Steppenwolf to open new theater space with 'Seagull' as part of 2020-21 season
Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago will inaugurate a new theater as part of a six-play 2020-21 season, which was announced on Wednesday.
A 400-seat in-the-round theater at 1646 N. Halsted St. will open in July of 2021. The inaugural production is "Seagull," a world-premiere adaptation by Steppenwolf ensemble member Yasen Peyankov of Anton Chekhov's classic Russian play.
The new venue will ultimately replace the smaller Upstairs Theatre within Steppenwolf's current home at 1650 N. Halsted St.
The rest of the 2020-21 season includes another new adaptation, two Chicago premieres and a post-Broadway production of "Choir Boy" by Academy Award-winning ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney ("Moonlight").
The season features:
• "Good Night, and Good Luck" (Oct. 22-Dec. 20, Downstairs Theatre): Matt Charman adapts George Clooney and Grant Heslov's 2005 film drama about journalist Edward R. Murrow taking on Sen. Joseph McCarthy amid the Red Scare of 1953. Steppenwolf artistic director Anna D. Shapiro directs a cast that includes ensemble members Alana Arenas, Ian Barford, Audrey Francis, Tom Irwin and William Petersen.
• "Bald Sisters" (Dec. 3-Feb. 7, 2021, Upstairs Theatre): A Cambodian-American family is at a crossroads following the death of its controlling matriarch in Vichet Chum's world-premiere drama.
• "Barcelona" (Jan. 28-March 14, 2021, Downstairs Theatre): Ensemble member Caroline Neff stars in the Chicago premiere of Bess Wohl's drama about an American woman who drunkenly becomes involved with an older man in Spain.
• "Last Night and the Night Before" (April 1-May 16, 2021, Downstairs Theatre): Ensemble member Namir Smallwood stars in the Chicago premiere of Donnetta Lavinia Grays' drama about a young woman and her daughter who are on the run.
• "Choir Boy" (June 10-Aug. 1, 2021, Downstairs Theatre): Robert O'Hara directs McCraney's Tony Award-nominated and music-filled play about a gay student at an exclusive African-American prep school famed for its choir. The cast includes James Vincent Meredith and Austin Pendleton.
• "Seagull" (July 24-Sept. 12, 2021, in new theater): Ensemble members Ian Barford, Francis Guinan, Tim Hopper and others are set to star in Peyankov's adaptation of Chekhov's classic play about three generations staying a country house.
For season membership information, call (312) 335-1650 or visit steppenwolf.org.