A.C.T.'s Carey Perloff to Talk 'BEAUTIFUL CHAOS' Memoir and More at Steppenwolf Theatre, 4/6

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents Artistic Director Martha Lavey and Steppenwolf ensemble member Frank Galati in conversation with Carey Perloff on the occasion of Perloff's memoir, "Beautiful Chaos: A Life in the Theater", Monday, April 6 at 5pm in the Garage Theater (1624 N Halsted St). Perloff, who became Artistic Director of American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) in 1992, shares her provocative and impassioned manifesto for the role of live theater in today's technology-infused world. The conversation will include a Q&A with the audience followed by a book signing in the lobby. Beautiful Chaos will be available for purchase at the event. The event is free; reservations are required, To RSVP, please contact Audience Services (1650 N Halsted), at 312-335-1650 or at steppenwolf.org.

Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, hails the book as a "marvel...for any person who has ever sat in the dark and been spellbound by the transformative power of theater." Steppenwolf ensemble member Frank Galati describes the memoir as "indispensable reading for anyone who cares about theatre art, values its profound impact on the quality of human life, and may be curious about how it is made. The book is an inspiration on many levels."

Perloff's memoir details her personal and professional journey -- her life as a woman in a male-dominated profession, as a wife and mother, a playwright, director, producer, arts advocate and citizen in a city erupting with enormous change -- it is a compelling, entertaining story for anyone interested in how theater gets made. Whether reminiscing about her turbulent first years as a young woman taking over an insolvent theater in crisis and transforming it into a thriving, world-class performance space, or ruminating on the potential for its future, Perloff takes on critical questions about arts education, cultural literacy, gender disparity, leadership and power.

Carey Perloff's dream from a young age was to become an archaeologist and discover the next Troy; this led her to study ancient Greek at Stanford and then to migrate to the theater, where she first learned to direct by staging Greek tragedies outdoors while studying theatrical modernism with Martin Esslin. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in classics and comparative literature in 1980, went on a Fulbright Fellowship to Oxford, and moved to New York to begin her directing career. Perloff was the youngest person ever to be hired to run a major LORT theater when A.C.T. chose her in 1992 to become its third artistic director. Perloff has had deep collaborations with Tom Stoppard, Philip Kan Gotanda, Robert Wilson, Frank Galati and Timberlake Wertenbaker; with major actors such as Bill Irwin, David Strathairn, BD Wong and Olympia Dukakis; and with other notable artists from around the world, making A.C.T. a true destination for passionate, literate and diverse theater. In addition, Perloff has written a number of award-winning plays, including Luminescence Dating, Higher and Kinship; has taught for many years in A.C.T.'s acclaimed M.F.A. Program and at universities around the country; and has directed dozens of major reinterpretations of classical plays, from Hecuba to 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, as well as world premieres of new work. Perloff writes and lectures regularly about the American theater and about issues in culture and contemporary life that are close to her heart.

Martha Lavey has been an ensemble member since 1993 and artistic director since 1995. Under her leadership, Steppenwolf has doubled the size of its ensemble and diversified its base of artists; become a national leader in producing new plays and commissioning playwrights; added two performance spaces; created Steppenwolf for Young Adults; expanded and deepened its partnerships in public schools and the community and instituted a platform for engaging audiences after every performance. She has overseen the production of hundreds of plays and transferred dozens of Steppenwolf productions to Broadway and abroad, gaining national and international recognition for the company and Chicago as a vital theater destination. During her tenure, Steppenwolf was awarded the National Medal of the Arts, the only theater to ever receive the honor, as well as the Illinois Arts Legend Award, Equity Special Award and nine of the company's 12 Tony Awards. While leading one of the most acclaimed theater companies in the world, she has performed in more than 30 productions at Steppenwolf. She has served on grants panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, The Theatre Communications Group, Three Arts Club, USA Artists and the City Arts panel of Chicago. Lavey holds a doctorate in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is a member of the National Advisory Council for the School of Communication at Northwestern University. She is a recipient of the Sarah Siddons Award, an Alumni Merit Award and an Honorary Doctorate from Northwestern University.

Frank Galati has been a member of the Steppenwolf ensemble since 1986. He won two Tony Awards for his adaptation and direction of Steppenwolf's production of The Grapes of Wrath on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1998 for directing the musical Ragtime. Although he is known primarily as a director of epic plays and musicals (Steppenwolf's Homebody/Kabul, Broadway's Ragtime), Galati is an equally adept actor (Steppenwolf's The Drawer Boy, The Tempest) and adaptor (Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay for The Accidental Tourist). He directed his adaptation of Murakami's Kafka on the Shore at Steppenwolf in 2008. Galati is a professor emeritus in the department of performance studies at Northwestern University. He returns to direct the US premiere of The Herd by Rory Kinnear at Steppenwolf (April 2 - June 7, 2015) in the Downstairs Theatre.

The event is free, but reservations are required. To RSVP, please contact Audience Services (1650 N Halsted), at 312-335-1650 or at steppenwolf.org. Beautiful Chaos: A Life in the Theater will be available for purchase in the Garage lobby that evening. Carey Perloff will be available to sign copies following the April 6 conversation.

Currently playing: Steppenwolf presents the Chicago premiere production of Marie Antoinette, a modern, witty portrayal of the young queen of France by David Adjmi and directed by Robert O'Hara, now through May 10, 2015 in the Upstairs Theatre. Tickets ($20-$86) are available through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org. Steppenwolf for Young Adults presents the world premiere production of This Is Modern Art (based on true events) written by Kevin Coval and Idris Goodwin and directed by Lisa Portes, now through March 14, 2015 in the Downstairs Theatre. Tickets to This is Modern Art public performances are $20 ($15 with student ID) and available at 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org. Steppenwolf's Garage Rep 2015 features three of Chicago's innovative storefront theater companies performing in rotating rep, now playing through April 26, 2015. Tickets to Garage Rep are $20 and available at 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

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 Credit: Kevin Berne

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