BALD SISTERS Extended for Additional Week at Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Steppenwolf Theatre Company has added week of performances for its world premiere of Vichet Chum's Bald Sisters, now extended through January 21, 2023 in Steppenwolf's stunning new in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, the centerpiece of its recently unveiled Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Arts and Education Center, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago.

Directed by Jesca Prudencio, this brazen, comic examination of the ties that bind multigenerational families of immigrants together features Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Coburn Goss, Wai Ching Ho, Jennifer Lim and Nima Rakhshanifar.

Single tickets ($20 - $84) for all Bald Sisters performances are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at 312-335-1650.

Ma is dead; now what happens? Vichet Chum's world premiere follows two sisters - at odds since birth - as they settle the affairs of their strong-willed, wise-cracking mother while reconciling their family's Cambodian heritage with its ever-so-complicated American present. Where's the will? A burial or cremation? And what happens with Ma's teeth? Bald Sisters is an irreverent, comic and ultimately poignant examination of the ties that bind multigenerational families of immigrants together: history, spirituality and humor.

Artistic Biographies

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie

(Sophea) Steppenwolf Theatre Company debut. Off-Broadway: ...what the end will be (u/s Roundabout Theatre Company), Gloria: A Life (Daryl Roth Theatre); Kenny's Tavern (59E59); Sorry Not Sorry (Ars Nova ANTFEST); Love: Medea (Center at Park West). Regional: Twelfth Night (KC Rep); Good Person of Szechwan (CalShakes); Nanay (Magic Theatre); SYZRGY (Two Rivers Theatre); Lily's Revenge (Southern Rep); Sheddin' (Horizon Theatre); Hotel Plays (Provincetown Players); and more. Film: Mooshrooms, Arcadia, Facetime, The Hardest Part. Television: Blue Bloods, Locker Room Series, PBS' Great Performances recording of Gloria: A Life. Education: Yale MFA Acting. @cheskamckenzie francescafm.com

Coburn Goss

(Nate) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Fake, Dead Man's Cell Phone, The Royal Family, The Burials, Absolution. Off Broadway: When the Messenger Is Hot. Chicago: The Crowd You're In With, Vigils (Goodman Theatre); The Diary of Anne Frank, Seagull (Writers Theatre); Freud's Last Session (CRC/Mercury Theatre); Chimerica (Timeline Theatre). Regional: The Crucible (Asolo Repertory Theatre); The Last True Believer (Seattle Repertory Theatre). Film: Widows, Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman, The Lucky Ones, Once Upon a River, What Women Want. Television: The Red Line, neXt, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, The Mob Doctor, Boss, Empire, Chicago Code, E/R, Prison Break. He co-wrote and produced the upcoming film All Happy Families.

Wai Ching Ho

(Ma) Steppenwolf Theatre Company debut. Chicago: Night Watch (Goodman Theatre), Off Broadway: Snow In Midsummer (Classic Stage Company); Endlings (New York Theatre Workshop); Henry VI, Ah, Wilderness (NAATCO); No Foreigners Beyond This Point, The Square (Ma-Yi Theater Company); Joy Luck Club, Carry The Tiger To The Mountain, Legacy Codes, A Song For A Nisei Fisherman (Pan Asian Rep). Regional: A.R.T., Long Wharf Theatre, Denver Center Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Palo Theatre Works. Film: Turning Red, Hustlers, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Robot Stories. Television: Daredevil, Iron Fist, The Defenders, Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, New Amsterdam, Fresh Off the Boat, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order SVU.

Jennifer Lim

(Him) Steppenwolf Theatre Company debut. Chicago: Chinglish (Jeff Award Nomination - Best Actress, Chicago Theater Critic's Beat Nomination - Best Actress), The World of Extreme Happiness (Goodman Theatre). Broadway: Chinglish (Theater World Award - Outstanding Broadway Debut, IASNY Trophy for Excellence, Drama Desk Nom - Outstanding Actress). Off Broadway: Fefu & Her Friends (TFANA); Usual Girls (Roundabout Theatre Company); Caught (PlayCo); Tumacho (Clubbed Thumb); The World of Extreme Happiness (Manhattan Theatre Club); The Urban Retreat (Public Theater); Golden Child (Signature Theatre Company). Television/Film: New Amsterdam, Prodigal Son, Jessica Jones, Instinct, High Maintenance, Hell on Wheels, POI, Elementary, The Good Wife, A Naked Singularity, The Savages, The Stand-In, 27 Dresses. Education: Yale School of Drama. Jenniferlimonline.com

Nima Rakhshanifar

(Seth) Steppenwolf Theatre Company debut. Chicago: ShortShakes! Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Waiting for Godot (Victory Gardens Theater); Cat in the Hat (Northbrook Theater). Regional: Andy Warhol in Iran (Barrington Stage Company); A Christmas Carol, Junk, Guards at the Taj (u/s), Christmas at Pemberley (u/s) (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); Hotter than Egypt (u/s) (ACT Seattle); The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Freaky Friday (PCPA). Upcoming: Sanctuary City (TheatreSquared). Education: PCPA - Pacific Conservatory Theatre. nimarakhshanifar.com

Vichet Chum

(Playwright) is a Cambodian American playwright, actor and novelist living in NYC. Bald Sisters is his first time working at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, though he vividly remembers seeing The Pillowman directed by Amy Morton on a college theatre trip many moons ago. He cannot actually believe his lucky stars. He is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and the Laurents/Hatcher Award. He currently serves as a board member for the New Harmony Project, a curator for Space on Ryder Farm and a steering committee member for the Asian American Performers Action Coalition. Play groups (current and past) include Ars Nova, Page 73 and Space on Ryder Farm. He is presently working on commissions for Audible, Steppenwolf Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Merrimack Repertory Theatre and Seattle Children's Theatre. Chum is a proud graduate of the University of Evansville and Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company. vichetchum.com

Jesca Prudencio

(Director) is a director and choreographer dedicated to developing new theatrical works that humanize issues nationally and internationally. Upcoming: Dot Dot Dot (TheatreWorks USA), Exotic Deadly; or the MSG Play (The Old Globe). Recent: King Liz (Geffen Playhouse), Can We Now? (La Jolla Playhouse WoW Fest), It's a Ship Show! (Virgin Voyages), Interstate (Mixed Blood, East West Players). Other credits: The Great Leap by Lauren Yee (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Vietgone, Actually (San Diego Rep); Calling (La MaMa ETC); Man of God (East West Players); A&Q (Pineapple Lab, Philippines); FAN (B-Floor, Thailand). Jesca has developed new work at MCC Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, Cleveland Playhouse, Arena Stage, NAMT and La MaMa. She is a recipient of The Drama League Fellowship and the inaugural Julie Taymor World Theater Fellowship. Jesca is head of directing at SDSU where she is an Associate Professor. BFA: NYU Tisch, MFA: UC San Diego. Jescaprudencio.com

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