Joel Reitsma News

The Jeff Awards announced today via a special video, a total of 132 nominations in 22 categories for the 46th Annual Non-Equity Jeff Awards.

With the original run completely sold out, Steep Theatre is extending the run of Ike Holter's Red Rex through March 16 and adding Wednesday evening performances to the schedule beginning February 6. Tickets are on sale now at steeptheatre.com/redrex, and they're expected to sell very quickly. 

Ike Holter's RED REX, now in its world premiere at Steep Theatre, is a delightfully meta-theatrical experience. The play is the sixth in local playwright Holter's ambitious seven-play cycle about Rightlynd, the fictional 51st ward of Chicago. It is one of the most intriguing, brilliant, and solidly constructed plays in the 'Rightlynd Saga.' RED REX is Chicago theater that is quite literally about Chicago theater. Yet Holter never panders to his theater-loving audience in his writing. Watching RED REX is a simultaneously gratifying and challenging experience, and that's precisely what makes this play so powerful.

In January, Steep Ensemble Member Jonathan Berry returns to Steep to direct the world premiere of Ike Holter's Red Rex, the sixth play in Holter's seven-play "Rightlynd Saga" about Chicago. Since the 2012 production of his Hit the Wall, Holter's work has gained increasing national and international attention. In describing the "Rightlynd Saga," Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune opined that it "might just be one of the most significant literary achievements in modern-day Chicago." Holter's play Rightlynd, part of the seven-play saga, is currently in production at Victory Gardens Theatre, and his Lottery Day, the final play in the saga, premieres in the Spring of 2019 at the Goodman Theatre. Director Jonathan Berry has been at the helm of many of Steep's most memorable shows, including the recent smash-hit production of Simon Stephens' Birdland.

-A small theater company moves into an abandoned Chicago storefront. Led by their adventurously thirsty artistic director, they embark on an explosive new play with the hope of finally breaking it big. When the ensemble realizes their source material might not be as original as once assumed, they are thrust into an intense confrontation with residents of their new community, who not only want them out, but will take their story back by any means necessary. Red Rex is the sixth play in Ike Holter's seven part 'Rightlynd Saga," which also includes Exit Strategy, Prowess, and The Wolf at the End of the Block.

With the original run and four-week extension completely sold out, Steep Theatre Company is adding three more performances of Simon Stephens' Birdland on June 10, 14, and 15. With the ensemble's next production (Penelope Skinner's Linda directed by Robin Witt) right around the corner, June 15 will be the last chance to catch this runaway hit at Steep.

The Jeff Awards announced today a total of 115 nominations in 19 categories for the 45th Annual Non-Equity Jeff Awards.

With the original run completely sold out, Steep Theatre Company is adding sixteen more performances of Simon Stephens' Birdland. Tickets for the extension will go on sale at 3:00pm on Monday, April 16, and they're expected to sell very quickly. Tickets will be available at steeptheatre.com/birdland.

When you can have whatever you want, whenever you want it, what do you ask for next? When you've pushed every boundary until there's nothing left to hold you in, how do you find your way back home? Birdland is a sexy, searing exploration of empathy and the impact of unchecked privilege by Olivier and Tony Award winner Simon Stephens.

When you can have whatever you want, whenever you want it, what do you ask for next? When you've pushed every boundary until there's nothing left to hold you in, how do you find your way back home? Birdland is a sexy, searing exploration of empathy and the impact of unchecked privilege by Olivier and Tony Award winner Simon Stephens.

Jonathan Berry returns this spring to Steep to direct the U.S. premiere of Simon Stephens' Birdland. Stephens, who won the Tony and Olivier Awards for his The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is Steep's Associate Playwright, and Birdland will be the fifth of his plays to be produced by the Edgewater ensemble. Steep Ensemble Member and Jeff Award-winning director Jonathan Berry recently directed Steppenwolf Theatre's You Got Older and The Crucible. Over the years, he has consistently produced some of Steep's most notable shows, including last year's sweeping epic Earthquakes in London and Laura Wade's Posh, which won the Non-Equity Jeff Award for Best Ensemble, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Production.

With only a few tickets remaining for its original run, Steep Theatre has added four more performances of The Invisible Hand. This powerful play has fascinated audiences and critics alike. The Invisible Hand will run through Saturday, November 18.

Under the deft direction of Audrey Francis, Steep Theatre Company treats audiences to an intimate, intense Chicago premiere of Ayad Akhtar's THE INVISIBLE HAND.

An American banker has been taken hostage by an isolated militant group in Pakistan. When his ransom goes unpaid, his only hope is to trade on his expertise in international finance to earn his way to freedom. In an unsteady landscape of power and control, this geo-political thriller by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar asks, just how free is the free market?

Steep Theatre's 17th season will open this fall with the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar's The Invisible Hand, directed by Audrey Francis. Akhtar won the Pulitzer for his play Disgraced, which premiered in 2012 at American Theatre Company in Chicago and later played both at the Goodman Theatre and on Broadway. 

The LIVINGroom announces the lineup and details for the third installment of its 2017 solo performance season at Stage 773. Performers Shi An Co, Bo Kinney, Jorge Silva, and Van Ferdinand join ensemble members Megan Powell and Laura Reitsma in the Cabaret Theater at Stage 773 on Sundays, August 13, 20, and 27 in The LIVINGroom: You Are..., directed by LIVINGroom ensemble member Joel Reitsma. The LIVINGroom: You Are... is created in collaboration with Jeff Award-winning sound designer (Non-Equity award 2016) Jeffrey Levin.

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents the Midwest Premiere of By the Water, written by Sharyn Rothstein and directed by Cody Estle.  By the Water runs March 16 - April 23, 2017 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie. The press opening is scheduled for Friday, March 24 at 8pm. 

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, announces casting for the upcoming productions of By The Water by Sharyn Rothstein, directed by Cody Estle, and Relativity, a new play by Mark St. Germain, directed by BJ Jones.

The LIVINGroom and Producing Artistic Director Laura Reitsma announce their 2017 season at Stage 773. Performances will take place over three Sundays during March, May, August, and November 2017. Performance dates are Sundays, March 12, 19, and 26, May 7, 14, and 21, August 13, 20, and 27, and November 5, 12, and 19. All performances are at 7:00 pm in the Cabaret Theater, Stage 773.

The LIVINGroom announces the lineup and details for the December installment of its 2016 solo performance series at Stage 773. Solo artists Kyle Howard Hamlin, Mike Haverty, Jorge Silva, Tyler Anthony Smith, and Anna Rose Wolfe return to The LIVINGroom, joining ensemble members Carly Jo Geer and David Gordezky on Sunday, December 11. The performance is directed by ensemble member Abigail Phelps.