Steppenwolf Announces 6th Annual First Look Repertory of New Work
Steppenwolf Theatre has announced its 6th annual First Look Repertory of New Work - three developmental productions of new plays presented in repertory playing October 27 - November 14, 2010 in Steppenwolf's Merle Reskin Garage Theatre, 1624 N. Halsted St. The 2010 festival will also include three free readings by emerging playwrights presented November 5-7, 2010. Tickets for First Look Repertory of New Work go on sale Friday, August 20 at 11:00 a.m., along with reservations for the free readings.
Steppenwolf also announces the continuation of First Look 101, a unique three-month experience from September 25 - November 14, 2010 that takes enrolled participants on a backstage journey through all aspects of the new play development process - from the first rehearsal to the final performance. The program is open to anyone interested in the process of creating new plays. Tickets for First Look 101 go on sale to the public Friday, July 9 at 11:00 a.m., with a special pre-sale for previous First Look 101 participants beginning Friday, June 25 at 11:00 a.m.
First Look 2010 Productions:
The Etiquette of Vigilance
A new play by Robert O'Hara
Directed by Timothy Douglas
Wednesday, October 27 - Sunday, November 14, 2010
Over 50 years have passed since Travis and his parents became the first black family to integrate Chicago's segregated Clybourne Park neighborhood. Now Lorraine, Travis's only daughter and the first in her family to attend college, is buckling under the pressure of her family's long deferred dream. In this contemporary reconsideration of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun , O'Hara's poignant new play imagines what might have happened to the beleaguered Younger family- and asks us to consider the wounds still healing from the days of city-sanctioned segregation.
Robert O'Hara won the 2010 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play for Antebellum, produced at the Woolly Mammoth Theater Company. His Insurrection: Holding History received the Oppenheimer Award for Best New American Play in its world premiere at the New York Shakespeare Festival, which he also directed. His other widely produced works include Good Breeding, Brave Brood and American Maul. He also rewrote The Wiz for its revival at LaJolla Playhouse, directed by Des McAnuff.
The Old Masters
A new play by Sam Marks
Director: to be announced
Thursday, October 28 - Sunday, November 14, 2010
Ben Schmitt is an artist attempting to make peace with married life and impending fatherhood when Henry, his reclusive friend from childhood, suddenly disappears. When Henry's girlfriend Lara shows up with paintings he mysteriously left behind, Ben is compelled to hand the work over to a dealer. Before long, the art world hungrily latches onto Henry's paintings and his tragic life story. As Lara and Ben find themselves at the center of their missing friend's burgeoning fame, they begin to wonder: what about us?
Sam Marks' play The Joke premiered at Studio Dante under the direction of Sam Gold. His other New York productions include Nelson at Lion Theater at Theater Row directed by Kip Fagan, Which Wolf is Wolf at HERE and Craft at Flea Theater and HERE - both directed by Obie Award-winning director Robert O'Hara. He received his MFA from Brown University.
The North Plan
A new play by Jason Wells
Directed by Kimberly Senior
Friday, October 29 - Sunday, November 14, 2010
In the not-so-distant future, America is at the mercy of unchecked martial law after a massive government breakdown. Wells' dark comedy centers on Carlton Berg, a government employee imprisoned in a small-town Missouri jailhouse who claims to possess a giant database containing the names of every American citizen slated for persecution by the new regime. His only hope comes in the form of fellow inmate Tanya, an abrasive drunk driver, and Shonda, the jail's law-abiding administrative assistant.
Jason Wells' first play, Men of Tortuga, had a critically-acclaimed debut during First Look 2005 and went on to a successful run at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota and returned to Chicago for a production at Profiles Theatre. Jason's second play, Perfect Mendacity, debuted at First Look 2008 and also went on to its official world premiere at the Asolo.