Lost and found: Steppenwolf’s ‘Mr. Wolf’ a tense, emotionally charged look at trauma, survival

“Mr. Wolf” — 3.5 stars

Every parent’s nightmare — the loss of a child — underscores “Mr. Wolf,” Rajiv Joseph’s disquieting play about trauma and survival (or more specifically post-trauma survival), whose taut, terse Chicago premiere inaugurates Steppenwolf Theatre’s 50th anniversary season.

Joseph roots his 2015 drama in the abduction of a 3-year-old girl by the titular Mr. Wolf, a criminal defined as such in the play’s opening scene. However, Joseph doesn’t portray the felony, instead he examines its deeply fraught aftermath.

The action unfolds more than a decade later as the now 15-year-old budding artist and astronomer — whom Wolf has “cultivated” as a prophet “capable of discovering the location, temperament and intentions of God” — reunites with parents she doesn’t recognize.

Our introduction to superintelligent, hyper-articulate teen Theresa (an inspired Emilie Maureen Hanson, dazzling in her Steppenwolf debut), comes as she breathlessly shares with her captor/father figure Wolf, her infinite universes/infinite possibilities theory moments before police officers pound on their door.

“The world is coming,” warns Wolf (Tim Hopper, who also plays several other characters).

Moments later, per Joseph’s stage directions, “the universe cracks open … (and) everything disappears” making way for Theresa’s strained reunion with parents Michael (the latest evidence of Namir Smallwood’s excellence) and Hana (Kate Arrington), whose marriage didn’t survive the loss of their child.

Hana, who offered a $1 million reward for information leading to Theresa’s recovery, eventually moved away in an effort to move on. Michael awaited his daughter’s return in the family home, unchanged since Theresa’s disappearance, which he now shares with second wife Julie (Caroline Neff). They married three years earlier, several years after Julie lost her 3-year-old daughter Casey to cancer.

Director K. Todd Freeman’s emotionally charged, deliberately staged production showcases the visceral acting that has long defined Steppenwolf. Those compelling, detailed performances make up for several characters who are less defined than others.

Case in point, Arrington’s wealthy, painfully direct Hana, who admits to Michael she gave up on her daughter in order to remain herself.

“Everyone’s gotta do something to not keel over,” she says.

Arrington’s intriguing performance occupies that liminal space between keeping faith and giving up.

“We had to choose how to save our lives,” Hana tells Michael.

Hunched forward, arms crossed protectively, his expression etched with disbelief and pain, Smallwood’s overwhelmed Michael says little. But his brief monologue, delivered with heartfelt simplicity at the play’s conclusion, acknowledges relationships forever altered while serving as a moving testament to moving forward.

Hopper’s cameos include a kindly doctor and a detective, both of whom Theresa imagines as alternate versions of Mr. Wolf. But his main role is that of the astronomy-professor-turned-captor who “cultivated a perfect thing” able to discern God, whose confession builds to shocking crescendo of egoism deftly delivered by Hopper, who hits every chilling note.

Within Freeman’s impressive cast, newcomer Hanson, a 2022 DePaul University graduate, and veteran Neff stand out.

Centering Hanson’s kinetic, carelessly blunt, endlessly curious Theresa, Freeman places the adult characters in orbit around her. Fearful of spooking the traumatized teen, most of them engage delicately. But Neff’s wonderfully complex Julie, the marginalized stepmother unsure of her role or her future, is direct, responding without flinching to insensitive questions Theresa doesn’t recognize as hurtful.

Their brilliantly played scene — gasp-inducing for its candor and the emotional blows the characters inflict on each other — is the play’s most revealing and most difficult to watch.

Set designer Walt Spangler executes perfectly the stage directions that conclude the first scene.

“The universe cracks open,” Joseph writes, “… everything disappears.” The weathered old house Theresa occupied for 12 years — its living room filled with books and dominated by a chalkboard featuring Theresa’s drawing of our solar system and her imagined undiscovered galaxy — splits apart. Like her life, it fractures and is replaced by unfamiliar furnishings set against a great black expanse.

Not all of the special effects worked; some were a bit precious. But designer Rasean Davonte Johnson’s cosmos-conjuring projections deserve mention, along with Josch Schmidt’s original music and sound design.

Ultimately, “Mr. Wolf” is about what people do to survive the unimaginable. Theresa creates, questions, conforms to her captor’s ideals. Hana leaves and begins (tries to begin) a new life. Julie, having found comfort with a fellow bereaved parent, talks to her daughter and takes solace in memories. Michael keeps his house, keeps faith and proposes solutions for reforming their family.

Joseph makes clear there is no right way to heal. What’s important is to survive.

• • •

Location: Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago, (312) 335-1650, steppenwolf.org

Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and 3 p.m. Sunday through Nov. 2. Also 2 p.m. Oct. 22. No 7:30 p.m. performance Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, 8, 9, 14 and 28

Running time: About 85 minutes, no intermission

Tickets: $20-$133.50

Rating: For adults; contains strong language, unsettling themes