“Downstate” is a bit of a dog whistle for Chicagoland, suggesting a cultural distinction between urbanites in the north, and the vast agrarian expanses to the south – downstate - where trash goes, sewage flows, and where the state government builds prisons.
The word becomes generalized in Downstate, a new play by Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Norris, which looks at the fraught issue of finding housing for convicted pedophiles after they serve time for their crimes. During parole, these men are returned to the” community,” but not to their home.
Instead they live in halfway houses operated by non-profits, sited in carefully proscribed areas that must be so-many hundreds of feet away from schools and other areas children may gather. The inhabitants are not allowed to go online, or possess a smartphone, keep alcohol, use Facebook, or move about freely.
Norris takes the less politically correct position of empathy in showing the suffering imposed on these pariahs, who in the world of #MeToo are unlikely to get a second thought. They are subject to regular inquisitions by parole officers, and a concatenation of rules and restrictions means there are few locations for them to live in such transitional halfway houses. So, they are shipped Downstate.
“I started doing a lot of reading about the things paroled sex offenders increasingly face– registries, residency restrictions, neighborhood watches, self-appointed vigilante groups,” says Norris. “These are post-incarceration punishments, that don’t exist for any other category of criminal.”
That in a nutshell is what Downstate is about: four men holed up in a house run by a Lutheran social service agency. They can go to work and come home, and that’s about it – even the local IGA grocery store is only 2,450 feet from the elementary school. They are indeed strange bedfellows, and Norris gives us the nuance of the caliber of their individual violations:
• the piano teacher Fred (Steppenwolf stalwart Francis Guinan) who had sex with two adolescent male students. Guinan, in an understated performance, shows the range that can be expressed within a very constrained character.
• Gio (Glenn Davis in an amazing, hyperbolic performance) a frenetic man on the make with a plan in his hand, whose crime was considered Category 1 (lower level) statutory rape of a young woman below age.
• Felix (Eddie Torres) who was convicted of incest with his daughter. Torres conveys the abject suffering and torment as he loses access to his family.
• A Broadway choreographer and accomplished promoter and musical artist, Dee, who fell in love with a 14-year-old boy in a road show of Peter Pan.
As Dee, K. Todd Freeman gives what will certainly become a definitive expression to the role. He is the settled voice of reason and a nurturant center of gravity within this ad hoc family of men, shopping for them and helping to make a home for them. As audience, we listen to Dee: he dishes and gives back as good as he gets – and he becomes our guide and the closest thing to a voice of reason.
Norris may be toying with us, then, by making Dee a very sympathetic character, while at the same time making him an unrepentant advocate for man-boy love – the movement that sees adult male love of minor boys as a victimless crime, and which advocates for release of those convicted of it.
“There’s not many cases of death by blowjob!” Dee asserts. Gio, for one, abhors Dee both for his gayness and for his pederasty, with some violent outbursts in the house as a result.
Norris focuses this tension with the introduction of Andy (Tim Hopper), a Northshore suburbanite who with his wife Em (Matilda Ziegler) comes to visit Fred to seek redress, to “process” the issue and obtain formal emotional closure by getting him to sign an explicit statement acknowledging his wrongs. Norris contrasts Andy’s suffering with the experience of Dee, who comes to the defense of Fred, while revealing that he, too, was abused as a child – and claims to be none the worse for it. Fred and Em bring all the conventional middle class psychological expression to their claims - but framed within the context of Downstate, it begins to sound more like "white people's problems."
Norris seems fearless in treading into such troublemaker territory. His Pulitzer winning Clybourn Park visited historic efforts in 1959 to block African Americans from moving into a white Chicago neighborhood, then returned 50 years later to watch a reversal of prejudice as whites tried to gentrify the same now-black area. Downstate will test its audience even further, since pedophiles are largely today's lepers.
Downstate is directed by Pam MacKinnon, and she had her hands full to balance the energy emanating from this remarkable company of performers. A call out to Cecilia Noble as parole officer Ivy - it's almost a thankless role to play the character who has a thankless job, in a play like this. But thank you, Ivy, for very good performance.
Of particular note, the production is a joint effort by Steppenwolf and the National Theatre of the U.K. It may surprise you to learn the cast is transatlantic. The flawless, broad, working class accent of extreme south suburban Effie (played by Aimee Lou Wood, a Manchester, England native) and the dulcet Kenilworth articulation of Em (played by Londoner Matilda Ziegler) were learned right here on Halsted street, under the tutelage of Gigi Buffington.
Downstate plays through November 18 at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. After that it moves to the National Theatre London in January 2019.
By popular demand, Disney’s The Lion King will return to Chicago for the first time since 2023, where the production played a sold-out…
THE LISTENERS has undergone several incarnations since the 2021 novel by Jordan Tannahill. It’s been a full-length movie, a TV…
IDENTITY PERFORMING ARTS Presents Spring Concert 2025 “Instinct” A captivating performance of four distinct works on April 26 & 27…
The Auditorium (Chicago’s Landmark Stage® at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive) proudly welcomes back the eclectic energy of hometown favorite South…
Open Space Arts (OSA), who recently won some of the top honors in the Joseph Jefferson Awards for 2024 productions,…
I’ve reviewed a number of shows at Open Space Arts (OSA) – I love the place – so I’m familiar…
Hell in a Handbag Productions is pleased to continue its 2024/25 Season with the world premiere of Scary Town, Artistic Director David Cerda's semi-autobiographical…
In Definition Theatre's production of "Splash Hatch on the E Going Down," Kia Corthron's 1997 work feels unnervingly relevant in…
Kokandy Productions is pleased to announce the official selections for the annual Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, a celebration and showcase of the…
I’m not holding back—Copley Theatre’s latest offering, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, is an absolute winner! I’ve seen…
Don’t be deceived by the title. The phrase “lifespan of a fact” sounds about as dry as the Mojave Desert…
A.B.L.E.—Artists Breaking Limits & Expectations—a Chicago-based nonprofit that creates theatre and film for, with, and by individuals with Down syndrome…
Walking into Windy City Playhouse, audiences are immediately transported to somewhere new. Scenic Designer Kevin Rofls fills the space with…
Artistic Director Braden Abraham and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce Writers Theatre's 2025/26 season. The five-play season is marked by four productions never seen before…
About Face Theatre announces the return of Re/Generation Studio, a weekend of community building, education, and performance to help build the future…
Fresh off her critically acclaimed and Tony-nominated run in Broadway's Days of Wine and Roses, Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Mark Cortale are pleased to present…
Going into “La Bohème” with little knowledge of Puccini’s masterpiece, I was just a naive theater-goer seeing it fresh at…
Cameron Mackintosh is delighted to announce that a revitalized new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary musical, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, will play…
Chicagoland's longest running musical theatre, Marriott Theatre, continues its 50th Anniversary Season celebration with the epic production of Titanic The Musical, directed and choreographed by Connor…
Ser o no ser esa es la cuestión We are all familiar with Shakespeare’s iconic line: to be or not…
Theater Wit, in collaboration with the Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies at Northwestern and Northlight Theatre, hosts CityTalk: A Series of Conversations on Assimilation, Antisemitism…
Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 49th season with the Chicago premiere of The…
Lyric Opera of Chicago today announces the company's 2025/26 Season, its first complete season under the leadership of new General…
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice… Beetlejuice! You’ve summoned him once again, Chicago— BEETLEJUICE is back for another hauntingly hilarious run! The edgy and irreverent Broadway…
The Auditorium (Chicago’s Landmark Stage® at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive) proudly presents a special evening with Parsons Dance, the New…
Obliteration, LLC & The Revival Theater announce a limited engagement of Obliteration, written by Andrew Hinderaker, directed by Jonathan Berry, featuring Michael Patrick Thornton and Cyd Blakewell. Obliteration runs April 10-May 4,…
The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago announces 16 by Red Clay Dance Company for three performances only, April 17-19, 2025, featuring Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn…
Stand Up Together, a comedy benefit in support of artists impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires, hosted by Second City and SNL…
Following a string of successful shows, Music Theater Works has once again hit the jackpot with their 2025 season opener,…
Two dancers stand center stage. The traditional, spiritual music begins to play as they start to move. Very much in…
Does your theatre company want to connect with Buzz Center Stage or would you like to reach out and say "hello"? Message us through facebook or shoot us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
*This disclaimer informs readers that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to Buzz Center Stage. Buzz Center Stage is a non-profit, volunteer-based platform that enables, and encourages, staff members to post their own honest thoughts on a particular production.