Steppenwolf Theatre Reveals LookOut's Spring 2026 Season

Steppenwolf's LookOut Series launches into 2026 with a line-up featuring vital work from Chicago's dance, cabaret and music artists. With eight distinct programs over the course of two months, the breadth and diversity of this city's artistic communities is on full display this winter in the intimate 1700 Theater.

Highlights include a collaboration between celebrated dance artists Shalaka Kulkarni and Rika Lin; the return of The Uncanny Attic, an episodic tribute to the macabre work of Edward Gorey; and the premiere of Fold, a new solo piece by multidisciplinary artist Isabella Limosnero.

Creative Producer Patrick Zakem comments, “Every year, Steppenwolf is honored to host and showcase a cross-section of Chicago's dance and performance art communities as a part of our LookOut Series. Kicking off 2026, we've got a truly eclectic mix of work from familiar faces and new friends; we can't wait to see what these artists have been creating.”

All LookOut performances take place in Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, an intimate and flexible venue nestled behind Front Bar, 1700 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Tickets, which range in price from $23 – $43*, are now on sale by visiting steppenwolf.org/lookout or by calling the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. *Pricing includes a $3 fee

The full LookOut Spring 2026 Season (in chronological order):

The Uncanny Attic: Chapters E-H

A Beautifully Gruesome Production
Dates: Thursday, January 15 – Saturday, January 17 at 7:30 pm; Saturday, January 17 at 3 pm.
Ticket Price: $43
Description: The camp macabre world of Edward Gorey returns to Steppenwolf in the second installment of this absurdist dark comedy anthology told through puppetry, clowning, dance, live music, song, animation and an unhealthy dose of death.

TightUs Presents:

FLUIDITY 

By Taji Elemah
Featuring Jarqueze Simmons, Brandon Cox and Q. Shunté
Dates: Friday, January 23 & Saturday, January 24 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $28
Description: Fluidity follows the story of three dancers, stuck in detention, who share more in common than is first apparent. This piece synthesizes various genres of dance in an immersive experience featuring an electric trio of performers.

Cristal Sabbagh Presents:

Freedom From and Freedom To 

Dates: Friday, January 30 & Saturday, January 31 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $23
Description: Movement and sound improvisors from all around Chicago gather in front of a live audience and are grouped by chance in this exploration and celebration of artistic circumstance. Each performance features a different group of performers who fuse diverse artistic practices to create unique and fleeting worlds.

Fold

By Isabella Limosnero 
with Max Lazarus, Indigo and Carmani Edwards
Dates: Friday, February 13 & Saturday, February 14 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $23
Description: Multidisciplinary artist Isabella Limosnero combines physical storytelling, choreographed movement and live music in this piece examining how ancestral stories are stored in the body.

Project Bound Dance Presents:

Smoking Meat

Dates: Friday, February 20 & Saturday, February 21 at 7:30 pm; Sunday, February 22 at 3 pm.
Ticket Price: $33
Description: Under the direction of Ashley Deran and Emily Loar, Project Bound Dance is a Chicago-based Modern Dance Group rooted in the practice of collaboration. Interweaving partnering and choreography inspired by epic fantasy worldbuilding, Smoking Meat deliciously questions what we give up of ourselves in the pursuit of physical and social safety.

Red Velvet Riot and Ellis Centric Present:

HERE: in our bodies 

Dates: Thursday, February 26 – Saturday February 28 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $43
Description: This interdisciplinary cabaret production combines puppetry, performance art, drag and burlesque to explore the unique relationships we have to our bodies — as a whole or in parts — and to ourselves.

flights for future generations

Devised and performed by Lindsey Barlag Thornton
Dates: Friday, March 6 & Saturday, March 7 at 7:30 pm
Ticket Price: $23

Description: In this solo work from prolific performance artist Lindsey Barlag Thornton, movement, text, sound and imagery are overlaid in an exploration of the history of women aviators and spiritualists. By interweaving stories of flight with mysterious encounters in a type of séance-lecture, flights for future generations navigates our fragile course between faith and uncertainty.

MUDRA