Steppenwolf Receives Major Grant from Roy Cockrum Foundation

Steppenwolf Theatre Company has been named the recipient of a major grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation, which will provide major support for the world premiere production of Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning ensemble member Tracy Letts's intimate and moving new play, Mary Page Marlowe in the 2015/16 Subscription Season. This gift is one of two grants the Foundation has bestowed; the other being to Chicago's Goodman Theatre in support of Robert Falls' and Seth Bockley's world premiere stage adaptation of Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño's masterpiece, 2666. By invitation only, The Roy Cockrum Foundation awards grants to support world-class performing arts projects in not-for-profit professional American theaters. The Roy Cockrum Foundation enables theaters to reach beyond their normal scope of activities and undertake ambitious and creative productions.

"I believe Tracy Letts is one of the great playwrights of our time. His voice is vital to the field and I am honored to help support the production of his next exceptional work," said Roy Cockrum, a Northwestern University alumni who spent more than two decades working as an actor and stage manager for theater and television. "It is necessary that we as a society support our artists' big dreams and financially enable our important theater companies such as Steppenwolf to create new contributions to the theatrical canon."

"We are honored by the remarkable support of The Roy Cockrum Foundation that will allow us to develop and produce an ambitious new play by one of our ensemble members," shares Steppenwolf Artistic Director Martha Lavey. "Roy's vision to enable theaters to produce work of extraordinary ambition and scale is inspired. It is a testament to the cultural vitality of our city that the Foundation has selected two Chicago theaters as the recipients of its first grants, and it is a privilege to join the Goodman Theatre in this honor."

Tracy Letts won the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for his play August: Osage County. His latest play, Mary Page Marlowe, will debut as part of Steppenwolf 2015/16 Subscription Season, March 31 - May 29, 2016 in the Downstairs Theatre.

Mary Page Marlowe is an accountant from Ohio. She's led an ordinary life, making the difficult decisions we all face as we try to figure out who we really are and what we really want. As Tracy Letts brings us moments-both pivotal and mundane-from Mary's life, a portrait of a surprisingly complicated woman emerges. Intimate and moving, Mary Page Marlowe shows us how circumstance, impulse and time can combine to make us mysteries...even to ourselves.

Steppenwolf has produced the world premieres of Tracy Letts's August: Osage County (transferred to Broadway, London's National Theatre and the Sydney Theatre); Superior Donuts (transferred to Broadway); and Man from Nebraska (premiered at Steppenwolf in 2003, Pulitzer Prize finalist). Letts received a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for Steppenwolf's production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Letts can currently be seen in Showtime's Homeland in the role of Andrew Lockhart. He has been a Steppenwolf ensemble member since 2002.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is America's longest standing, most distinguished ensemble theater, producing nearly 700 performances and events annually in its three Chicago theater spaces-the 515-seat Downstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat Garage Theatre. Formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, Steppenwolf has grown into an ensemble of 44 actors, writers and directors. Artistic programming at Steppenwolf includes a five-play Subscription Season, a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season and two repertory series: First Look Repertory of New Work and Garage Rep. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including Off-Broadway, Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf has the distinction of being the only theater to receive the National Medal of Arts, in addition to numerous other prestigious honors including an Illinois Arts Legend Award and 12 Tony Awards. Martha Lavey is the Artistic Director and David Schmitz is the Managing Director. Nora Daley is Chair of Steppenwolf's Board of Trustees. For additional information, visit steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre and twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr.

Photo by John Black Photography