Displaying items by tag: Jerome Preston Bates

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 49th season with the Chicago premiere of The Book of Grace, an incendiary family portrait by Suzan-Lori Parks, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Topdog/Underdog. Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, The Book of Grace will play March 27 – May 18, 2025 in Steppenwolf's Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, 1646 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Single tickets starting at $20 are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. The press opening is Sunday, April 6, 2025 at 6 pm.

The Book of Grace will feature ensemble member Namir Smallwood (Steppenwolf: Bug, True West–also Galway Festival, Seagull. Broadway/Off-Broadway: Pass Over. TV: American Rust) with Jerome Preston Bates (Broadway: Seven Guitars, Stick Fly, Jitney. TV: All My Children) and Zainab Jah (Broadway: Eclipsed. Off-Broadway: School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. TV: Only Murders in the Building).

About the Production:

Grace looks for the good in everything: in her husband's rules, in the border he patrols, in the return of his estranged son. But a want for goodness cannot unwind the past, as this taut family reunion explodes in all directions. Witness this startling reminder that the search for common ground can be bloody and brutal, leaving casualties on every side of the divide.

Steppenwolf is thrilled that the Chicago premiere of The Book of Grace offers playwright Suzan-Lori Parks an opportunity to revisit this "companion" to Topdog/Underdog, deepening and expanding the world of her play for the present day.

The creative team includes Arnel Sancianco (Scenic Design), Raquel Adorno (Costume Design), Jason Lynch (Lighting Design), Curtis Craig (Sound Design & Original Music), Rasean Davonté Johnson (Projection Design) Kate DeVore (Vocal Coach), Jonathan L. Green (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Elise Hausken (Production Manager), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Michelle Medvin (Production Stage Manager) and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager). For cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Title: The Book of Grace
Playwright: Suzan-Lori Parks
Director: Steve H. Broadnax III
Cast: Ensemble member Namir Smallwood (Buddy) with Jerome Preston Bates (Vet) and Zainab Jah (Grace),

Location: Steppenwolf's Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, 1646 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, March 27 – Saturday, April 5, 2025
Press performance/Opening: Sunday, April 6, 2025 at 6 pm
Regular run: Thursday, April 10 – Sunday, May 18, 2025
Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be performances on Tuesday, April 1 at 7:30 pm, Tuesday, April 8 at 7:30 pm, Wednesday, April 9 at 7:30 pm, Tuesday, April 22 at 7:30 pm, Wednesday, April 23 at 7:30 pm, Wednesday, May 7 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, May 10 at 3 pm or 7:30 pm; Sunday, May 11 at 3 pm or Tuesday, May 13 at 7:30 pm; there will be an added matinee performance on Wednesday, May 7 at 2 pm.

Tickets: Single tickets for The Book of Grace ($20 - $102) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are also currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-described and Touch Tour: Sunday, May 4 at 3 pm (1:30 pm touch tour)
Open-Captioned: Saturday, May 3 at 3 pm & Thursday, May 8 at 7:30 pm
ASL-Interpreted: Friday, May 16 at 7:30 pm

Education and Engagement:

Throughout the 2024/25 season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to the next generation of theatre learners, makers and appreciators with robust education and engagement programming. Programming includes dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions including Noises Off, Leroy and Lucy, Fool for Love and The Book of Grace, in-school residencies in partnership with Chicago Public schools, workshops, panels and events specifically geared towards teens, as well as professional development trainings and resources for educators. Additionally, Steppenwolf is reimagining their community engagement and will pilot new public programming, continue accessibility programming and offer opportunities for deeper explorations for audiences throughout the season. For additional information about Steppenwolf's Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip, visit steppenwolf.org/education-and-engagement/steppenwolf-field-trip-series.

Artist Biographies:

Jerome Preston Bates (Vet) Broadway: Seven Guitars, Stick Fly, Jitney, American Son, Death of a Salesman. Off Broadway: The Refuge Plays (Roundabout Theatre Company), The Public, Beckett Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, Circle Rep, Playwrights Horizon, New Federal Theatre, Negro Ensemble Company. Regional: Seven Guitars (opposite Viola Davis, world premiere, Goodman Theatre), Yale Repertory, The Kennedy Center, Hartford Stage, Baltimore Center Stage, Arena Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Comedy of Errors, King Richard III), Old Globe (Macbeth), Folgers (King Lear in association with Classical Theatre of Harlem), Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre, Philadelphia Drama Guild, among others. Director: The Man in Room 304 (Luna Stage), Seven Guitars (Triad Stage), A Raisin in The Sun (Livingstone College), all 10 of the American Century Cycle at Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History. Writer: Electric Lady, Augusta Brown, Mr. Unemployed, Jimi Hendrix (screenplay). Film: Shaft (with Samuel L. Jackson), PEEPLES, Musical Chairs, Tio Papi, The Out of Towners. Television: All My Children, Oz, Law and Order, SVU, New York Undercover, Sesame Street, Lights Out, Notes from the Field with Anna DeVere Smith. Awards: seven time AUDELCO winner. Education/Training: LAMDA/London, University of Tennessee, Knoxville College, The New School, Professional Positions: Teaching Staff at Stella Adler School of Acting NY.

Zainab Jah (Grace) Broadway: Eclipsed, Venus, Boesman and Lena. Off Broadway: School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (MCC); The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Atlantic Theater Company). Regional: Hamlet (Wilma Theater); The Convert (LATC). Film: Reunion, Farewell Amor, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, False Positive. Television: The Continental, The Blacklist, Only Murders in the Building, The Good Lord Bird, Deep State, Instinct, Blindspot, Elementary, Homeland.

Namir Smallwood (Buddy) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2017. Steppenwolf: Seagull, Bug, True West, BLKS, Monster, Man In Love, The Hot L Baltimore, Last Night and the Night Before. Broadway: Pass Over. Off Broadway: Pipeline, Pass Over (Lincoln Center). Chicago: Primary Trust (Goodman); Charm (Northlight Theatre); The Grapes of Wrath (The Gift Theatre); East Texas Hot Links (Writers Theatre). Regional: Marin Theatre Company, Pillsbury House Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Guthrie Theater. International: True West (Galway International Arts Festival). Television: Chicago Fire, Betrayal, Elementary, American Rust (Showtime/FreeVee); Power Book IV: Force (STARZ). Film: Rounding, About Time, Bailey's Blues.

Suzan-Lori Parks (Playwright) is a multi-award-winning American writer/musician and the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Topdog/Underdog which recently enjoyed its twentieth anniversary Broadway revival. The production won the 2023 Tony Award, (Best Revival Of A Play). Last season she had new works which received world premieres, notably, at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Sally & Tom and, at Joe's Pub in New York City, Plays for the Plague Year (winner of The Drama Desk Award for Best Music in a Play). As a college student, Parks studied creative writing with James Baldwin, who encouraged her to begin writing for the theatre.

Steve H. Broadnax III (Director) Broadway: Thoughts of a Colored Man. Additional: Branden Jacobs- Jenkins's Appropriate at the Old Globe, Suzan-Lori Parks's Sally and Tom at the Public Theatre/ Guthrie Theatre (World Premiere), Katori Hall's Pulitzer Prize Premiere The Hot Wing King at Signature Theatre, Lee Edward Colston's The First Deep Breath, Geffen Theatre (Jeff Awards Best New Work), Dominique Morisseau's Sunset Baby at Signature Theatre and Blood at the Root at the National Black Theatre (Winner of Kennedy Center's Hip Hop Theater Creator Award) and William Jackson Harper's Premiere Travisville Ensemble Studio. Ensemble Studio Theatre member, Associate Artistic Director at People's Light Theatre, Professor of Theatre at Penn State University, and Head of MFA Directing.

Accessibility:

As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production. Assistive listening devices (ALDs), large-print programs and Braille programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/access or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..