THE WRITER Makes U.S. Premiere at Steep Theatre in August

 Steep Theatre will be back in action this summer with the U.S. Premiere of Ella Hickson’s The Writer, directed by Georgette Verdin. The production will be performed at the Edge Theater, right in the heart of the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago that Steep has long-called home, as the company prepares for construction on their newly acquired building. The Writer marks director Verdin’s Steep debut and Chicago audience’s introduction to Hickson, one of the UK’s most talked-about playwrights.

The Writer premiered at London’s Almeida Theatre in Spring of 2018 and ignited passionate response from both audiences and critics as it took an uncompromising look at the state of theater and the world at large.  It was named one of the top ten shows of the year by The Stage, The Evening Standard, and The Independent and was named the number one show of the year by Timeout London. 

“This is as bold and exciting a script as we’ve ever done,” said Artistic Director Peter Moore.  “It hits this moment and this form in ways that are both completely riveting and rattling. Steep feels very much the home for this piece and I’m grateful we'll be a part of the conversations that will undoubtedly follow.”

The Writer will feature Steep Ensemble Members Lucy Carapetyan, Nate Faust, and Peter Moore, and guest artists Krystal Ortiz, Jodi Gage, and Allyce Torres, all of whom will be making their Steep Theatre debuts.  

Ella Hickson is an award-winning playwright whose work has been performed throughout the UK and abroad. Ella’s theatre credits include Adult Children (2021) a VR piece for the Donmar co-created with Sacha Wares and ScanLAB Projects, Swive (2019) at The Globe, Anna (2019) at The National Theatre, The Writer (2018) and Oil (2016) at The Almeida Theatre, and Wendy and Peter Pan (2015) at The Royal Shakespeare Company. She is a member of the Royal Society of Literature, a Thornton Wilder Fellow, and has twice been a MacDowell Colony Fellow, as well as a recipient of The Catherine Johnson Award.   

Georgette Verdin (she/her) is a queer, Cuban American director passionate about creating visceral theatrical experiences that elicit radical empathy and help marginalized women gain visibility. She is the Associate Artistic Director of Northlight Theatre and a proud member of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. She was profiled as one of 50 artists in NewCity Magazine’s 2023 edition “Players: Who Really Performs for Chicago Right Now” and in Chicago Reader’s “Best of Chicago 2022.” 2022 also brought two Joseph Jefferson Awards nominations for Director of a Play (Midsize) for the Chicago premiere of This Wide Night (Shattered Globe/Interrobang Theatre Project) and the world premiere of Spay (Rivendell Theatre). Other recent directing credits include the following World Premieres: A Mile in the Dark (Interrobang Theatre Project/Rivendell); Enough to Let the Light In (Teatro Vista at Steppenwolf 1700) and Chagall in School (Grippo Stage Company). Georgette was the 2022 Michael Maggio Directing Fellow at Goodman Theatre.  From 2015-2023, she served as Artistic Director of Interrobang Theatre Project, an award-winning storefront, known for gutsy productions that tackled socially-relevant and morally-complex subject matter. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA and a Master in Directing from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. She was a 2021 recipient of a 3Arts Make-A-Wave grant and is an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

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