Steppenwolf for Young Adults Announces 2011/12 Season

Steppenwolf for Young Adults is pleased to announce its 2011/12 Season: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter adapted by Rebecca Gilman, based on the novel by Carson McCullers and directed by Hallie Gordon and fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life, a world premiere by Sarah Gubbins commissioned for Steppenwolf for Young Adults and directed by Joanie Schultz. Tickets go on sale for both high school groups and public performances on Friday, May 13 at 11 am.

"For our 2011/12 season, we explore the process through which art and literature evolves through adaptation and interpretation-how an original work can be born from the ideas and themes of a classic text," comments Artistic and Educational Director of Steppenwolf for Young Adults Hallie Gordon. "The compelling work of one artist can prompt the bold response and the new story of another. We are thrilled to involve students in this inter-generational conversation across time and across forms, from the book by Carson McCullers to Rebecca Gilman's adaptation of The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter to Sarah Gubbins' artistic response, fml: How Carson McCullers Saved My Life," adds Gordon.

Steppenwolf for Young Adults' 2011/12 Season:

October 11 - November 4, 2011
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
Adapted by Rebecca Gilman
Based on the novel by Carson McCullers
Directed by Hallie Gordon
In the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter follows John Singer, a deaf mute man who resides in a local boarding house, and four other vivid but desperately lonesome residents in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Mick Kelly, a 14-year-old tomboy who dreams of becoming a concert pianist; Benedict Copeland, the town's only black doctor; Jake Blout, a drunken political activist; and Biff Brannon, a recent widower and owner of the town's diner and bar. As each finds solace in Singer's ability to listen, they all unintentionally overlook their confidant's profound isolation in this timeless tale woven from the lives of ordinary people.

Rebecca Gilman's plays include A True History of the Johnstown Flood, Boy Gets Girl, Spinning Into Butter, Blue Surge, Dollhouse, The Glory of Living, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball and The Crowd You're in With. Her plays have received numerous productions at regional theatres and abroad, including productions at the Goodman Theatre, The Royal Court Theatre, Lincoln Center Theatre, The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, and Manhattan Class Company. Carson McCullers wrote The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter at the age of 23. Perhaps best known for her unflinching exploration of human isolation, she is the author of four novels, two plays, a host of essays and short fiction as well as an unfinished autobiography, published more than 30 years after her death.

February 28 - March 18, 2012
fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life
A world premiere by Sarah Gubbins
Directed by Joanie Schultz
In the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre

Jo's junior year of high school in suburban LaGrange, IL started off just fine-not that it's ever easy being a lesbian at 16. Thankfully, a new English teacher assigns Carson McCullers' famed novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, and Jo discovers an unshakable kinship to McCullers' central character John Singer. Like Singer, Jo is forever the listener, definitively the outsider, perpetually misunderstood and filled with unrequited love. Yet when she is a victim of a gay-bashing incident, her world is turned upside down and she must decide whether to seek revenge or redemption. A story about isolation, fitting in and finding oneself, fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life is a play about surviving high school and how literature still has the power to transform how we see the world.

Sarah Gubbins is a Chicago playwright whose full length plays include Fair Use, In Loco Parentis, The Water Play and The Kid Thing. Her plays have been read or developed at Steppenwolf, The Public Theater, New York Theater Workshop, The Goodman Theatre, American Theater Company, About Face Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Next Theatre Company, Actor's Express and Collaboraction.

Tickets & Performances
Weekday matinees (Tuesdays - Fridays at 10 am) are reserved for school groups only, with weekend performances (Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm) available to the public. Tickets go on sale for both high school groups and public performances on Friday, May 13 at 11 am. Tickets for public performances, priced at $20, are available by contacting Audience Services at (312) 335-1650, online at www.steppenwolf.org and in person at 1650 N. Halsted St. Tickets for high school groups are available by contacting the Steppenwolf for Young Adults Education Coordinator at (312) 654-5639.

Steppenwolf for Young Adults' unique approach combines play production with educational components to enhance arts education for young audiences, as well as their teachers and families. SYA creates two full-scale professional productions each season specifically for teens. Working closely with the Chicago Public and metropolitan area schools and other community partners, SYA annually ensures access to the theater for more than 15,000 participants from Chicago's diverse communities. The initiative also includes post-show discussions with artists; classroom residencies led by Steppenwolf-trained teaching artists in more than 30 classrooms in 14 public high schools; professional development workshops for educators; and the Young Adult Council, an innovative year-round after school initiative that uniquely engages high school students in all areas of the theater's operations.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the Corporate Sponsor of Steppenwolf for Young Adults.

Target is the Sponsor of the Target 2-for-1 Sundays.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago, IL (Martha Lavey, Artistic Director; David Hawkanson, Executive Director) is one of the nation's leading ensemble theatres, producing up to 16 productions each year in its three Chicago theater spaces - including programming dedicated to the development of new plays and theatre for young adults. Steppenwolf's productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including off-Broadway, Broadway, London, Sydney and Dublin. Formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, Steppenwolf has grown into an ensemble of 43 actors, writers and directors. For additional information, visit www.steppenwolf.org, www.facebook.com/SteppenwolfTheatre and www.twitter.com/SteppenwolfThtr.

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