Sandra Marquez News

The Chicago Inclusion Project is launching a new initiative dedicated to providing performance development training to Chicago area artists in underrepresented communities.  The new, pay- what-you-can series will consist of master classes, workshops, and mentor lectures from Chicago theater luminaries, excited to share their knowledge.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced the 2019/20 Season today. With seven Steppenwolf main series productions and two Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA) productions, the 44th season brings together the talents of revered Steppenwolf legends and captivating new ensemble members in a powerful lineup that celebrates a dynamic range of exciting voices.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced today the addition of longtime stage managerMalcolm Ewen into the world-renowned Steppenwolf ensemble. Ewen has worked at Steppenwolf since 1987 and has stage managed more than 40 shows and taken four Steppenwolf productions to Broadway-including The Grapes of Wrath and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? both of which won Tony Awards.

A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2, now in its world premiere at Steppenwolf, explores the gap between society's expectations for the central character Nora and how she perceives herself. Lucas Hnath's sequel to Ibsen's classic, proto-feminist work A DOLL'S HOUSE sees Nora returning through the very door she slammed fifteen years prior. She now must literally face the consequences of her desire to reclaim her identity and her quest to achieve equal rights to the men of 19th century society. In so doing, Hnath reveals that the chasm between Nora's societal/familial obligations and her obligations to herself may never be resolved.

Now playing in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre is the Chicago premiere production of A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath, helmed by celebrated director Robin Witt and featuring ensemble members Celeste M. Cooper (Emmy), Sandra Marquez (Nora), Yasen Peyankov (Torvald) with Barbara E. Robertson (Anne Marie). Hnath's bitingly funny play will feature a Steppenwolf first: fully accessible on stage seating.

Rehearsals are underway for Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath, helmed by celebrated director Robin Witt and featuring ensemble members Celeste M. Cooper (Emmy), Sandra Marquez (Nora), Yasen Peyankov(Torvald) with Barbara Robertson (Anne Marie). This Chicago premiere of Hnath's bitingly funny play will feature fully accessible onstage seating.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's current and highly successful world premiere of La Ruta by Isaac Gomez received a workshop and public reading at Steppenwolf as part of the theatre's new play development initiative, SCOUT, in conjunction with Steppenwolf's multi-genre series, LookOut.

Rehearsals are underway for Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath, helmed by celebrated director Robin Witt and featuring ensemble members Celeste M. Cooper (Emmy), Sandra Marquez (Nora), Yasen Peyankov (Torvald) with Barbara Robertson (Anne Marie). This Chicago premiere of Hnath's bitingly funny play will feature fully accessible onstage seating.

I left the world premiere of Isaac Gomez's LA RUTA at Steppenwolf Theatre Company with a heavy heart, yet one that was also full as I admired the immense work of the all-female Latinx ensemble. Gomez's necessarily tragic play focuses on Mexican women who live in Ciudad Juarez and have been disappearing along the bus route home from their factory jobs. LA RUTA handles its devastating subject matter with compelling gravitas (Gomez conducted several interviews to bring the play to life). Through his strong and deeply human characters, Gomez gives voice to this ongoing tragedy without ever sliding into a didactic tone.

The Sol Project (Jacob G. Padron, Artistic Director), the national theater initiative dedicated to amplifying Latinx voices and building a body of work for the new American theater, is proud to announce that founding member and artistic producer David Mendizabal will become the Associate Artistic Director, beginning immediately. Rebecca Martinez and Julian Ramirez will also join the company as members of the artistic collective.

Now playing in Steppenwolf's Upstairs Theatre is the world premiere production of La Ruta written by acclaimed Chicago playwright Isaac Gomez, directed by ensemble member Sandra Marquez.

 Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the world premiere production of La Ruta by acclaimed Chicago playwright Isaac Gomez, directed by ensemble member Sandra Marquez and featuring ensemble member Karen Rodriguez along with an eight-member all female Latinx cast. Inspired by the lives of Mexican women who live, work-and disappear-along a Ciudad Juarez bus route, La Ruta weaves live music through a story of resilience in the wake of loss.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the world premiere production of La Ruta by acclaimed Chicago playwright Isaac Gomez, directed by ensemble member Sandra Marquez and featuring ensemble member Karen Rodriguez along with an eight-member all female Latinx cast. Inspired by the lives of Mexican women who live, work-and disappear-along a Ciudad Juarez bus route, La Ruta weaves live music through a story of resilience in the wake of loss.

In conjunction with the world premiere of La Ruta by acclaimed Chicago-based playwright Isaac Gomez and directed by ensemble member Sandra Marquez, Steppenwolf Theatre Company has curated an event series of conversations and performances designed to enrich the experience around the world of the play. Inspired by the lives of Mexican women who live, work-and disappear-along a Ciudad Juarez bus route, La Ruta weaves live music through a story of resilience in the wake of loss.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere production of A Doll's House, Part 2 by award-winning playwright Lucas Hnath, helmed by acclaimed director Robin Witt and featuring ensemble members Celeste M. Cooper (Emmy), Sandra Marquez (Nora) and Yasen Peyankov (Torvald), with Barbara Robertson (Anne Marie). Hnath's bitingly funny play continues this classic story 15 years after the infamous door slam that ended Ibsen's original play.

This December, Steppenwolf Theatre Company is proud to present the world premiere production of La Ruta by acclaimed Chicago playwright Isaac Gomez, directed by ensemble member Sandra Marquez. Featuring ensemble member Karen Rodriguez along with an eight-member all female Latinx cast, La Ruta is inspired by the lives of Mexican women who live, work-and disappear-along a Ciudad Juarez bus route. La Ruta weaves live music through a story of resilience in the wake of loss.

 Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the world premiere production of La Ruta by acclaimed Chicago playwright Isaac Gomez, directed by ensemble member Sandra Marquez and featuring ensemble member Karen Rodriguez along with an eight-member all female Latinx cast. Inspired by the lives of Mexican women who live, work-and disappear-along a Ciudad Juarez bus route, La Ruta weaves live music through a story of resilience in the wake of loss.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Anna D. Shapiro announced today the addition of Rajiv Joseph and Karen Rodriguez to the world-renowned Steppenwolf ensemble. An Obie Award-wining and Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright, Rajiv Joseph's Guards at the Taj was produced at Steppenwolf this past May to great acclaim. Karen Rodriguez, a celebrated Chicago-based actor, recently performed at Steppenwolf in The Doppelganger (an international farce) and The Rembrandt, and will be featured in this season's world premiere of Isaac Gomez's La Ruta, in a role written specifically for her.

Now playing, Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere production of The Roommate by Jen Silverman, directed by Tony Award Winner Phylicia Rashad. Ensemble members Ora Jones and Sandra Marquez star in this celebration of female friendship and midlife renaissance.

Jen Silverman's THE ROOMMATE, now playing in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre, offers audiences a veritable master class in acting via Sandra Marquez and Ora Jones. Under the direction of Phylicia Rashad, Marquez and Jones have a touching and natural onstage rapport. The material of Silverman's play itself, however, does not exactly match the high bar of the performers. In fact, THE ROOMMATE feels rather uneven; the play dangles loose threads in front of the audience, introducing some major themes but never quite bringing any of them to fruition.