Video: Go Inside Rehearsals for SEAGULL at Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is opening its stunning new in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell-the centerpiece of its recently unveiled Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Arts and Education Center-with ensemble member Yasen Peyankov's extraordinarily funny and lyrical adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Seagull, April 28-June 12, 2022.

Yasen Peyankov directs the production, featuring Steppenwolf co-founder Jeff Perry and fellow ensemble members Sandra Marquez, Caroline Neff, Karen Rodriguez, Eric Simonson and Namir Smallwood, alongside Keith Kupferer, Elijah Newman, Jon Hudson Odom, Joey Slotnick and Lusia Strus. Scott Jaeck steps in for Jeff Perry for performances May 24-June 5. Three generations of Steppenwolf's acclaimed ensemble collide in classic Chekhovian style in this play set over a long summer weekend in the Russian countryside, where guests wrestle with the eternal questions that haunt the intellectual artist class: What is Love? What is Art? When is Lunch? This historic moment in Steppenwolf history marks a new era of theater-making for the company in their new artistic home.

Single tickets to Seagull ($20-$88) are on sale now at steppenwolf.org and 312-335-1650.

Seagull inaugurates the new Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell at the heart of Steppenwolf's trailblazing new Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Arts and Education Center, designed by world-renowned architect Gordon Gill FAIA of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. The state-of-the-art 400-seat theater in-the-round is one of its kind in Chicago, with theater design and acoustics by Charcoalblue. Only six rows deep-with audience members never more than 20 feet from the stage-and featuring a modular staging system to vary audience capacity and experience, Charcoalblue designed the incredibly intimate Ensemble Theater from the inside out to integrate the theater into the fabric of the surrounding building. Steppenwolf's transformed campus also includes two new full-service lobby bars designed by fc STUDIO, inc., offering additional spaces for socializing alongside the popular Front Bar.

The opening of the Ensemble Theater with a multigenerational cast stacked with Steppenwolf ensemble members is the culmination of a season-long celebration of the new Arts and Education Center. The 2022 Steppenwolf Gala on Saturday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. at Rockwell on the River celebrates the new theater and expanded campus, offering a gourmet dinner and evening of entertainment emceed by ensemble members and Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis. Gala Co-Chairs are Caroline and Keating Crown, Nora Daley and Sean Conroy, and Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert. Additional host committee members include GCM Grosvenor, Liz and Eric Lefkofsky, Topher and Peyton Merrill, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, and Helen Zell.