thriller by August Strindberg, newly adapted with biting wit by Jen Silverman (Witch, The Roommate), is an electrifying portrayal of three souls trapped in an intricate web of deception, seduction and revelation. 

Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me

A new play with music

Book by Hershey Felder

With music by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Bartok, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin and Williams

May 5 – June 27, 2027
Press Opening: Friday, May 7 at 7:30pm

Hershey Felder, known for his hit portrayals of musical geniuses in his beloved composer series, now takes the stage as a different musical artist: himself. In this deeply moving new play, Felder pulls back the curtain on his own story. Growing up in Montreal as the child of Polish and Hungarian immigrants, a young Felder discovers the piano, its captivating music connecting him to his unsuspected heritage, while opening up a remarkable new world full of adventure, possibility, heartbreak, and connection.

Featuring performances of beloved compositions by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Bartók, and more, Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me recounts the inspiration behind Felder's illustrious career of more than 6,000 performances across the globe and offers a poignant and profoundly touching portrait of the power of music.

ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE

Writers Theatre proudly celebrates its 35th Season.  

From its beginnings in the back room of a Glencoe bookstore, Writers Theatre established what would become its defining conviction: that vibrant language and exceptional performances in an intimate setting create a transformative theatrical experience. Today, the company is a major cultural destination in the Chicago region with a national reputation for artistic excellence, heralded by The Wall Street Journal as "America's finest regional theatre company."

Founded in 1992, Writers has produced over 160 productions—from inventive interpretations of classics to groundbreaking new work. In 2016, the company opened a state-of-the-art theatre center designed by the internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects. The new facility includes the 255-seat Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre and the flexible 100-seat Gillian Theatre, spaces designed to preserve the company's trademark intimacy and bring audiences up close to Chicago's finest actors. The building's striking glass atrium serves as a welcoming gathering space for artists, staff and the community, open daily for reading, working and conversation.  

Led by Executive Director Kate Lipuma and Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Artistic Director Braden Abraham, Writers Theatre welcomes more than 60,000 patrons each year. The company has established itself as an important originator of new theatrical work, having produced over 30 world premieres in its history—including Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol, Witch by Jen Silverman, Trevor the Musical by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis, A Minister's Wife by Austin Pendleton, Jan Tranen and Josh Schmidt, The Savannah Disputation by Evan Smith and Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus's adaptation of Crime and Punishment. 

Education and community engagement remain central to Writers Theatre's mission. Each season, the organization reaches more than 5,000 students and adults through school matinees, in-school residencies and curriculum-based programs that introduce young people to professional theatre. Writers Theatre also offers a wide range of free programs for the broader community, including readings, lectures and partnerships with local organizations that make theatre accessible to audiences of all ages. 

Located just 20 miles north of downtown Chicago, Writers Theatre offers artists and audiences a setting that combines world-class theatre with the calm and accessibility of Chicago's North Shore. As Writers Theatre enters its 35th season, the company continues its commitment to artistic excellence, meaningful storytelling and the uniquely powerful connection that only intimate theatre can create. 

American Blues Theater, under the continued leadership of Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside, announces the recipient of the 2026 Blue Ink Award is Nia Akilah Robinson for her play Overnight at the Museum. As part of the award, Robinson receives a $3,000 cash prize and a staged reading at American Blues Theater at the annual Blue Ink Festival of new plays on August 15, 2026, at American Blues Theater, 5627 N Lincoln Ave. in Chicago.

The festival will celebrate the 2026 Blue Ink Award recipient Nia Akilah Robinson and featured finalists Benjamin Benne and Claire Crowley. Reservations for individual tickets are available at americanbluestheater.com/ and (773) 654-3103. The suggested donation is $12 per play or $30 to see all three. Reservations are recommended as the festival is expected to sell out. Refreshments and beverages will be served throughout the day.

The schedule of events on Saturday, August 15 follows:
10:00am – Doors open for the 2026 Blue Ink Festival
10:30am – stage reading of Overnight at the Museum by Nia Akilah Robinson, winner of 2026 Blue Ink Award
12:00pm – Reception
12:30pm – staged reading of and thou shalt be healed by Benjamin Benne
  2:30pm – staged reading of The Scouts of America Don't Sell Cookies, B*tch by Claire Crowley

The nationally renowned Blue Ink Award for playwriting was created by American Blues Theater in 2010 to support new work. Theaters in Chicago and throughout the country have taken note of the competition as the winning plays have had a remarkable page-to-stage success rate. In Chicago alone, four scripts that were featured in the Blue Ink Festival are being produced this season including: Uhuru (Featured Finalist, 2023) at American Blues Theater followed by the world premiere at Alley Theater in Houston fall, 2026; Sisters (Finalist, 2023) at Writers Theater in fall 2026 after its world premiere at Northern Stage in Vermont; Dead Girl's Quinceanera (Semi-finalist, 2025) - world premiere at Goodman Theater this fall; and The Conquered (Winner, 2024) - world premiere at American Blues Theater spring 2027. Four scripts that were featured in the competition were produced in Chicago in past three seasons: Things With Friends (Winner, 2023) - world premiere at American Blues Theater, 2025 and 2026 Steinberg/ATCA runner up/ finalist; Alma (Winner, 2019) - world premiere American Blues Theater and Center Theatre Group (Kirk Douglas) and went on to productions in multiple cities, including Seattle, Denver and Boston; a home what howls (or the house what was ravine) (Featured Finalist, 2022) - world premiere at Steppenwolf in 2024, and Welcome to Matteson (Winner, 2018) – world premiere New Jersey Repertory and Congo Square Theatre (2023)

Submissions are now open for the 2027 Blue Ink Awards.

About the Plays

*denotes ensemble member or artistic affiliate of American Blues Theater

OVERNIGHT AT THE MUSEUM  
by Nia Akilah Robinson
directed by Manny Buckley*
Saturday, Aug 15 at 10:30 AM

Featuring Rasaan Khalil (DaMarcus), Terah Jene (Deandra & others), and Martel Manning* (Darius)

"One and done before the full-time security come through with them fancy museum suits, and them ear-piece-sez and- and them lil' first aid certified pins."

Two Black men who work as night guards for museum security are stealing Ghanian artifacts from a gentrified American neighborhood. Can they get them where they need to be before the grand opening of a "Neo-African Museum"? Overnight at the Museum is a hilarious heist story that masterfully toys with our definitions of history, legacy, and art.

Nia Akilah Robinson (she/her) is a playwright and actor who reps Harlem with all her might. Productions: Soho Rep U.S. Off Broadway Premiere (2025 New York Times Critics Pick), NextStop Theatre (2026 Helen Hayes Recommended), Co-Pro: Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company & Company One Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Theatre503, Theatre Exile, and The Hearth. Her work has been seen and developed with Nashville Repertory Theatre (Ingram New Works Project), Steppenwolf Theatre, The New Group, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Conference, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Waterwell, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Urbanite, and New Georges. Nia has been a MacDowell Fellow, Travis Bogard Eugene O'Neill Foundation Fellow, and a writer for PEN America and EST/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (short play). She has had residencies at NYSAF and The Pocantico Center through YoungArts. Nia's work has been featured at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Fire This Time Festival, and the 48th Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. Nia has been awarded 1st Place for the 2023 A is For Playwriting Contest, the Next Wave Initiative Lorraine Hansberry Writing Scholarship, a Miranda Family Fund Commission, and the NYSCA Grant (CCCADI). She was shortlisted for the 2023 Theatre503's International Playwriting Award. And Nia is a member or alumna of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, I-73 at Page 73, The Orchard Project NYC Greenhouse, The Wish Collective, and TheBlackHERthePen. Education: Yale (DGSD- MFA Playwriting Candidate) & Juilliard (Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program).

and thou shalt be healed
by Benjamin Benne
directed by associate artistic director Elyse Dolan*
Saturday, Aug 15 at 12:30pm

Featuring Editha Rosario-Moore* (Mary) & Nate Santana* (Johnny)

"The article explores how what we believe can be powerful enough to become reality"

Mary and Johnny are siblings – with a complicated cult upbringing. Johnny has left the cult but Mary remains. They reunite on a remote mountain in New Mexico when Mary brings news that will force them both to reckon with their relationship, their beliefs, and their faith.

Benjamin Benne (he/him) was the 2019 winner of the Blue Ink Playwriting Award for his play Alma, which had its World Premiere with American Blues and Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles) in 2022, then went on to productions at ArtsWest (Seattle), Curious (Denver), Central Square (Cambridge), The Spot (Ketchum), Chance (Anaheim), and Passage (Trenton). He has also had plays produced with Mosaic (DC), First Floor (Chicago), Portland Stage (ME), Pillsbury House (Minneapolis), Actors Theatre (Louisville), and forthcoming at Crowded Fire (San Francisco) and Boston Court (Pasadena). His plays have also been developed by the O'Neill, Ojai, Oregon Shakes, The Public, Roundabout, Primary Stages, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, and The Playwrights' Center, among many others. He was named part of "LA Vanguardia: The Latino innovators, instigators, and power players breaking through barriers" by the Los Angeles Times and received an MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama. www.benjaminbenne.com\

THE SCOUTS OF AMERICA DON'T SELL COOKIES, B*TCH
by Claire Crowley
directed by Ian Paul Custer*
Saturday, Aug 15 @ 2:30 PM

Featuring Kieran McCabe* (Joe), Kelan Smith (Dylan), Manny Buckley* (Benny), Christopher Acevedo (Jared), & JG Smith* (Effie).

"Nope nope nope cookies aren't just for girls. Cookies are for everyone!"

The Scouts of America Don't Sell Cookies, B*tch interrogates the relationship between capitalism and violence through the lens of American youth. The Scouts of America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, have changed their name to be gender inclusive! Effie, a girl, decides to join the Scouts, eager for new friends and an escape from the norm. She enters the formers boys' club with an intensity and hunger for new skills that surprises her troop leader, Joe, and scares her fellow scouts. As she traverses the unfamiliar landscape, she battles assumptions and underestimations of her personhood. There is also a bald eagle. This is important.

Claire Crowley (she/her) is a New York-based playwright and screenwriter from the ocean and mountains of New England. Sometimes she writes dark comedies, and sometimes she writes drama, but always her plays are centered on themes of violence and money, grief and loss and yearning, hypocrisy and intra, inter, and structural power, (dis)belonging and home and liminality, community and friendship and queerness. Her plays include THE SCOUTS OF AMERICA DON'T SELL COOKIES, B*TCH (Blue Ink Award Featured Finalist, GPTC New Play Festival, Ojai Playwrights Conference Semifinalist, O'Neill Playwrights Conference Semifinalist, Echoes Writers Program Finalist), THE CALLING or BROKE (O'Neill Playwrights Conference Semifinalist, Fringe Fest PVD) and METASTASIZED (B&E Rooftop Reading Series Finalist, Woodward Residency Finalist). Her plays have been developed with Great Plains Theater Commons, American Blues Theater, Primary Stages, The Tank, Playwrights Realm, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, and The Barrow Group. She is a Hunter College Playwriting MFA '28 Candidate.

About the Blue Ink Award for playwriting

The nationally renowned Blue Ink Award for playwriting was created in 2010 to support new work. Since inception, we've named 16 Award winners, 197 finalists, and 283 semi-finalists. Over $15,000 in cash and prizes will be distributed to playwrights in 2026.

Each year American Blues Theater accepts worldwide submissions of original, unpublished full-length plays. The winning play will be selected by Executive Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and the theater's Ensemble. The 2026 winning playwright receives a monetary prize of $3,000. Cash prizes are awarded to finalists and semi-finalists too. All proceeds of the administrative fee are distributed for playwrights' cash prizes.

Submissions for the 2027 Blue Ink Award are now open. All submissions must be received by American Blues Theater by August 31, 2026 at 11:59pm. Playwrights may only submit one (1) manuscript each year for consideration.

About American Blues Theater
Winner of the prestigious National Theatre Company Award from American Theatre Wing (Tony Awards), American Blues Theater is an Ensemble of artists committed to producing new and classic diverse stories that ask the question: "What does it mean to be American?"

The diverse and multi-generational artists have established the second-oldest professional Ensemble theater in Chicago. As of 2026, the theater and artists received 265 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations that celebrate excellence in Chicago theater and 44 Black Theatre Alliance Awards. The artists are honored with Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize nominations, Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades.

Secrets, sisterhood and solving crime take center stage this fall in the world premiere co-production of Dead Girl's Quinceañera by Miami native playwright Phanésia Pharel. Director Melia Bensussen's ensemble cast includes Carmen Berkeley (Hartford Stage's Romeo and Juliet), Ariana Burks (A Christmas Carol), Andrea Ferro (Columbia Lenfest Center's Big Love) and Jacqueline Guillén (Off-Broadway, Torera). Understudies will be announced at a later date. Co-produced with Barrington Stage Company and Hartford Stage, Dead Girl's Quinceañera appears in the Owen Theatre September 26 – November 1. For tickets ($34 - $79; on sale August 7), call 312.443.3800 or visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Quince. The Goodman is grateful for the support of Conagra Brands Foundation (Corporate Sponsor Partner), The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust (Lead Sponsor of IDEAA Programming) and Bold Ventures (Production Support).

"Dead Girl's Quinceañera is a celebration of young women's imagination, initiative and courage," said director Melia Bensussen, who is also Artistic Director of Hartford Stage. "Although all four identify as Latina, each one arrives with a different personal experience and history.  In their collaboration and friendship, we see our own journeys reflected – as they harness their power and agency, we too, watching them, celebrate our own transformations and those of our neighbors. ¡Que feliz estar haciendo este trabajo en Chicago!" 

FACT: Maria was last seen at her Quinceañera. FACT: The party ended early due to an unknown emergency. FACT: Maria has not responded to any messages in 19 hours. Now, her three best friends—armed with confidence, questionable clues and zero adult supervision—are on the case, racing against the clock to find out what happened. The pressures of Latine girlhood punctuate the joy ride through the power and pleasure of adolescent friendships in this comic thriller. 

"I'm in awe that my play appears at The Goodman at the start of their 101^st Season and second century," playwright Phanésia Pharel said. "I wrote this play for my best friend, to celebrate how much our relationship changed my life. It's been a beautiful experience to see this coming-of-age story resonate with people who may have never been to Miami and/or who might not be of Hispanic descent. It reminds me that even at this moment where forces are hoping to divide us, theater can connect us all to our true humanity."

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Phanésia Pharel (Playwright) is a Haitian-American playwright and screenwriter from a dragon fruit farm in Miami. She is the daughter of an immigrant teacher and farmer. She recently made her Off-Broadway debut at the WP Theater with her play The Waterfall. She is the Playwriting Fellow (2025-2027) at Emory University, where she serves as a visiting professor and has a new play produced by their repertory company. Her plays have been developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference, New Harmony Project, Playwrights' Center, New York Stage and Film, SolFest, Thrown Stone, Shattered Globe and Echo Theater Company. She has received commissions from the Atlantic Theater, Lucille Lortel (Alcove), La Jolla Playhouse, Miranda Family Fund, Hero Theatre, City Theatre Miami and the Latinx Playwrights Circle. Pharel is a member of the Obie-winning EST/Youngblood group and The Wish Collective. As a screenwriter, she is a member of Lena Waithe's Hillman Grad Screenwriting Lab. Her honors include The Kilroys Web, five awards from the Kennedy Center and an A is For Playwriting Award recipient. She holds a BA in Urban Studies from Barnard College of Columbia University and an MFA in Playwriting from the University of California San Diego. 

Melia Bensussen (Director) is an award-winning director, teacher and artistic leader who has directed extensively at leading theaters throughout the country. The first woman to lead Hartford Stage, she has been its Artistic Director since the summer of 2019. Devoted to new work as well as to classic texts, she was appointed Artistic Director of the National Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Theater Center in 2024. Raised in Mexico City, Bensussen is fluent in Spanish and has translated and adapted a variety of texts, including her edition of the Langston Hughes translation of Federico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding, published by Theater Communications Group. Among her credits developing and premiering new works, she co-conceived and directed, alongside playwright Kirsten Greenidge, the theatrical adaptation of Anthony J. Lukas' Pulitzer Prize winning Common Ground, which premiered at the Huntington Theater in Boston. A graduate of Brown University, Bensussen serves on the Arts Advisory Board for the Princess Grace Foundation, and on the executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Prior to her position at Hartford Stage, she was Chair of the Performing Arts Department of Emerson College, in Boston. She is the recipient of an OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction, as well as the Statue Award from the Princess Grace Foundation for Excellence in Directing. 

Company of Dead Girl's Quinceañera
By Phanésia Pharel 
Directed by Melia Bensussen
A World Premiere Co-Production with Barrington Stage Company and Hartford Stage 

Carmen Berkeley...Ensemble
Ariana Burks...Ensemble
Andrea Ferro...Ensemble
Jacqueline Guillén...Ensemble

Creative Team

Set Designer...Sara Brown
Lighting Designer...Dan Kotlowitz
Sound Designer...Salvador Zamora
Costume Designer...Raquel Adorno
Movement Choreographer...Mayte Natalio
Dialect Coach...Cynthia Santos Decure
Associate Director...Ludmila de Brito
Assistant Director...Lorenzo Rush, Jr.
Assistant Set Designer...Daniel Prosky
Assistant Lighting Designer...Emma Berry
Assistant Sound Desiger...Harper Justus
Line Producer...Malkia Stampley
Second Line Producer...Sarah Slight

Casting by Alaine Alldaffer, CSA, Lisa Donadio and Lauren Port, CSA.

ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES
Visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Access for more information about The Goodman's accessibility efforts. 

ASL-Interpreted...October 16 at 7:30pm – An ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played. 
Audio-Described...October 17 at 2pm; Touch Tour; 12:30pm – Action audibly enhanced via headset. 
Spanish-Subtitled...October 17 at 7:30pm – Spanish-translated dialogue via LED sign. 
Open-Captioned...October 18 at 2pm – LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance. 

ABOUT THE GOODMAN

Since 1925, The Goodman has been a theatrical home for artists and a gathering space for Chicagoland, where bold stories spark connection, conversation and change. Now, as it enters its second century, The Goodman builds on that legacy with an eye toward the future. Under the leadership of Walter Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director John Collins, the theater continues to champion new work—following hundreds of plays developed and a national reputation for commissioning and premiering original stories by living writers—while reimagining classics and produce large-scale musicals.

But The Goodman's reach today extends beyond its home in the heart of the Loop. From the intimate magic of The Magic Parlour, now in its third year, to the boundary-pushing world of Theater of the Mind—an immersive experience that blurs the lines between science, storytelling and sensation—and from citywide initiatives like 100 Free Acts of Theater to partnerships with artists and companies across Chicago and around the world, The Goodman is expanding what theater can be, and where it can live.

At its core, The Goodman is driven by a belief that a more empathetic, more connected city is built one story at a time. Generation-spanning productions and programs offer theater for a lifetime—from babies and young children to teens, adults and seniors—including Theater for the Very Young (ages 0–5) and the beloved annual A Christmas Carol, which has welcomed audiences for five decades. Education and Engagement programs, led by Clifford Director Jared Bellot and based in the Alice Rapoport Center, use the tools of theater to spark imagination, reflection and belonging—reaching thousands each year, the majority from underserved communities.

With nearly 200 world or American premieres, two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and nearly 200 Joseph Jefferson Awards, The Goodman remains a defining force in American theater—and the first to produce all 10 plays of August Wilson's American Century Cycle. The theater also frequently serves as a production partner—from national and international companies to Chicago's Off-Loop theaters—to help amplify a wide range of theatrical voices.

Founded by William O. Goodman and his family in memory of playwright Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, the theater carries forward a legacy of artistic ambition and civic generosity. With the help of Mr. Goodman's descendants—Albert Ivar Goodman and his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton—that spirit continues to shape its future as The Goodman expands its impact across Chicago and beyond. Marsha Cruzan is Chair of the Goodman Theatre Board of Trustees; Diane Landgren is Women's Board President; and Kelli Garcia is president of the Scenemakers Board for Young Professionals.

The Goodman stands on the unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires—the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations—and acknowledges the many other Nations for whom this land now called Chicago has long been home, including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo, and Mascouten. The Goodman is proud to partner with the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum (Gichigamiin-Museum.org) and the Center for Native Futures (CenterForNativeFutures.org)—organizations devoted to honoring Indigenous stories, preserving cultural memory, and deepening public understanding.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to launch its 51st Season with Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Topdog/Underdog, helmed by Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon, who returns to Steppenwolf following his hit production of King James. Ensemble members Glenn Davis (Windfall, Purpose–Chicago/Broadway, King James) and Namir Smallwood (Windfall, The Book of Grace, Bug–Chicago/Broadway) go head-to-head in this highly-anticipated revival, more than two decades after the company's celebrated 2003 production.

Topdog/Underdog will play a limited engagement September 17 — November 1, 2026 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Single tickets go on sale Thursday, July 9, 2026 at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. 

About the Production:

Brothers Lincoln and Booth, named in jest, are two Black men living in America just trying to get by. Lincoln dresses like his namesake, reenacting his assassination for money and laughs. Booth stays stuck in their apartment, working tirelessly on his three-card hustle. Sibling rivalry and a lifetime of resentment come to a head in this fast-paced and ferocious thrill ride. The deck is stacked with a Tony Award-winning director, a Pulitzer Prize-winning script and a tour-de-force showdown for ensemble members Glenn Davis and Namir Smallwood. "Take thuh cards and show me whatcha got!" 

The creative team includes Arnulfo Maldonado (Scenic Design), Dede Ayite (Costume Design), Lee Fiskness (Lighting Design), Justin Ellington (Sound Design), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Elise Hausken (Production Manager), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Title: Topdog/Underdog
Playwright: Suzan-Lori Parks
Director: Kenny Leon​ 
Cast: ensemble members Glenn Davis (Lincoln) and Namir Smallwood​ (Booth)

Understudies: Anthony Fleming III (Lincoln) and Patrick Newson Jr. (Booth)

Location: Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, September 17 – Saturday, September 26, 2026
Regular run: Tuesday, September 29 – Sunday, November 1, 2026
Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be 7:30 pm performances on Tuesday, September 22, Thursday, October 1, Tuesday, October 6, Tuesday, October 13, Wednesday, October 21 or Thursday, October 22; there will be an added 2 pm matinee on Wednesday, October 21.

Tickets: Classic Memberships starting as low as $165 are now on sale for Steppenwolf's 2026/27 season at steppenwolf.org/myseason. Single tickets for Topdog/Underdog ($20 – $124*) go on sale Thursday, July 9, 2026 at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30. *Pricing includes an $8.50 handling fee

Steppenwolf offers 20 tickets for $20 (no added fees) for each performance of every membership series production. Use promo code 20FOR20 to redeem this offer online, available in advance until they're sold out for every main series show. Limit 2 tickets per person. You can also purchase by phone at (312) 335-1650 on the day-of show at 12 pm for main series performances. Limit 2 tickets per person.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-Described and Touch Tour: Sunday, October 25 at 3 pm (1:30 pm Touch Tour)
Open-Captioned: Thursday, October 8 at 7:30 pm & Saturday, October 17 at 3 pm
ASL-Interpreted: Friday, October 16 at 7:30 pm

Education and Engagement:

Throughout the 2026/27 season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to the next generation of theatre learners, makers and appreciators with robust education and engagement programming. Programming includes dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions including Topdog/Underdog, Adirondack Chair Circle, The Comeuppance and Ellen B., in-school residencies in partnership with Chicago Public schools, workshops, panels and events specifically geared towards teens, as well as professional development trainings and resources for educators. Additionally, Steppenwolf is reimagining their community engagement and will pilot new public programming, continue accessibility programming and offer opportunities for deeper explorations for audiences throughout the season. For additional information about Steppenwolf's Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip visit steppenwolf.org/education-and-engagement/steppenwolf-field-trip-series.

Artist Biographies:

Suzan-Lori Parks (Playwright) is a multi-award-winning writer and musician. She is the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Topdog/Underdog, which recently won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Revival. Her other plays include Sally & Tom (2024), Plays for the Plague Year (Drama Desk Award, Best Music, 2023) and Father Comes Home From The Wars (2014). Parks' first marathon-writing "micro diary plays," 365 Days/365 Plays were produced worldwide in what was the largest grassroots collaborative theatre project to date. She is a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, a novelist: Getting Mother's Body (Random House); and a screenwriter: Girl 6, Genius: Aretha, and The United States vs Billie Holiday. Parks also writes songs and fronts her band "SLP& The Joyful Noise," with her punk-couture medicine show, The Tune Up, world-premiering this summer. As a college student Parks is grateful to have studied creative writing with James Baldwin, who encouraged her to write for the theatre.

Kenny Leon (Director) is a Tony Award-winning director. Broadway: The Balusters, Othello, Our Town, HOME, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch, Topdog/Underdog, Ohio State Murders, A Soldier's Play, American Son, Children of a Lesser God, Holler If Ya Hear Me, A Raisin in the Sun, The Mountaintop, Stick Fly, August Wilson's Fences, Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf. Off-Broadway: The Conversation (Astor Place Theatre), This World of Tomorrow (The Shed), King James, The Underlying Chris, Everybody's Ruby, Emergence-See! (The Public), Smart People (Second Stage). Opera: Amahl and the Night Visitors, Margaret Garner. Television: Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, Colin in Black & White, 4400, Amend: The Fight for America, American Son (adapted for Netflix), Hairspray Live!, The Wiz Live!, Steel Magnolias, Dynasty, In My Dreams. Author: Take You Wherever You Go. Artistic Director Emeritus: Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company. Senior Resident Director: Roundabout Theatre Company. Awards: Obie, Actors Fund Medal of Honor, George Abbott Lifetime Achievement for American Theatre, Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre.

Glenn Davis (Lincoln) is an actor, producer and Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, alongside Audrey Francis, where he has been an ensemble member since 2017. His Steppenwolf credits include Downstate, The Christians, You Got Older, The Brother/Sister Plays, Head of Passes, King James (also Mark Taper Forum), Describe the Night, Purpose and Windfall. Broadway credits include: Purpose; Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (also Kirk Douglas Theatre, Mark Taper Forum). Off-Broadway credits include Transfers (MCC Theatre), Wig Out! (Vineyard Theatre), Downstate (Playwrights Horizons, Outer Critics Circle Nomination) and King James (MTC). Other regional credits include Moscow x6 (Williamstown Theatre Festival). International credits include Downstate (National Theatre, UK), Edward II, The Winter's Tale and As You Like It (Stratford Festival), Othello (The Shakespeare Company). Television credits include Billions, 24, The Unit, Jericho and The Good Wife. Glenn is an Artistic Associate at the Young Vic in London and at the Vineyard Theatre in New York. He is also a partner in Cast Iron Entertainment, a collective of artists consisting of Sterling K Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Michael Hill, Andre Holland and Tarell Alvin McCraney. Cast Iron is currently in residence at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. In 2021, Glenn founded The Chatham Grove Company along with his producing partner Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Namir Smallwood​ (Booth) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2017. Steppenwolf: Windfall, Mr. Wolf, You Will Get Sick, The Book of Grace, Seagull, Bug, True West, BLKS, Monster, Man In Love, The Hot L Baltimore, Last Night and the Night Before. Broadway: Pass Over, Bug. Off Broadway: Pipeline, Pass Over (Lincoln Center). Chicago: The Lost Boys of Sudan (Victory Gardens Theater); Charm (Northlight Theatre); The Grapes of Wrath (The Gift Theatre); East Texas Hot Links (Writers Theater). Regional: Marin Theatre Company, Pillsbury House Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Guthrie Theater. International: True West (Galway International Arts Festival). Television: Chicago Fire, Betrayal, Elementary, American Rust (Showtime/FreeVee); Power Book IV: Force (STARZ). Film: Rounding, About Time, Bailey's Blues.

Accessibility:

As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production. Assistive listening devices (ALDs), large-print programs and Braille programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/access or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sponsor Information:

United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Julius Frankel Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Conagra Brands Foundation, Rich and Margery Feitler, FROST CHICAGO, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Orlebeke Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Sacks Family Foundation, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Thoma Bravo and Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.  

About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier Ensemble Theater with 50 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, Steppenwolf Theatre has had a long-running and undeniable impact on American Theatre and Chicago's cultural landscape. Founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise, Steppenwolf started as a group of friends in their teens and early 20s performing in the basement of a school in Highland Park, Illinois. 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 E. Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the boundaries of live theater and pushes the limits of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.