Oak Park Newspaper

Ensemble members Tim Hopper and Ora Jones in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro.
photo by Michael Brosilow

Kelly O’Sullivan and ensemble member Ian Barford
photo by Michael Brosilow

Ensemble members James Vincent Meredith and Alana Arenas
photo by Michael Brosilow

The play is another treat presented to the patrons of art,
so get your tickets soon and enjoy the show.

Chicago— Steppenwolf Theatre Company opens its 32nd season with The Crucible by Arthur Miller, directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro, featuring ensemble members Alana Arenas, Ian Barford, Francis Guinan, Tim Hopper, Ora Jones, James Vincent Meredith, Sally Murphy and Alan Wilder with Lucy Carapetyan, Maury Cooper, Justin James Farley, Chiké Johnson, Leonard J. Kraft, Mildred Marie Langford, John Lister, Ginger Lee McDermott, Kelly O'Sullivan, Tim Edward Rhoze, Mary Seibel and Lee Stark. The production runs September 13- November 11, 2007, in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. The press performance is Saturday, September 22, 2007, at 3:00 p.m.

When teenage girls are discovered trying to conjure spirits, the 17th century town of Salem explodes with accusations of witchcraft. The vicious trials that follow expose a community paralyzed by fear, religious extremism and greed. Ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro directs this timeless tale by one of the greatest American playwrights of all time.

“Arthur Miller is a playwright whose artistic life has been, in the main, an inquiry into the American character and the socio-political culture that shapes us as Americans,” comments Artistic Director Martha Lavey. “His voice is eloquent, searing, and passionate. And The Crucible is, like Death of a Salesman, one of Millers' signature plays: a play that has come to define the playwright and has come to serve as a touchstone in the canon of contemporary American drama.”

The Chicago Public Library has chosen The Crucible as the Fall 2007 selection for the One Book, One Chicago citywide book club. Steppenwolf is thrilled that this partnership encourages Chicagoans to not only read Miller’s much-admired work, but to see it on the stage. The Library is pleased to be partnering with Steppenwolf Theatre on a series of public programs taking place at a number of CPL locations throughout the city in September and October. For information on these, as well as all the special events, film screenings and book discussions taking place for One Book, One Chicago, visit chicagopubliclibrary.org or call (312) 747-8191.

The designers of The Crucible are Todd Rosenthal (set), Don Holder (lights), Virgil Johnson (costumes), Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (sound). Michelle Medvin is the stage manager and Lauren V. Hickman is the assistant stage manager.

Title:                      The Crucible
Playwright:             Arthur Miller
Directed by:          ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro
Featuring:             ensemble members Alana Arenas, Ian Barford, Francis Guinan,
   Tim Hopper, Ora

Jones, James Vincent Meredith, Sally Murphy and Alan Wilder with Lucy Carapetyan, Maury Cooper, Justin James Farley, Chike Johnson, Leonard Kraft, Mildred Marie Langford, John Lister, Ginger Lee McDermott, Kelly O'Sullivan, Tim Edward Rhoze, Mary Seibel and Lee Stark

Location:       Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted
Dates:             Previews: September 13- 22, 2007
                             Press preview: September 22, 2007, at 3:00 p.m.
                             Opening: September 23, 2007, at 6:00 p.m.
                             Regular run: September 25- November 11, 2007

Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday matinees on October 24, 31 and November 7, 2007,
at 2:00 p.m.
There will be no Sunday evening performances on October 28,

Audience Services: 1650 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650
Online ticketing available at www.steppenwolf.org

Free post-show discussions, sponsored by AT&T, are offered after every performance.

Production Sponsors of The Crucible are JPMorganChase & Foley and Lardner LLP.

Steppenwolf is located near all forms of public transportation and is wheelchair accessible. Street and lot parking are available. Assistive listening devices are available for every performance.

Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's mission is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon. The company, formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through on-going group work. Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of forty-one artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking and textual adaptation.

Biographies
Arthur Miller (Playwright) was a prominent figure in American literature for over 61 years, writing a wide variety of plays, including The Crucible, All My Sons, and Death of a Salesman. Miller was the recipient of the New York Drama Critics Circle award, multiple Tony awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Anna D. Shapiro (Director) joined the ensemble in 2005 and has directed August: Osage County by Tracy Letts, The Unmentionables by Bruce Norris (also at Yale Rep), the world premiere of Bruce Norris’ The Pain and the Itch (also in New York), Robert Anderson’s I Never Sang for My Father, the world premiere of Tracy Letts’
Man from Nebraska, Until We Find Each Other by Brooke Berman, Purple Heart by Bruce Norris (also in Galway, Ireland), The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey, the world premiere of The Ordinary Yearning of Miriam Buddwing by Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros, Warren Leight’s Side Man (also in Ireland, Australia and Vail, Colorado), Richard Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain and the world premiere of Bruce Norris’ The Infidel. Other credits include A Number at American Conservatory Theatre, The Drawer Boy with ensemble member John Mahoney at the Paper Mill Playhouse, Iron at Manhattan Theatre Club, A Fair Country by Jon Robin Baitz at the Huntington Theatre Company, The Infidel at Philadelphia Theatre Company and
Edwin Sanchez’ Trafficking in Broken Hearts for the Atlantic Theatre Company. Shapiro is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and the recipient of a 1996 Princess Grace Award. She joined the faculty of Northwestern University as head
of the Graduate Directing Program in Theatre in the fall of 2002.

Alana Arenas (Mary Warren) joined the ensemble in 2007 and created the role of Pecola Breedlove for the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Bluest Eye, which also played at the New Victory Theater Off-Broadway. Other Steppenwolf credits include Spare Change and The Sparrow Project, both for First Look Repertory of New Work. She is originally from Miami where she began her training at the New World School of the Arts. Alana holds a BFA from the Theatre School at DePaul.

Ian Barford (Reverend Parris) joined the ensemble in 2007 and most recently appeared in August: Osage County. He was the recipient of the National Theatre Conference/Steppenwolf Theatre “most promising artist” award in 1996. Work with Steppenwolf includes Betrayal, Love Song, Lost Land, The Libertine, Three Days of Rain, The Berlin Circle, As I Lay Dying, Time of My Life and The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, which also played on Broadway (Outer Circle Critics award nomination). Other Chicago credits include All the Rage and Design for Living at the Goodman; Othello at Chicago Shakespeare and Mad Forest at Remains. In Los Angeles, Barford appeared in Dead End (Ahmanson Theatre) and The Weir, God's Man in Texas and Take Me Out at the Geffen Playhouse. Film Credits include 13 Going on 30, Road to Perdition, Catch Me if You Can and Tick-Tock. TV credits include Medium, Jake in Progress, Numbers, Without a Trace, Zoey 101, Strong Medicine, Turks and Days of Our Lives.

Lucy Carapetyan (Mercy Lewis), making her Steppenwolf debut, graduated from Northwestern in 2006 and has performed at The Actors Gym and the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. She has studied in Prague, Switzerland, and Bali, and has taught theatre and circus at the National High School Institute (Cherub program), the Chicago Waldorf School, and the Actors Gym.

Maury Cooper (Giles Corey) was most recently seen at Steppenwolf in the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production Fahrenheit 451. Chicago credits include performances in Duck Variations and the Visit at the Goodman Theater. At the Court Theater, he played in Heartbreak House, Uncle Vanya, Hamlet, Mary Stuart, The Cherry Orchard, End Game and The Invention of Love. He also performed in Entertaining Mr. Sloan at the Next Theater and in The Road To Mecca at Northlight.
In 2003 Mr. Cooper received the Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Judgment at Nuremburg at the Shattered Globe Theater.

Justin James Farley (Hopkins) is making his Steppenwolf debut. A native of the south suburbs, Justin attended Thornridge H.S. and later went on to study Theater at Illinois State University. His credits include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Romeo and Juliet and The Normal Heart. He was last seen as Ronny in Welcome to the Moon presented by Goodluck Macbeth Theatre Company in Chicago, where he is the Development Director.

Francis Guinan (Deputy Governor Danforth) joined the ensemble in 1979 and most recently appeared in August: Osage Count, and The Diary of Anne Frank at Steppenwolf and Inherit the Wind at Northlight Theatre. He appeared at Steppenwolf in Love Song, Cherry Orchard, Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks, Skylight, The Libertine, The Grapes of Wrath (Broadway) and many others. He and his family recently relocated to the Chicago area after 16 years in Los Angeles where he appeared in some movies and lots and lots of TV shows.

Tim Hopper (Rev. Hale) joined the ensemble in 1989 and most recently appeared in The Violet Hour. Other Steppenwolf appearances include Hedda Gabler, The Glass Menagerie and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. In New York, he received an Obie Award for his performance in More Stately Mansions at New York Theatre Workshop. Films include the upcoming Tenderness, and Gardener of Eden, as well as School of Rock, Personal Velocity, Pipe Dream and To Die For. Television includes Grey's Anatomy, Medium and Law and Order: SVU, among others.

Chike Johnson (Marshal Herrick) most recently appeared in Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of Huck Finn and in The Unmentionables at Steppenwolf and Yale Rep. Other shows include “MASTER HAROLD”…and the boys (Next Act Theatre), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Cedarcreek Repertory Theatre), Smoldering Fires (First Stage Children’s Theatre) and Take Me Out (The Milwaukee Chamber Theatre). In 2000, Chike graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Professional Theater Training Program and later moved to Spain where he lived for 3 years. For the past couple of summers Chike has been a part of bringing theatre to children by teaching at First Stage Children’s Theater Academy, also located in Milwaukee, where he was the contemporary scene study teacher.

Ora Jones (Tituba) joined the ensemble in 2007 and has appeared at Steppenwolf in The Unmentionables, The Violet Hour (Jeff nomination) and Morning Star. She received an After Dark award for her role of Stage Manager in Our Town for Writers' Theatre. Jones has performed at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in A Flea in Her Ear, Goodman Theatre in Seeking the Genesis (Black Theater Alliance Award), Court and Rivendell Theaters, Victory Gardens and sailed on the maiden voyage of Chicago Children's Theatre with A Year With Frog and Toad

Leonard J. Kraft (Francis Nurse) returned to the Chicago theatre scene in 1999 and has appeared in more than twenty productions with the Shattered Globe, Eclipse, TimeLine, Mary Arrchie, Circle, Apple Tree, New Leaf and Chicago Children's Theatre companies, among others. The Crucible marks Leonard's fourth appearance with Steppenwolf, having worked previously in The Cherry Orchard, Mother Courage and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Mildred Marie Langford (Susanna Wolcott) is a native of Virginia and a graduate of George Mason University. In 2006 she completed the School at Steppenwolf and is making her Steppenwolf debut in The Crucible. Recent Chicago credits include; SARAFINA! The Music of Liberation (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre), The Deadline Workshop (Chicago Dramatist) and The Girl in the Iron Mask (Babes with Blades).

John Lister (Thomas Putnam) is making his Steppenwolf debut with The Crucible. Chicago and Regional Theater credits include She Stoops To Conquer, Inherit The Wind, Red Herring, and Lady Windermere’s Fan at Northlight Theatre; A Christmas Carol at The Goodman Theatre; Henry IV Parts One & Two, Antony and Cleopatra, The Tempest, Richard II, The Winter’s Tale, The Herbal Bed at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; The Lark at Eclipse Theatre; Enter The Poet at Collaboraction; numerous productions with Peninsula Players and Notre Dame Summer Shakespeare. Television credits include the series Prison Break. John is most proud of his role as husband to long-time Steppenwolf stage manager Laura D. Glenn.

Ginger Lee McDermott (Ann Putnam and Sarah Good), making her Steppenwolf debut, was most recently seen in Chicago in A Dream Play with the Mill Theatre and To Save Him with Hatch Theatre. Other regional theater credits include Proof with Orlando Theatre Project, A Doll’s House with Pendragon Theatre and Romeo and Juliet with National Shakespeare Company.

James Vincent Meredith (John Proctor) joined the ensemble in 2007 and has appeared in The Bluest Eye (also Off-Broadway at the New Victory Theater), The Pain and the Itch, and in the About Face Theatre production of Take Me Out. He is also an ensemble member at Piven Theater Workshop where he appeared in King Lear, American Voices and Our Country's Good. He is currently appearing in The King and I at Drury Lane Oakbrook. He recently played the title role in Othello at Writers’ Theatre.

Sally Murphy (Elizabeth Proctor) joined the ensemble in 1993 and most recently appeared in Steppenwolf's production of August: Osage County. Other Steppenwolf credits include The Royal Family, Mother Courage, Uncle Vanya, Skylight, Earthly Possessions, Harvey and The Common Pursuit. Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof, The Wild Party, Carousel and The Grapes of Wrath (also London and LaJolla). Sally originated roles in Bernarda Alba and A Man of No Importance at Lincoln Center and appeared at City Center Encores in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Recently she played Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady at Signature Theatre in Washington D.C. Other theatre credits include Vineyard, Goodman, Seattle Rep and Bay Street. Concert work includes The Romeo and Juliet Project at Ravinia with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Will the Circle Be Unbroken? at Millennium Park. Film: Pollock, Fearless, Scent of a Woman, Charming Billy. Television: Law and Order, If These Walls Could Talk, Chicago Hope, Victim of Love, Great Performances, American Playhouse. Cast recordings: Bernarda Alba, Fiddler on the Roof, A Man of No Importance, The Wild Party, Carousel.

Kelly O’Sullivan (Abigail Williams) is thrilled to be returning to Steppenwolf after appearing in 100 Saints You Should Know as part of last summer’s First Look Repertory of New Work. Chicago credits include The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (American Theater Co.), Mr. Marmalade (Dog & Pony Theatre), Sketchbook 07 (Collaboraction), Hot ‘n Throbbing (Pine Box Theatre), The Giver (Apple Tree Theatre), and The Glory of Living (Profiles Theatre). Kelly is a graduate of Northwestern University and The School at Steppenwolf. This winter, she can be seen in Steppenwolf’s production of Good Boys and True.

Tim Edward Rhoze (Judge Hawthorne) was last seen at Steppenwolf in Wendall Green. Other Chicago Theatre credits include The Gift Horse, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and All the Rage at the Goodman Theatre, and Northstar, Eden and Freefall at Victory Gardens.

Mary Seibel (Rebecca Nurse) appeared at the Goodman Theater in The Sandbox, Moonlight and Magnolias and Galileo; at Northlight Theater in A Skull In Connemara; The Cripple Of Inishmaan; A Perfect Ganesh and Over The Tavern. At the Royal George and Apollo Theaters in Lend Me A Tenor and Steel Magnolias; at Victory Gardens in The Family Gold and Whales Of August. Film credits include With Honors, Major League, Raising Arizona, A Wedding, and the TV movie, Normal.

Lee Stark (Betty Parris), making her Steppenwolf debut, graduated in June from Northwestern University, where she appeared in Caryl Churchill's Cloud 9, Cymbeline, Madame Bovary, The Bald Soprano, The Maids, Fifth of July, The Royal Family, and the original production of Debbie and the Green Devil. Lee was the president of Vertigo Productions, a company dedicated to student-written work, for which she directed The War Hall; she also performed with Titanic Players long-form improvisation. Last summer she appeared in Cut-to-the-Chase at The Artistic Home, where she studies Meisner.

Alan Wilder (Ezekial Cheever) joined the ensemble in 1976 and has appeared in over fifty-five productions with the company including I Never Sang For My Father, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Libertine, The Grapes of Wrath in Chicago, LaJolla and London, Aunt Dan and Lemon, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Streamers at the AT&T Performing Arts Festival at the Kennedy Center, The Caretaker in Chicago and New York, Of Mice and Men, Balm in Gilead and Death of a Salesman. Outside Steppenwolf, Wilder has performed in the Los Angeles production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the Guthrie Theatre’s U.S. premiere of Pravda, the Remains Theatre production of Highest Standard of Living, Wisdom Bridge Theatre’s Travesties and The Importance of Being Earnest and the Lyric Opera’s The Merry Widow. His film credits include A Civil Action, Childsplay, Home Alone, A League of Their Own, Sour Grapes, Straight Talk and the HBO movies Always Out Numbered and Socrates with Laurie Metcalf and Laurence Fishburne.