Displaying items by tag: Yasen Peyankov

If you can imagine “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf” being played for laughs, you’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s in store at Steppenwolf Theatre's production of “The Dance of Death.” Written in Swedish by August Strindberg in 1900, the remarkably comical show is loaded with laughs in Irish playwright Conor McPherson’s 2012 version presented here. Directed by Yasen Peyankov with truly wonderful scenic design by Collette Pollard, it is thoroughly enjoyable 125 years after its debut.

The action is set at a military installation on a Nordic island. We learn the island is a short ferry ride away from Copenhagen, but its exact location isn’t named. Here the military officer and his wife live alienated from their military colleagues, their servants, even from their children, subsumed as they are in a 25-year marital war between each other. 

Jeff Perry and Cliff Chamberlain

Steppenwolf’s production opens powerfully in a silent tableau: the soaring interior of a massive, tapering round granite tower more than three stories tall. With rows of arched windows across the second and third levels, the military fortification widens as it descends to a great drawing room on the main floor that runs the full width of the stage.

A late middle-aged officer in military garb sits stage left—the Captain (Jeff Perry). Gradually our attention is drawn to the figure of a woman, Alice (Kathryn Erbe) hair swirling up in piles Edwardian style, wearing a high-collared long sleeved dress, her full skirt grazing the floor. She stands contemplatively in silhouette against the lingering evening light, framed by a gothic French doorway.

This scene, so reminiscent of an Ingmar Bergman film, grounds us in the Nordic setting, but as soon as the characters Captain and Alice open their mouths, we encounter the casual American English that Irish playwright Conor McPherson has chosen for his scintillating version of Strindberg’s battle of the sexes.

Jeff Perry and Kathryn Erbe

Perry in particular shows his comedic chops, and Perry and Erbe together display that special stage mastery we associate with Steppenwolf. It was so fresh and funny that I set about reading Strindberg’s 1900 original. There I found that McPherson tracks it very closely. But oh how he sharpens the humor, heightens the dramatic line, and injects the venomous choreography that marks this couple’s intimacy. Dark it is, yes, but light also, and just plain funny. 

In the run up to their silver wedding anniversary, Alice and Captain express openly the regret they have over being shackled to each other. They charge each other with having dashed their dreams. Add to that another combustible—a difference in age and vitality. The Captain’s health is clearly unstable, while the younger Alice pants for emancipation by any means. Soon enough a third character arrives—the much younger Kurt (Cliff Chamberlain)—with whom both have a history.

Not having seen this pair for 15 years, Kurt arrives on assignment to the island on which this tower is situated. So we get to see in real time how Alice and the Captain each work their wiles on Kurt to lure him to their respective sides in the marital discord. In the course of this, Alice and the Captain are both revealed to be manipulative, unapologetic liars. At first the Captain seems to bond with Kurt, though its really more of an effort to manipulate him for allegiance. Soon enough Alice is ahead in the battle for Kurt’s affections. This is not really a love triangle, but much more an unstable atom ready to explode.

Alice claims to long for the Captain’s death—or a divorce or other legal means—to set herself free. With Kurt soon under her spell, Alice initiates communications with the Captain’s superiors that could see the Captain relieved of his command, and perhaps incarcerated. As that moment of truth arrives, the infatuation with Kurt withers, and we find the Captain and Alice really are in love, and love to hate each other. It’s at least part of what has made this marriage work!

Without question, McPherson improves on Strindberg, not only making the play accessible to audiences over a century later, but turning it into something immensely more entertaining. Humor is a fragile thing, and comedy is all in the timing of the delivery—the pauses, the quick breaks, the fast retort. McPherson has deftly heightened the impact of the core of Strindberg’s work, finding the key to the characters and dynamics much of which honestly I could not see in the original.

Early in a run, the director is still getting a bit of that timing nailed down, so by the time you see it it will be even funnier. But as it was, there are many, many moments that are over the top funny. Perry and Erbe are masterful in their deliveries, kind of shock and awe hilarious at moments. Chamberlain gives a full-throated energy to his performance as his character Kurt is driven to distraction when he finds himself sucked into the toxicity of the relationship.

“The Dance of Death” runs through March 22, 2026 at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and comes highly recommended.

This review is proudly shared with our friends at www.TheatreInChicago.com. 

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Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 50th Anniversary Season with August Strindberg's masterclass in marital warfare The Dance of Death, adapted by Conor McPherson, directed by ensemble member Yasen Peyankov and featuring an all ensemble cast. The Dance of Death will play January 29 – March 22, 2026 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 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 Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 7:30 pm.

Steppenwolf ensemble member Jeff Perry (No Man's Land, August: Osage County, Scandal) returns home to the company he co-founded five decades ago, joined by fellow ensemble members Cliff Chamberlain (You Will Get Sick, Fool for Love, The Minutes) and Kathryn Erbe (The Grapes of Wrath, A Streetcar Named Desire, Law & Order: Criminal Intent), who returns to the Steppenwolf stage for the first time in nearly three decades.

About the Production:

In the high stone tower of an isolated naval fortress, Alice and Edgar are about to celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss – if decades of resentment, recrimination and mutual sabotage count as bliss. But when an alluring visitor arrives, the delicate balance of their tedious arrangement falls off its axis, cracks growing into canyons. In Conor McPherson's wicked take on Strindberg's masterclass in marital warfare, a twisted love triangle waltzes off the edge of a cliff, plunging us all into the deep.

Steppenwolf Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis comment, "When we set out to program the 50th Anniversary Season, our priority was to welcome a large host of ensemble members from across Steppenwolf's storied history back home. Nowhere is this clearer than in The Dance of Death, which has an all ensemble cast and an ensemble director at the helm. With Jeff, Katie and Cliff – representing three generations of ensemble members – in one room, we know we're in store for a quintessentially Steppenwolf night of combustible and provoking theater."

The creative team includes Collette Pollard (Scenic Design), Ana Kuzmanic (Costume Design) Lee Fiskness (Lighting Design), Rick Sims (Sound Design), Jyreika Guest (Fight and Intimacy Consultant), Jason K. Martin (Voice Coach), Claire Kaplan (Movement Consultant), Abhi Shrestha (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Tom Pearl (Producing Director), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Kathleen Barrett (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Title: The Dance of Death
Playwright: August Strindberg
Adaptor: Conor McPherson
Director: ensemble member Yasen Peyankov
Cast: ensemble members Cliff Chamberlain (Kurt), Kathryn Erbe (Alice) and Jeff Perry (Captain)

Location: Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Thursday, January 29 – Friday, February 6, 2026
Press performance/Opening: Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Tuesday, February 10 – Sunday, March 22, 2026
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 7:30 pm performances on Tuesday, February 3, Wednesday, February 11, Tuesday, February 17, Wednesday, February 25, Thursday, February 26, Tuesday, March 3 and Tuesday, March 17; there will not be 3 pm performances on Saturday, February 7, Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, February 8; there will be an added 2 pm matinee on Wednesday, March 11.

Tickets: Single tickets for The Dance of Death ($20 – $148.50*) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are currently on sale at steppenwolf.org/memberships: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30. *Pricing includes an $8.50 handling fee

Steppenwolf offers 20 tickets for $20 (no added fees) for each performance of every membership series production. Use promo code 20FOR20 to redeem this offer online, available in advance until they're sold out for every main series show. Limit 2 tickets per person. You can also purchase by phone at (312) 335-1650 on the day-of show at 12 pm for main series performances. Limit 2 tickets per person.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-Described and Touch Tour: Sunday, March 1 at 3 pm (1:30 pm Touch Tour)
Open-Captioned: Saturday, February 28 at 3 pm & Thursday, March 12 at 7:30 pm
ASL-Interpreted: Friday, March 6 at 7:30 pm

Education and Engagement:

Throughout the 2025/26 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 Mr. Wolf, Amadeus, The Dance of Death and Windfall, 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:

August Strindberg (Playwright) Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish author and playwright whose work engaged the concepts of naturalism and expressionism. He was born in Stockholm on January 22, 1849, to an unsuccessful shipping agent and a maidservant. He attended the University of Uppsala, but he would often leave to act at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, teach or write plays. He left Uppsala permanently in 1872 to work as a journalist and a librarian at the Royal Library in Stockholm. In 1879, Strindberg published his novel "The Red Room," making him famous in Sweden. His play Master Olof, a historical drama published in 1872, was finally performed in 1881, and he wrote several plays criticizing social conventions in Sweden, including Lucky Peter's Travels (1882), The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), Creditors (1888), The Stronger (1888) and Playing with Fire (1892). During the 1890s, Strindberg suffered from psychological and emotional stress, which he described in his novel "Inferno," that culminated in his adoption of mysticism. The post-"Inferno" period was more productive for Strindberg. He wrote thirty-six plays from 1898 to 1909, including To Damascus (1898), a trilogy, Gustav Vasa (1899), Erik the Fourteenth (1899), Easter (1900), The Dance of Death (1900), A Dream Play (1901), Queen Christinia (1901), Storm (1907), The Ghost Sonata (1907) and The Great Highway (1909). He died in Stockholm on May 14, 1912. 

Conor McPherson (Adaptor) was born in Dublin in 1971. He attended the University College in Dublin, where he began to write and direct. His plays include Rum & Vodka, The Good Thief, This Lime Tree Bower, St. Nicholas, The Weir (Olivier Award, Best Play), Dublin Carol, Port Authority, Shining City (Tony Award nomination, Best Play) and The Seafarer. Film work includes I Went Down, Saltwater, Samuel Beckett's Endgame and The Actors. Other awards include the George Devine Award; Critics' Circle Award; Evening Standard Award; Meyer Whitworth Award; Stewart Parker Award; two Irish Film & Television Academy Best Screenplay Awards; CICAE Best Film Award, Berlin Film Festival (Saltwater); Best Film and Best Screenplay Awards, San Sebastian Film Festival (I Went Down).

Yasen Peyankov (Director) last directed at Steppenwolf Theatre his own adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Seagull in 2022 and has been an Ensemble Member since 2002. Other Steppenwolf main stage directing credits include: The Fundamentals, Between Riverside and Crazy (Jeff nomination for Best Production), Grand Concourse and Russian Transport. He also directed Hushabye for Steppenwolf's First Look Repertory and The Glass Menagerie for Steppenwolf for Young Adults. He most recently directed Samuel Beckett's Endgame at Facility Theatre. He also translated and directed the Bulgarian premieres of August: Osage County and Doll's House, Part 2 (still running) at the National Theatre in Sofia, Bulgaria. As an actor he has appeared in over 20 productions at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, some of which include: Time of Your Life (also in Seattle and San Francisco), Morning Star (Jeff Award), Hysteria, Lost Land, Cherry Orchard, Frankie and Johnny at the Claire De Lune (also in Dublin), Superior Donuts (also on Broadway), and others. Film: Maestro, Captive State, A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas, The Company, US Marshalls, and others. Television: Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., Madame Secretary (recurring), FBI, Stranger Things, The Mob Doctor, Alias, The Practice, The Unit, Numb3rs, and others. Mr. Peyankov is a Professor and Head of Theatre at the School of Theatre and Music at UIC where he teaches acting and directs plays.

Cliff Chamberlain (Kurt) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2018. Steppenwolf Theatre Company: You Will Get Sick, Fool For Love, The Minutes, Belleville, Clybourne Park, Theatrical Essays, Superior Donuts. Chicago: The Seagull (Goodman Theatre); The Sparrow (The House Theatre of Chicago). Broadway: The Minutes, Superior Donuts. Television: Homeland, Altered Carbon, The Act, Easy, State of Affairs, Chicago P.D., Paper Girls, The Chair. Film: The Rip, Moses the Black, The Wise Kids. Cliff trained at UCSB and The School at Steppenwolf.

Kathryn Erbe (Alice) first worked with Steppenwolf on the Broadway production of The Grapes of Wrath (1990 Tony Award for Best Play) and became an ensemble member in 1992. Steppenwolf: Curse of the Starving Class, My Thing of Love and A Streetcar Named Desire. Broadway: The Speed of Darkness (Tony nomination), A Month In the Country, The Father. Off-Broadway: Down the Shore (Atlantic Theater Company – company member since 1993), Yosemite, Ode To Joy, AZAK (Rattlestick), Checkers, Nikolai and the Others (Mitzi Newhouse LTC), Something Clean (Roundabout Underground), Ashes & Ink (AMT Theater). Television: Breathing Lessons (Hallmark), Homicide, Oz, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and SVU, How To Get Away With Murder, The Sinner, POSE, City On A Hill, Black Rabbit. Film: What About Bob?, Rich In Love, D2:The Mighty Ducks, Kiss of Death, The Addiction, Dream With the Fishes, Stir of Echoes, Speaking of Sex, 3 Backyards, Mistress America, Assassination Nation, Alex Strangelove, Red Pill, No Alternative, The Good House and the upcoming The Plea.

Jeff Perry (Captain) is a co-founder of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and has acted and directed in over 40 Steppenwolf productions. Regional: Seagull, Streamers, Time of Your Life, Anna Christie, A Steady Rain, No Man's Land. International: The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County. Television: Nash Bridges, Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, $1, Dirty John, Inventing Anna, Alaska Daily. Upcoming: Co-Producer of The Steppenwolf Theatre Documentary. "I owe my life in art to every teacher, artist, student, and storytelling colleague I've been blessed to share time and space with."

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..

Sponsor Information:

United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Julius Frankel Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Steven and Nancy Crown, Conagra Brands Foundation, Rich and Margery Feitler, FROST CHICAGO, Joyce Foundation, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The Orlebeke Foundation, PNC, Polk Bros. Foundation, Thoma Bravo, Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker, Sacks Family Foundation, Smart Family Foundation of Illinois, and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council. 

About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier Ensemble Theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions have made this theatre legendary. From the 1980 phenomenon of Balm in Gilead, to The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County, Downstate, The Brother/Sister Plays, and now, the 2025 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Purpose, Steppenwolf Theatre has had a long-running and undeniable impact on American Theater and Chicago's cultural landscape. Founded in 1976, Steppenwolf started as a group of teens performing in the basement of a church. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 14 Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prize-winning commissions and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the boundaries of live theater and pushes the limits of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

TICKETS HERE

“Describe the Night” at Steppenwolf is serious theater that is seriously entertaining. Intellectually challenging yet side-splittingly funny, it has sat with me for days after as I’ve puzzled over what it is telling us.

Written by celebrated playwright Rajiv Joseph, whose sly wit enthralled audiences in Steppenwolf’s “Guards at the Taj,” the somewhat enigmatic script is also a captivating mystery story. It follows the emergence of famed Russian Jewish author Isaac Babel’s wartime journal, an uncensored record of his war time impressions.

Depicting real and fictional characters, Joseph spins a possible recount of how Babel’s journal survived while much of his writing was banned and destroyed. The title of the play was taken from that journal kept while Babel served as a war correspondent and propagandist for the Soviets in their 1920 war against Poland. Babel was a rising fiction writer when he signed into the military, and soon after the war wrote Red Cavalry, drawn from his personal impressions of the war, quite at odds with the positive spin he delivered in the news.

Eventually, under increasingly oppressive censorship, much of Babel’s fiction writing was banned by Russian authorities, the author imprisoned in 1939, and executed in 1940, with his working manuscripts, notes, and the journal offered in evidence at his trial. In the play's portrayal of the search for the surviving journal, we see two fictional connections to Babel—the grandmotherly babushka Yevgenia (Sally Murphy) and her granddaughter Urzula (Charence Higgins)—tailed by KGB operative Vova (Glenn Davis is pitch perfect).

The KGB wanted not just the writer dead, and his manuscripts and books destroyed, but his source material too. Hence the ongoing search for Babel’s journal. Vova's menacing presence is palpable, but his efforts are thwarted by the ditzy Yevgenia who charms him and all of us with an earnest insistence that he join them for soup. Vova acquiesces, and the playwright gives as a surreal dinner scene—foreshadowed deftly in Act 1—that is one for the ages, the laugh until you cry type.

It also encapsulates one powerful truth in “Describe the Night,” that a great antidote to disinformation and oppression is to laugh at it, buttressed with “alternative facts” as "truth" in our own age of disinformation and “the big lie” is in danger of becoming. In other words, we live in a time when truth and lies are harder to distinguish. And this evolving dynamic of confusion within society is at the core of "Describe the Night."

Written in 2014 and produced in 2017, “Describe the Night” predates our own unfortunate circumstances, with libraries censored, school curricula bowderlized, and news content cued to television ratings rather than impartiality. Reviews of other stagings have recognized the importance of this play, but it seems in Steppenwolf's production under the direction of Austin Pendleton, the actors have nailed the comic timing that makes the show so effective.

Kudos too, for scenic design by Collette Pollard, whose representation of the extensive KGB files on parties of interest is another high point of the show, played also to great comic effect. On Steppenwolf’s newest in-the-round theater space is a blank tablet with minimalist sets introduced only when required. Sound design by Pornchanak Kanchanabanca is noteworthy, from light touches of evocative music to dramatic sound effects such the roaring inferno where many of Babel’s writings are destroyed.

In some ways “Describe the Night” is an absurdist style play, the characters not naturalistic. But Joseph, who also won a Tony for his "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo," leavens this with his signature style of natural contemporary speech. We see this particularly as two real life characters, Isaac Babel (James Vincent Merredith) and his military minder and friend Nikolai (Yasen Peyankov) who joust about the nature of truth. Likewise with two fictional characters from scenes in post-Soviet times, airport car rental agent Feliks (Jack Cain) and reporter Marikya (Caroline Neff, who I never can get enough of on stage). Mariyka also comes under questioning Vova in the search for the missing journal, making a connection to contemporary times.

This show flies by in two hours and forty-five minutes, and the first act is engaging and promising, on which the second act delivers in spades. I had no idea how much time had passed when the lights came up. “Describe the Night” runs through April 9, 2023 at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. It’s a great production of what is proving to be a seminal play.

“A man came by chance, saw it, and destroyed it” repeats Chekhov in his psychological melodrama “The Seagull”. Such a simple phrase says so much about the ways humans can treat one another. Steppenwolf Theatre revives the classic play under the title “Seagull” in a new adaptation by company member Yasen Peyankov who also serves as the director. Steppenwolf invites audiences to their new impressive theater space for its inaugural production. The cast primarily features ensemble members in what feels like a celebration of Steppenwolf’s rich legacy.

“Seagull” is a great introduction to the impressive new building on Steppenwolf’s campus as well as a great introduction to Anton Chekhov. Yasen Peyankov worked on this script for many years, occasionally working with Russian language experts from Northwestern University to maintain Chekhov’s original intent. Audiences will be struck by how fresh this script sounds. Plays of this era can be a bit of a slog for the uninitiated, but this version has a stronger sense of immediacy to the lines. Peyankov focuses his script on the dark humor that often gets diluted out in tedious repetition and lengthy scene-work. The main points are easier to grasp here and overall serves the tragic ending more because the characters feel more relatable.

Peyankov’s script is peppered with a reality TV flare. Nobody perhaps better inhabits that flavor than Lusia Strus as Irina Arkadina. Her character is a fading stage actress who’s summering at a country house with her new beau and her adult son. Her adult son Konstantin (Namir Smallwood) is also struggling writer and loathes his mother’s successful writer boyfriend Trigorin (Joey Slotnik). He’s in love with Nina (Caroline Neff) but she much favors fame than love. Konstantin cannot return the love of the caretaker’s gothic daughter Masha (Karen Rodriguez) though she’s the only one who believes in his talent as a writer. Emotions run high and reactions run big, just like an episode of “Real Housewives.” Lusia is a bold, sexy and smokey voiced Irina, often walking away with most of the laughs in the play.

“Seagull” seems more focused on the female ensemble and that’s just fine because this is a stellar cast of actresses. Masha is arguably one of the best roles an actress can ask for. Karen Rodriguez doesn’t get bogged down in the angst of the role, but rather uses physicality to enhance the comic absurdity of Masha’s moroseness. Masha’s mother Paulina is played by Sandra Marquez who also does a great job of pulling out the humor of an otherwise pathetic character. This script brings the young starstruck Nina character to life more than previous versions. The play gets its name from her character afterall. Caroline Neff delivers a notably emotional performance. The beauty of the new in-the-round space is that in the final moments of the play audiences are able to see and experience the facial expressions of the actors in a way not possible in their existing spaces. Neff is devastating as she manically circles the performance space vacillating between clarity and delusion. Throughout the play Neff speaks the dialogue so naturally that it almost doesn’t feel like scripted words at all.

Purists will have their qualms with this new adaptation but there are only so many ways to use the same dusty old scripts. Yasen Peyankov’s script is definitely cheeky, but there’s real depth in his version. By cleaning up the clutter of words in traditional translations he makes room for the character ambitions to be clearer. When they don’t get what they want, it makes it all the more tragic. If you’re looking for a lighter dance through Chekhov, this is the version to see.

Through June 12 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. 1650 N Halsted. www.steppenwolf.org/seagull

Heart warming musicals aren’t exactly what Steppenwolf Theatre is known for. While not an outright musical, ‘Lindiwe’ is a new play with live music in collaboration with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Co-directed by Jonathan Berry and playwright Eric Simonson, this marks the second time Steppenwolf has worked with Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

‘Lindiwe’ is a modern fable of two star-crossed musicians Lindiwe (Nondumiso Tembe) and Adam (Erik Hellman). The story is told in a fourth wall-breaking, casual tone by Lindiwe, a South African singer touring the US with Mambazo. Her life changes when she meets American drummer Adam one evening at the historic Kingston Mines blues club here in Chicago. Their affair is passionate and when Lindiwe gets deported by back to Durban, South Africa, Adam joins her. After a car crash, the pair finds themselves in a fantastical limbo with spiritual keeper played by Yasen Peyankov. In order to join the land of the living, the two must re-tell the events leading up to the tragic car crash.

‘Lindiwe’ honors the tradition of oral storytelling through a riff on Eurydice and other tales. The fable aspects of the story lend itself well to the Greek chorus role taken up by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Few members of the singing group have stand-out spoken dialogue but, instead provide a musical through-line for the play that heightens the emotions. Not to mention, the harmonies and irregular rhythms created by the group sound incredible.

Fantasy can be hard to relate to for some audiences, but ‘Lindiwe’ offers deeply human themes on love and loss. Nondumiso Tembe is captivating in the titular role in both voice and performance. From the moment she appears on stage you can’t take your eyes off her. She has an undeniable charm and a contagious quality to her smile. The on-stage romance between her and Erik Hellman is endearing even as it turns tragic. Though their circumstances are cloaked in fantastical elements, there’s truth in their love story. Combined with music and dancing, all makes for a pleasing evening.

Steppenwolf Artistic Director Anna D Shapiro remarks in her playbill note that theatre is ephemeral. And when considering whether this play could be reproduced elsewhere, it would seem like a longshot. This play was commissioned by Steppenwolf and through music and plot, ties the Chicago blues scene to sister city Durban, where Ladysmith Black Mambazo resides. ‘Lindiwe’ is a unique opportunity to see the iconic world music group perform with the Steppenwolf ensemble. It’s one of those special Chicago productions that would be tough to accurately describe its beauty to anyone who wasn’t there for it.

Through January 5th at Steppenwolf Theatre. 1650 N Halsted St. 312-335-1650

"If you're not going to grow then don’t live," says Hazel in Lucy Kirkwood's play 'The Children' now running at Steppenwolf. Directed by Jonathan Berry, 'The Children' makes its area debut after extended runs on Broadway and West End. A well-cast trio of Chicago favorites will surely entice audiences.

In 'The Children', Hazel (Janet Ulrich Brooks) and Robin (Yasen Peyankov) are living in a seaside cottage on the English countryside. The location and set seem idyllic until a surprise visitor Rose (Ora Jones) comes to ask a favor. Soon we found out that they have been forced to relocate after an accident at the power plant they used to work for. In witty dialogue, Hazel and Rose discuss their current lives after having not seen each other in years. Both are older and are easing into lives of comfort in their late middle age. Hazel is impossibly optimistic and in a constant state of self-improvement, while Rose has grown cynical about the end years of her life. Robin is somewhere in the middle, literally as it's quickly revealed there's old passion between he and Rose.

It's hard to think of a play that addresses climate change and nuclear disaster quite like 'The Children'. In fact, the playwright said she struggled to think of a compelling way to relay the horrors of climate change while the whole world does nothing. Theatre is a difficult medium in which to teach scientific facts. Instead, Kirkwood focuses on character. This is a story about three characters each unique in their outlook of death.

Since this play is so reliant on character, Berry is wise to bring in heavy hitters Janet Ulrich Brooks and Ora Jones. Both have such commanding stage presence and likability that audiences are drawn in from the very first word. There's a comforting quality to Brooks' Hazel that soothes the harsh realities of rising sea levels. Jones walks a difficult line with Rose, she's able to make extremely unpleasant subject matters humorous.

'The Children' is an intimate play the confronts the issues facing humanity head on. Kirkwood isn’t afraid to touch on subject matters that make you squirm in your seat. She's taken an event like the Fukushima disaster in Japan and put it right in the western world's lap. Without being preachy, she spins a story that ordinary Chicagoans can see themselves in. While it may not be a direct call to action, it's strongly encouraged here. Despite the darkness, she gives her play an optimistic ending. As long as there are good people, there is hope.

Through June 9th at Steppenwolf Theatre. 1650 N Halsted St. 312-335-1650.

It’s not often a theatre company tackles two Pulitzer Prize winning plays in one season, but Steppenwolf is doing just that. While you may grow a long white beard waiting to see the 2016 winner, "Hamilton," Steppenwolf has 2014 and 2015 covered with "The Flick" and "Between Riverside and Crazy." Playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis' work was last seen at the Steppenwolf in 2012 with "The Motherf@cker with the Hat." He won the 2015 Pulitzer for "Between Riverside and Crazy." 

"Between Riverside and Crazy" is largely similar to "The Motherf@cker with the Hat," in that it deals with issues of addiction and inequality. "Riverside" tells the story of Walter (Eamonn Walker) who's a retired cop with one of the last rent controlled apartments in a nice part of Manhattan. The catch is that he's hopelessly waiting for a settlement from the city because he was shot by another officer. Walter, or Pops, as he's called has a habit of taking in degenerates and trying to nurse them back to health. He forgives people of their sins and keeps company with thieves and whores, sound familiar? 

Guirgis' play couldn't come about at a more topical time. Though, when thinking of an ethics tale about a police shooting, most would have a different notion of how the author would address issues of race. Guirgis is unflinchingly realistic, with the point being that nobody is perfect. The space between right and wrong seems to be too narrow for this play, as are most instances in life. What he does well is set characters up to appear one way, only to cynically devolve into what we're conditioned to assume. 

Eamonn Walker impeccably leads this top-notch cast. He's able to embody the grizzled, but lovable character in such a natural way you'd think you've known him forever. Audrey Francis also stands out in her performance as Walter's former beat partner. She plays an unlikeable character with such sincerity that you almost forget she's not really on Walter's side. Lily Mojekwu is one of the show's best hidden gems. Her character, Church Lady, doesn’t enter until well into the second act, but her narrative propels the story to its conclusion. She's another character you want to trust, but if you've been in the real world long enough, you know better. 

Yasen Peyankov's production of "Between Riverside and Crazy" is a slow building, but highly rewarding theatre experience on the same level as "Clybourn Park." Good for the Steppenwolf for forcing unpleasant issues in the face of middle class audiences. While some may leave the theater feeling as if their world views are affirmed, others will leave questioning their own morals. 

Through August 21st at Steppenwolf Theatre. 1650 N Halsted St. 312-335-1650