Interview: Audrey Francis On Closing Steppenwolf's 50th Anniversary Season with CATCH AS CATCH CAN

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is closing its landmark 50th Anniversary Season with the Chicago premiere of Mia Chung's CATCH AS CATCH CAN, running June 4 through July 12, 2026 in the Downstairs Theater. Directed by Ensemble member Amy Morton, the form-bending theatrical tour-de-force features three actors taking on six roles across gender and generation, following a prodigal son whose return to blue collar New England sets off a spiraling crisis for two families. The all-ensemble cast features Audrey Francis, Gary Cole, and Tim Hopper.

Francis is uniquely positioned in this production, bringing both her decades of Ensemble experience and her role as Steppenwolf's Artistic Director, a position she holds alongside Glenn Davis, to the closing production of a historic season. Her previous Steppenwolf stage credits include NOISES OFF, THE THANKSGIVING PLAY, THE HERD, BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY, THE FUNDAMENTALS, THE DOPPELGANGER (AN INTERNATIONAL FARCE), and DANCE NATION. She also directed YOU WILL GET SICK and POTUS in recent seasons, and her television and film credits include JUSTIFIED: CITY PRIMEVAL, CHICAGO MED, CHICAGO FIRE, EMPIRE, PERPETRATOR, KNIVES AND SKIN, and LATER DAYS.

BroadwayWorld spoke with Francis about building two characters across gender and generation, what an all-ensemble production means for the creative process, and why she believes this is exactly the right moment for a play that demands as much from its audiences as it does from its artists.

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What draws you to a play like CATCH AS CATCH CAN, and what was it about Mia Chung's script that made you want to be part of this production?

Mia has written a play that challenges both artists and audiences in unpredictable ways. Her play requires a willingness to go on a journey one cannot control or predict. The way she plays with structure, form, and fluidity has been a feat to work on as an artist and has moved many of our audiences to feel challenged, inspired, and deeply moved. To be an actor in this production has been a gift. There are moments in the play when we, the cast, can feel the energy in the theater shift. It's not just that you can hear a pin drop; it's that you can feel the air in the room change. That doesn't happen often, so when you find a play that can deliver that kind of ride, it would be a sin to let it go.

Playing both Daniela and her father Lon requires you to bridge gender and generation within the same story. How did you approach building two such distinct characters while keeping them connected?

We have a great dialect and vocal coach, Kate DeVore. She helped us early on to differentiate our vocal ranges and both the thickness and type of our accents depending on the generation and gender. Amy directed us with the precision of a surgeon. She helped us wrap our brains around the unconscious behavioral habits of each gender and generation. She kept a close eye on our physicality and cadence, and the overall tone of our communication based on our age, gender, and role in the family system. Once I was able to embody (and believe in) why each character was moving through the world in that way, it just became about practice, repetition, and speed.

How does it feel to be closing out Steppenwolf's landmark 50th Anniversary Season with this production, and what does that milestone mean to you personally as both an Ensemble member and Artistic Director?

It's very meaningful to be closing Steppenwolf's 50th Anniversary Season with this show. First and foremost, having an all-ensemble team, with Amy Morton directing and Tim Hopper and Gary Cole in the cast, allowed us to bring decades of Steppenwolf history to the stage. And this play is about family, identity, fluidity, fracturing, disorientation, and the ability and/or willingness to try to catch each other (and ourselves) as best we can. That feels very Steppenwolf to me. Also, it wouldn't be Steppenwolf if we didn't take a big swing. Mia's play is not easy to execute. I like to think that part of what makes Steppenwolf magical is our tolerance for risk. We love big swings, and that love does not live within the success or failure of the feat, but rather in the effort itself and the ability to cheer each other on along the way. We got to do that a lot throughout this process.

As Artistic Director, you have a broad view of the work Steppenwolf produces. What made CATCH AS CATCH CAN feel like the right choice to anchor this particular season?

Bringing decades of ensemble to the stage, showcasing the acting and directing prowess of our artists, and a family play that breaks all the rules and pushes every boundary possible, felt like just the right balance of celebrating where we've come from while continuing to challenge ourselves and our audiences to grow into the next 50 years.

The play is described as "form-bending" and "wildly inventive." How does that theatrical experimentation affect your process as an actor when the rules of the stage are constantly being challenged?

For me, it always comes down to honesty and bravery. Mia has written an extraordinary play. Amy led us with extreme passion, precision, and care. So, our job as actors was to meet that as the most honest and courageous versions of ourselves within those circumstances. If anything, it heightened my need to make sure I was living as authentically as possible in a play that demanded the (almost) impossible.

The production features an all-ensemble cast with you, Gary Cole, and Tim Hopper. What is it like collaborating with fellow Ensemble members in such an unconventional and demanding piece?

For me, there is nothing better than working with an all-ensemble cast and an ensemble director, because we've all agreed to a certain contract. We've made Steppenwolf our home not because of "what" Steppenwolf does, but rather the "way" Steppenwolf does it. We understand that this is a team sport and we're all in it together. Working with ensemble members means we have a shorthand, an immediate trust, and a responsibility to raise the bar every single day. The first week of rehearsal can often be about getting to know each other, but with an ensemble team, our first week is about figuring out how to push ourselves and each other in new ways. To have history among artists is an incredible thing, and I'm forever grateful to have it and continue to make it with this ensemble.

The Downstairs Theater is an intimate space. How does that proximity to the audience affect a play that is so theatrically bold and boundary-pushing?

This play takes the audience on such a wild ride. Being so close to our patrons in this intimate space is almost like being able to sense when the audience is breathing and when they stop. We can sense their initial confusion, then feel them understand and buy into the contract with joy, then in one scene, we feel the audience see the curve in the road and start to hold on. We can feel the air, or lack thereof, in the audience's lungs. We can sense when the hearts are beating and breaking. And then somehow, in one moment, all of that is eased with a wave of laughter and togetherness. It's what makes theatre magic.

What do you hope Chicago audiences feel when they walk out of CATCH AS CATCH CAN, and why do you think now is the right moment for this story to be told?

So often, we're presented with what our algorithms know we'll like, what we'll buy into, or what we'll agree with. Content has been set to make it easy for us to consume. It concerns me that when a piece of art is not immediately easy to grasp, or the rules of the game are not what we're used to, or if we're simply faced with a new concept, language, or idea, if it is not met with curiosity. Disorientation is not a threat; it's an opportunity. Sometimes art is meant to be felt, more than being completely understood in the most linear way. This play demands just as much from our audiences as it does from our artists. I've been elated to see the responses, in particular from our patrons saying, "Thank you for believing in our intelligence and our willingness to be challenged."

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