Displaying items by tag: Hallie Gordon

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Chicago's only professional theater that seeks to advance women through the power of storytelling, announces additional performance dates for  the world premiere of Jeff Award winning playwright Alex Lubischer's Pivot, directed by RTE Member Hallie Gordon.  The original run dates, February 12- March 21, 2026, are sold out and are available through a waitlist only. Added performances are March 25-April 4, 2026, with the best availability April 1-4, 2026.

The 30^th Season takes place at Rivendell's home, 5779 N. Ridge Avenue in Chicago. Tickets are on sale at www.RivendellTheatre.org; (773) 334-7728. For placement on the waitlist for sold out performances, call the box office, (773) 334-7728.

The cast features ensemble members Keith Kupferer (George), Tara Mallen (Anne), Ashley Neal (Kara), and Glenn Obrero (Doug) with David Stobbe (Levi /Fr. Matt/ Ryan).

The creative team includes Eric Slater* (Asst. Director) Jackie Penrod (Scenic Design), Janice Pytel* (Costume Design), Diane Fairchild* (Lighting Design), Joyce Ciesil (Sound Design), Andres Fiz* (Projections Design), Tanya Palmer* (Dramaturg), Kristi Martens (Production Stage Manager) and Pat Fries* (Artistic Producer)

*Denotes Rivendell Ensemble member

"There is no better way to launch our 30th Anniversary Season than by bringing longtime ensemble member Hallie Gordon back home to helm another world premiere featuring so many members of our gifted ensemble," comments Artistic Director Tara Mallen. "Alex Lubischer has given us a play that's gutsy, provocative, deeply human – and perfect for Rivendell. Pivot brings the largely invisible and often underrepresented voices of the rural community to the forefront, illuminating the experiences of midwestern farmers, and highlighting both the challenges they face and the essential roles they play. As we celebrate three decades of championing complex stories that offer fresh perspectives, I am filled with gratitude for the artists and audiences who've helped build Rivendell — and looking forward to this vibrant new chapter."

The Riv Pass is available for only $95 and includes a ticket to each of the three shows, plus invitations to special readings and events. Riv Pass holders may attend each production as many times as they'd like and special benefits, including reserved seating, are available. While the Riv Pass is non-transferable, purchasing the Riv Pass for as a gift is encouraged. The Riv Pass is available at (773) 334-7728 or www.RivendellTheatre.org.

Pivot production sponsors are Cathy and David Dixon. Rivendell's 30th Anniversary Season is sponsored by Sharon I. Furiya.

FACTS

PIVOT
A world premiere by Alex Lubischer
Directed by RTE Member Hallie Gordon
February 12 – April 4, 2026

This world premiere by Alex Lubischer (Bobbie Clearly, You Deserve to be Here), a Chicago-based, Jeff Award-winning playwright originally from rural Nebraska, is directed by longtime Rivendell Ensemble member and current Senior Associate Director at the Olney Theatre Center Hallie Gordon (Eat Your Heart Out, Dry Land, Cal in Camo) and featuring ensemble members Ashley Neal, Keith Kupferer, Glenn Obrero, and Artistic Director Tara Mallen with Eric Slater as Assistant Director. 

All Kara wants is a giant wedding reception and a solid three-year crop rotation plan for the farm. But when her wedding plans blow up in her face, Kara is prepared to upend the entire town of Milton, Nebraska to fight for the future that should have been hers.  Save the date for this dark comedy about getting your way, making a scene, and father-daughter dances to the Chicks.

Dates:

Previews: February 12-21, 2026

Thursday, February 12 at 8pm

Friday February 13 at 8pm

Saturday, February 14 at 8pm

Sunday, February 15 at 3pm

Thursday, February 19 at 8pm

Friday, February 20, at 8pm

Gala Opening: Saturday, February 21 at 7pm

Press Opening: Monday, February 23 at 7pm

Regular Run: February 26 - March 21, 2026

Thursday - Saturdays at 8pm; Saturdays at 4pm

Added Performances: Sunday March 8 at 3pm (International Women's Day)

and Mondays, March 9 and March 16 at 8pm (Industry Performances)

EXTENSION DATES:

Wednesday, March 25 at 8pm

Thursday, March 26 at 8pm

Friday, March 27 at 8pm

Saturday, March 28 at 4pm and 8pm

Wednesday, April 1 at 8pm

Thursday, April 2 at 8pm

Friday, April 3 at 8pm

Saturday, April 4 at 4pm

About the Artists
Alex Lubischer (Playwright) is a queer Midwestern writer, born and raised on a farm in Nebraska. He lives in Rogers Park, Chicago. His plays include Bobbie Clearly (Roundabout Theatre Company, Steep Theatre, Jeff Award Winner: Outstanding New Play), Pivot (Yale School of Drama, GPTC New Play Conference 2024, Shelterbelt Theatre, Angels Theatre Company, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble), You Deserve to Be Here (Goodman Playwrights Unit commission; Roundabout Theatre Laura Pels commission, The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting - Longlist), Do Wasps Have Desires? (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Weird Kids (Haven Chicago), The Quonsets (Yale Cabaret, co-written with Majkin Holmquist), and Survey No. 5 (House of International Theatre, Copenhagen).

Lubischer is a former Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Roundabout Theatre Company. He has developed new work at Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, Page 73, The Orchard Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Victory Gardens Theater, First Floor Theater, The Understudy, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. He has been a semifinalist for the P73 Playwriting Fellowship and a three-time finalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference.

Current screenwriting projects include Big Dave, an hour-long TV pilot co-conceived with Danilo Gambini—Hyperobject Industries is attached to produce—and three features: a 90s-set boy band movie for Division Global and Sappho Screen; an original thriller, Evildoers; and a bi coming-of-age dark comedy, The Deep End, co-written with Hanna Kime.

He teaches playwriting at DePaul University and Bramble Theatre in Chicago. MFA: Yale. BA: University of Southern California.

Hallie Gordon (director), a longtime ensemble member of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, has directed Eat Your Heart Out, Dry Land, and Cal and Camo for Rivendell and is currently the Director of Artistic Development at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Hallie is formerly the Artistic Director Steppenwolf for Young Adults & Artistic Producer at Steppenwolf. Hallie has directed the following for Steppenwolf Theatre: HIR, The Rembrandt, the world premiere of Animal Farm, The Book Thief, along with To Kill A Mockingbird, the world premiere of The House on Mango Street, and Harriet Jacobs, adapted for the stage by Lydia R. Diamond. A new premiere of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, also adapted by Lydia R. Diamond, which won a Black Excellence Award from the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago. This production was also transferred Off-Broadway to The New Victory Theatre. For Writers Theater, Smart People and Eclipsed for Northlight Theatre, and has directed staged readings for The Goodman Theatre, Timeline Theatre, Chicago Dramatists and Steppenwolf Theatre Company. And is the recipient of The Helen Coburn Meier & Tim Meier Achievement Award.

Keith Kupferer (George) can currently be seen in Alex Thompson and Kelly O'Sullivan's Ghostlight which premiered at Sundance in January 2024 to rave reviews and was released by IFC Films nationwide last summer. Keith has received widespread praise for his "powerhouse performance" (Deadline Hollywood) and has garnered multiple prestigious end-of-year nominations from the Gothams and Independent Spirit Awards, was the recipient of Best Actor in a Comedy by the Satellite awards and named the "2025 Chicagoan of the Year In Film" by the Chicago Tribune.

A veteran of the stage, Keith has appeared at Chicago's most prestigious theaters including Steppenwolf, The Goodman, Victory Gardens, Writer's Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Northlight Theatre, A Red Orchid and Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He is a founding member of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, now celebrating its 30th anniversary and performed in the critically acclaimed premieres of A Mile in the Dark, The Cake, American Wee-Pie and Cal in Camo (Jeff Award for Supporting Actor). Other notable theater credits include Support Group for Men, God of Carnage, and Sweat (Goodman); The Seagull, The Great Leap, The Qualms, Good People, and Middletown (Steppenwolf); Hillary and Clinton, Never the Sinner and Appropriate (Victory Gardens); West Side Story (Lyric Opera) and the world premiere of The Humans (American Theatre Company).  

Film credits include Ghostlight; Widows; The Dilemma; Dark Knight; Public Enemies; The Express; Stranger Than Fiction; Road to Perdition; Finding Santa; Fred Klaus; The Last Rites of Joe May; and The Merry Gentleman directed by Michael Keaton. TV credits include The Bear; Emperor of Ocean Park; Better Call Saul; Empire; Chicago P.D.; Betrayal; Crisis; Chicago Fire; and Detroit 187. Keith is represented by the Gersh Agency and Fusion Entertainment.

Tara Mallen (Anne), producer, actor, director, is the Founder and Artistic Director at Chicago's award winning Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. She is a 3Arts William Franklin Grisham Awardee, a 2024 Impact Award winner from the Chicago Foundation for Women and a Volunteers of America Silver Star Award. In 2024, Tara appeared alongside her husband, Keith and daughter, Katherine in Alex Thompson and Kelly O'Sullivan's film Ghostlight, premiering at Sundance in to rave reviews and released by IFC Films nationwide. Most recently she was seen onstage in GORGEOUS (co-production between Rivendell and Raven), directed the sold-out, critically acclaimed world premiere Wipeout for Rivendell and played "Aunt Lizzie"in Rivendell's smash-hit production Motherhouse as part of their Jeff Award winning ensemble. In 2018, she won a Jeff Award for "Actor /Principal Role" for her portrayal of "Della" in The Cake. Other stage credits include The Luckiest (Raven Theatre - Jeff Nomination – Supporting Actor); the world premiere of Lynn Nottage's Sweat (Arena Stage); Rivendell's world premiere productions of Laura and the Sea, Look, We Are Breathing and Rasheeda Speaking among many others; and How Long Will I Cry at Steppenwolf Theatre. Since Rivendell's inception in 1996, Tara has produced and acted in over fifty productions. She received a Joseph Jefferson award for "Supporting Actress" for work in WRENS and was also a part of that production's Jeff winning "ensemble". She was nominated the following year for "Actress in a Principal Role" for her work in My Simple City.

Screen credits include Steven Soderbergh's Contagion; The Last Shift (Sony Pictures); The Emperor of Ocean Park (MGM+); Dark Matter (Apple TV); Empire (Fox); Boss (Starz); Chicago Fire (NBC); Doubt (CBS/Sony Pictures); Chicago P.D.(NBC); Sense8 (Netflix) and the independent feature FOOLS. She plays a leading role in Kelly O'Sullivan and Alex Thompson's soon-to-be-released film Mouse. 

Tara co-conceived and directed the world premiere of Women at War, directed the Jeff nominated Midwest premieres of The Electric Baby, 26 Miles (co-production with Teatro Vista); Fighting Words; Psalms of a Questionable Nature; Elliot, a Soldier's Fugue (co-production with Stageworks/ Hudson); and the brief and brilliant Shady Meadows by Lisa Dillman as part of the 2007 Chicago Humanities Festival.

Ashley Neal (Kara) has appeared with First Floor Theater; Killing Game, The Nether, and Red Handed Otter with A Red Orchid Theatre; Cal in Camo, Scientific Method, Alias Grace, and many others with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, where she is an ensemble member and the resident casting director. She has also worked with theater companies including Griffin, Steep Theatre, Redtwist, Remy Bumppo, and many more. TV credits include Chicago Fire, PD, and numerous commercials. She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago where she is now a professor, as well as teaching at The School at Steppenwolf.

Glenn Obrero (Doug) has appeared with Rivendell in Scientific Method and Wipeout. Some Chicago Theater credits include: The Great Leap (Steppenwolf Theatre), 20K Leagues Under The Seas (Lookingglass Theatre), The Chinese Lady (Timeline Theatre), Ironbound (Raven Theatre), and A Tale of Two Cities (Shattered Globe Theatre). He's also worked in Regional Theaters such as Peninsula Players Theatre, Kitchen Theatre, and Asolo Repertory Theatre. Film and TV Credits: Chicago Fire (NBC), Next (FOX), and When Cats Fly (Upcoming Feature Film). He is a Casting Associate of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble and is represented by Gray Talent. Group.

Eric Slater (Asstistant Director), a member of Rivendell since 2005, has appeared in Rasheeda Speaking, The Tasters and Cal in Camo. Some Chicago credits include: Support Group for Men, Feathers and Teeth, Smokefall (Goodman Theatre); The Doppelganger (an international farce) (Steppenwolf Theatre Co.); What the Butler Saw, Fen (Court Theatre); Hand To God, Tiny Beautiful Things (Victory Gardens); Small Jokes About Monsters (16th Street Theatre); Off-Broadway: Juvenal Players (The Kitchen); The Dudley's: A Family game! (Theatre for a New City); Our Greatest Year (Kraine); Original cast of Gloryana (Workshop Production, The Public Theatre); Cyanocitta (The Beckett / Theatre Row). Film: Widows, Coming To You. TV: "Fargo", "Chicago Fire". Eric is also a contributing writer for The Neugents with the North Carolina Writers Project.

David Stobbe (Levi /Fr. Matt/ Ryan) is a founder of The Tramp Collective and an ensemble member of Avalanche Theater, David's Chicago credits include the premiere of PRO-AM (First Floor Theater), Marie Antoinette and The Magical Negroes (Story Theater), and Ophelia in Space (The Tramps). Regional credits: Waitress (Paramount Theater) Oaken in Frozen (Fulton Theater), The Big Bopper in Buddy Holly (Marriott Lincolnshire), Pap/King Silas (Mercury Theater). He can be seen in John Mossman's "Good Guy with a Gun" on Apple TV+.

About the 30^th Season

Rivendell is celebrating three decades of groundbreaking, women-centered storytelling with new works that embody its legacy of centering women's voices, sparking crucial dialogues and advocating for women. This season is both a celebration of Rivendell's award-winning past and an invitation to experience the bold narratives shaping the future. The 30^th season of new plays continues with:

DO SOMETHING PRETTY
A world premiere by Melissa Ross

Directed by Jessica Fisch
May 2 - June 7, 2026 

Written by Melissa Ross (The Luckiest, Thinner Than Water, Nice Girl,  A Life Extra Ordinary) and directed by Rivendell favorite Jessica Fisch (The Firebirds Take the Field, I Want to F**king Tear You Apart), this world premiere production marks RTE "junior" member Katherine Mallen Kupferer's Rivendell debut. 

Summer of 1992. The United States is in a recession. Arkansas governor Bill Clinton is about to run for president. Kurt is married to Courtney. Yo MTV Raps is on the television. And Zach Morris is the only kid with a cell phone. 

On a hot August night in a small Massachusetts town. The last few weeks before school starts. Three teens try to navigate their way through the murky path to adulthood. Phoebe wants to grow up. Jason wants Evie. And Evie just wants to get as far away from everyone as she possibly can. ​                                                           

BONNIE'S LAST FLIGHT

A World premiere written by Eliza Bent
Directed by RTE Member Devon de Mayo
September 11 - October 17, 2026

Bonnie's Last Flight is written by Eliza Bent, former New York playwright produced throughout the country, now a Northwestern University faculty member, and is directed by longtime RTE member Devon de Mayo (Scientific Method, Laura and the Sea, The Tasters), Director of Performance in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago.

It's Jan's retirement flight. Everyone knows, except for Greig, Jan's best friend and coworker of many years. As Greig waxes nostalgic, Jan worries about life post- retirement. LeeAnne, a klutzy newbie flight attendant with a dark past, must avoid her ex on the plane while Captain, a waggish pilot with a weakness for Bloody Marys, is caught in a love triangle. Erik, the co-pilot with a heart of gold, can't get a word in edgewise. Presiding over the flight is the OG of travel: Mark Twain.

In a comedy set on everyone's least favorite mode of transit, we must reckon with our crew's dreams and regrets and ask ourselves: What does it take to really start living?

The Folded Map Project 

In Development

Rivendell's immersive and collaborative devising process continues with the The Folded Map Project, a groundbreaking play created in collaboration with artist, activist and 2026 MacArthur fellow Tonika Lewis Johnson.

Led by a dynamic team of writers, performers, designers and community advocates, to engage with real-life stories from Tonika's transformative Folded Map Project, highlighting the divides in Chicago's neighborhoods. This past summer, the artist team convened in partnership with University of Chicago's Performance Lab for a session that culminated in a public sharing of the work-in-progress script. 

Rivendell's aim for the Folded Map is to produce a fully realized theatrical production, inspired by the Folded Map Project, creating a pathway to social justice for all who experience it.

About Rivendell Theatre Ensemble's 30^th Anniversary Campaign:

The 30^th anniversary marks a pivotal moment for Rivendell and the company is meeting that moment by launching a special fundraising campaign. As part of this campaign, the RTE Board is hosting a series of specially curated events to commemorate and underwrite Rivendell's role as an important platform for new women's voices.

Rivendell is the leader in new play development for women playwrights and a major platform for emerging writers and artists as the only women-focused Equity storefront theatre in Chicago. The company has earned 16 Joseph Jefferson awards and nominations in our 57-production history. In an average year, we serve about 200 artists and 3,500 audience members, partner with other theatre companies both in Chicago and nationally, practice direct audience engagement, and perform extensive community outreach initiatives.

For more information about Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, visit http://rivendelltheatre.org. Follow Rivendell on Facebook at Facebook.com/rivendelltheatre and on Instagram at @rivendelltheatre.

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble is supported by generous grants from: SIF Fund at The Chicago Community Trust; ArtsWork Fund: TERRA Foundation for American Art; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Shubert Foundation; Bayless Family Foundation; Driehaus Foundation; Illinois Arts Council Agency; and The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

You may need several moments to come down after witnessing Steppenwolf’s stunning, let me say truly astounding new production of a play by Jackie Sibblies Drury. This powerful work was ahead of its time when it premiered in 2012 at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theatre – eventually heading for off-Broadway and recognition in multiple awards, but under appreciated at the time, and neglected afterward. But now perhaps the world is better able to receive it.

It tells the story of a high school class enacting a historical recount of three decades of German occupation of what is now Namibia (formerly Southwest Africa), ending with World War I. It was a period replete with the worst of Colonialism, with land theft, cultural destruction, and a deliberate genocide against the Herero people.

The play’s unlikely long name suggests the earnestness of the students producing it: “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915.” Since there is little written record from anyone but the occupiers, the students begin with letters written home by German soldiers, and incorporating factual details from other records.

As with any production, the student actors seek the motivation of their characters, and the roles they play. They tell fundamentals like geography and language in a lighthearted engaging way, capturing the audience. As the story progresses, though, and the German government asserts increasingly stringent control, the students must act out cruel and even violent behavior – and they begin to resist. Learning 80 percent of the Herero men were killed in this period, students are overwhelmed and do not want to re-enact the scenes.

"We're talking about a rehearsal for the Holocaust," says one student, horrified. But another corrects him. "It wasn't a rehearsal," he says. 

Yet their teacher pushes them on, beyond the brink, to unbearable acts and emotions, and the audience moves with them. The performances by the cast show real stars on the rise: Will Allan (Actor 3/Another White Man), Terry Bell (Actor 2/Black Man), Taylor Blim (Actor 5/Sarah), Jeffrey Owen Freelon Jr. (Actor 4/Another Black Man) Michael Holding (Actor 1/White Man), and Jennifer Latimore (Actor 6/Black Woman). The performances of Allen, Freelon, Holding, Bell and Blim blew me away, their parts demanding extreme versatility, or in the case of Bell, deep emotion and sentiment.

Playwright Drury gives us a concatenation of the inhumane treatment of tribes by the occupying army in Africa, to the treatment of African-Americans under Jim Crow. These scenes are especially unsettling, and we are reminded of the consequences of laying waste to the social mores that keep us civilized. With social movements like Black Lives Matter, #Oscarssowhite, and following Charlotte and NFL protests, the public at large may be better able to understand this aspect of the play - but it is gut wrenching.

We Are Proud to Present a Presentation… is a consequential work of art, reminiscent of Master Harold & The Boys and Miss Margarita’s Way, which similarly trace the seemingly inevitable power of sinister social forces. Director Hallie Gordon (she co-directed it with Gabrielle Randle) says to reconstitute the account of the tribal people, the production called on the work of Toni Morrison and others who employ "critical fabulation" to reconstitute histories of lost peoples, as well as existentialists like Brecht and or Beckett.

This production of We Are Proud to Present a Presentation is aimed at young audiences and will tour schools and Park Districts after it closes on Halsted. It is without question serious material, and an important production for everyone - the opportunity to see it should not be missed. It comes highly recommended, and runs only through March 23 at Steppenwolf Theatre.

Lydia R. Diamond deserves most of the credit for the many wondrous theatrical moments in her play, Smart People. But without the spectacularly able cast and the razor’s edge pacing set by director Hallie Gordon, you would not be able to enjoy her excellent script. 

Smart People covers all the social terrain maturing adults must traverse – from romance, to careers, consumerism, social competition, to sex, and yes, racism. But this is not your father’s racism, by a long shot. No, this is the peculiar, post-modern type that could only be conjured up in our “post-racial” America. Author Diamond says as she wrote it, she realized the play would need to face racism directly. But it’s about much more than that – because it’s about the whole of life, and how we engage with each other. 

The characters are indeed smart – sharp and witty, well off, even smartly dressed. Set in the environs of a university medical center, the story centers on a white researcher Erik Hellman (Brian White) whose pioneering studies point to a biological basis for white racism against blacks. A rising research star, he is celebrated among liberal academics for nailing incontrovertible evidence of, and the objective basis for, white racism.

His best friend and basketball buddy is Jackson Moore (Julian Parker), an African-American M.D. who works as a resident in the emergency room by day, and volunteers in a free clinic in a tough neighborhood at night. Parker, whose extended family still struggles financially, is on the way up himself. But he has identified friction for his career in a source of racism – the white doctors supervising him who he feels certain are hazing him.

White’s love interest is Ginny Yang (Deanna Myers), a high power academic figure who is researching the forces that cause Asian women to punish and subordinate themselves to spouses and families. Tough as nails and the most brilliant of the lot, Yang makes a hobby of terrorizing clerks at Nordstrom’s and Hugo Boss as she power shops her heels and handbags.

Into this trio of self-absorbed achievers stumbles Valerie Johnston (Kayla Carter), an actress. Disappointing her well-to-do African-American family, she has abandoned their career aspirations for her own goal: to become an actress. She faces the “you aren’t black enough” racism from her own community, and racist typecasting when she reads for roles.

Valerie runs into Jackson in the emergency room, where she arrives dressed as Kate from Taming of the Shrew, for stitches to a head wound from hitting a stage scenery flat. Asked repeatedly, "Were you beaten?" she declares in exasperation, "What does a black woman have to do to convince people she hasn't been beaten?"  

For the audience, Valerie is the most sympathetic character. A stand-in for the author, perhaps, Johnston’s Valerie is a delectable feast of acting skill, as her character reads for roles, and reads and re-reads scenes at an unseen director’s request. 

The repartee and dish is loads of fun. When Brian meets Valerie on a double date with Ginny and Jackson, he tells her of his work. "I'm trying to show all white people are racist," he says. "It's kind of hot when a white guy says that," Valerie replies. 

As Ginny and Brian get acquainted, she sizes him up. "Professionally, you are almost as self destructive as I am. "I'm liking that!"

In fact, this brace of actors is something to relish: Deanna Myers is a force on stage as Ginny; Jackson Moore excels in a range from home boy to ironic bud, to reluctant lover. And Erik Hellman brings the natural style so evident in his frequent roles at Steppenwolf.

The paths of this foursome cross as the action progresses, and White gets into trouble for overplaying his discoveries about racism and threatening the institution. We watch, along with the other characters, as he falls from grace. 

Diamond has given us a great play, creating characters who are sincere, but whose foibles and failings are transparent to the audience, and to each other. Largely a romantic comedy, Smart People is highly recommended. It plays through June 10, 2018 in the Gillian Theatre at Glencoe’s Writers Theater.

The Burn, a lively tale of a high school drama class putting on Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, is spectacularly good. The script by Philip Dawkins was commissioned for the Steppenwolf’s Theatre’s Young Adult Theater Program. But this in no way diminishes it as a creative work – it is far, far more than an educational theater program.

Dawkins brings us four students and a teacher, introducing at first just the social surface, gradually individualizing them, and masterfully drilling down into the characters to reveal what makes each of them tick.

The Burn operates on several levels at once. It provides a portrait of the battleground educators face in classes of students with limited attention spans – a contemporary Blackboard Jungle. These young people display the confidence spawned by that thin yet wide breadth of knowledge so readily garnered online.

The Burn also addresses the perpetual condition of student social strata, amped up these days through social media platforms that can at times feed an unfortunate frenzy of bullying.

And finally, its story parallels the drama of the Miller’s masterwork, The Crucible, a dissection of the violence unleashed when a 17^th Century Puritanical community’s dark forces are unconstrained. Miller’s dramatization of  the actual 1692 Salem witch trials in the Massachusetts Bay Colony is now an essential per of our cultural literacy. (Steppenwolf produced The Crucible earlier this season - read our review by John Accrocco.) But the play can be impenetrable. This new take by Dawkins illuminates Miller’s story, and will undoubtedly be produced widely at schools.

In The Burn, Tara, the social standard setter and bully (Birgundi Baker) hangs out with a dumbed-down girls’ basketball team member Andi (Nina Ganet) and with Shauna (Dyllan Rodrigues-Miller), who straddles the respectable world of accomplished student, while also following Tara as a member of her “mean girls” clique. Transfer student Mercedes (Phoebe González) is never admitted to the group, and in fact is harassed in person and on line. Mercedes carries a lot of baggage from a violent event that caused her to change schools, finding comfort by becoming a born-again Christian in the process.

We first meet the students as their good-natured teacher, Erik (Erik Hellman, who also starred in The Crucible) struggles to engage the class in diagramming a sentence. He finally gets their attention by using a more personal sentence about Tara, and thereby hints at the increasingly personal encounters that are to follow. 

A high school, or any theater production, for that matter, is also an intensely powerful emotional experience for the players involved. As The Burn progresses, the students rehearse and play their roles, and must learn to perform as a unit. This shifts the emotional dynamics, and the dynamic of the group begins to shift. Tension mounts as Tara’s hold on the group is threatened, and Erik confronts her bullying behavior.

Dawkins is an accomplished playwright, as well as teaching the art at Northwestern, Loyola and Victory Gardens – and demonstrates the high level of craft he has attained from that background. Like Snap Chat, Messenger and Twitter, the play’s delivery runs at an almost breakneck pace – and in that sense is very fitting for its target audience. But the older crowd should not miss it. I laughed and cried and wanted to stand up and cheer when it was done. So yes, it’s highly recommended! Catch it at Steppenwolf Theatre through March 10.

Put acting greats Francis Guinan and John Mahoney on stage together and you undoubtedly get a performance that will certainly mesmerize. Add Jessica Dickey’s poignant script that delves into history and what we can take away from it, keen direction by Hallie Gordon and fine supporting performances from Ty Olwin, Karen Rodriguez and Gabriel Ruiz and you have a power-packed production that truly resonates with its audience. Steppenwolf’s latest, The Rembrant, is just that.

Guinan stars as longtime art museum guard Henry. A lot is going on this particular day. Henry’s boss Jonny (Ruiz) has just hired a new guard named Dodger (Olwin) and Henry needs to show him the ropes. The young, mohawk-wearing Dodger clearly isn’t in the same mold as his new mentor Henry and when art student Madeline admire a Rembrant before sketching it, the new guard encourages her to “touch the painting”. “Touch it”, he says, “feel the history.” Upon Henry’s return, he gazes at the same painting, one he has admired for years, Dodger urges him to do the same. Of course, this is absurd, thinks Henry. But Henry is troubled, his husband slowly dying from cancer. He has been a loyal guard for years. He wants so badly to touch the Rembrant – to feel the brush strokes. So, he does.

Once Henry feels the canvas, we are taken back in time to the life of Rembrant (also played by Guinan). We see the strong bond he has with his son Titus (Olwin), a son who wants nothing more to be by the side of his father. Dickey makes a valiant effort in encompassing the thought process behind Rembrant’s paintings. In one painting a man has a large hand and a small hand. This we learn is to keep father and son together forever, one hand belonging to Titus, the other to Rembrandt. The period is well-played and Guinan at the top of his craft.

Then emerges Homer, played wholeheartedly by Mahoney. Homer reminds us death is imminent for all of us. Though the time and the how unknown, the certainty for sure. It is a riveting dialogue that profoundly makes its way throughout the theatre prompting us to think about enjoying the gift of life while we can. We are also reminded of Mahoney’s powerful stage presence.

The play goes full circle, Henry by the side of his husband Simon (Mahoney) as they reminisce about the past, cherishing fond memories and exchanging their feelings for one another in a sad, but moving scene that adds an exclamation point to a very engaging story.

Guinan is sensational. However, he will take leave of the role after the October 22nd performance. Talented Chicago actor Joe Dempsey will reprieve Guinan and take over the role of Henry and Rembrandt as of October 24th. Inventive set design, wonderful acting performances and an engaging story, The Rembrandt is a warm production that connects the present to the past in a very creative way.

Recommended.

The Rembrandt is being performed at Steppenwolf Theatre through November 5th. For tickets and/or more show information visit www.steppenwolf.org.

*Extended through November 11th

With “HIR” by Taylor Mac, Steppenwolf Theatre continues its legacy of pushing relevant and sometimes uncomfortable topics onto its audiences. Directed by Hallie Gordon, this is the Chicago premiere of Mac’s acclaimed 2015 Off-Broadway hit. This vivid production is sure to unsettle some subscribers, but that’s the point. Mac’s script offers up laughs and lessons and is able to gets its point across without coming off as preachy.

What a treat it is to see ensemble member Amy Morton back on the Steppenwolf stage. Morton is a frequent director at the Steppenwolf but has been scarce since her much-praised performance as Martha in 2010’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” which transferred to Broadway. Morton plays Page, the mother of a transgender teen, Max (Em Grosland) and recently discharged soldier Isaac (Ty Olwin). She is also caring for her ailing husband (Francis Guinan) who has been incapacitated by a stroke. Page has unusual ideas about politics and lifestyle and is finally able to express herself the way she wants without an oppressive husband and societal restrictions.

Playwright, performer and singer-songwriter Taylor Mac (otherwise known as “judy”) is hot right now. His one-man “24-Decade History of Popular Music” was shortlisted for the 2017 Pulitzer. There’s no one quite like judy. HIR is essentially a fictionalized thesis on gender and politics in America. Guinan’s feeble character represents the fragile white male ego and Morton’s character is the at-times militant voice of the future. That future is without gender, without color, and without boundaries. Page seems to relish in abusing her once violent husband. An apt metaphor. Mac has a great sense of humor about the LGBT community and that shines through, but his script is also dense with a vital cultural insight that suburban audiences need to hear in the age of Trump’s America.

Hallie Gordon’s vision for this show is spectacular. Collette Pollard has created a fitting set for the chaos of this family. Gordon’s cast is top-tier. You can’t do much better than Amy Morton and Francis Guinan. Morton quickly becomes the focal point of the play and displays an overwhelming capacity for physical comedy and emotional honesty. You can’t take your eyes off her. Guinan is extremely brave to tread the boards in nothing more than adult diaper, or even braver, a full-face of clown makeup. Without uttering more than a few intelligible sentences, Guinan turns in a complicated but moving performance. This is likely to be one of the most talked about shows in Chicago, and good for the Steppenwolf for continuing to take risks.

Through August 20 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. 1650 N Halsted Street. 312-335-3830 www.steppenwolf.org