Alex Lubischer's BOBBIE CLEARLY to Premiere Next Month at Steep Theatre

Steep Theatre will kick off its sixteenth season in September with the world premiere of Alex Lubischer's Bobbie Clearly, directed by Josh Sobel.

The play, which was a finalist for the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater, was developed in part through workshops and a public staged reading at Steep in 2015. Steep is delighted to help bring to life this ambitious, timely new work from one of Chicago's rising playwrights. Bobbie Clearly marks the second world premiere from the company in as many seasons.

Mr. Lubischer is a Chicago-based playwright whose plays have been seen and developed at Page 73 in New York, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, and in Chicago at Victory Gardens, The Fine Print Theatre Company, and Route 66. He recently began the MFA Playwriting Program at the Yale School of Drama. Josh Sobel is the Artistic Director at Haven Theatre Company and a prolific director in Chicago storefront theatres.

Steep's ensemble has long been committed to introducing new plays and new playwrights to Chicago. This world premiere is an exciting opportunity to bring a powerful new story to Steep's intimate stage. Ensemble members Melissa Riemer (Wastwater, The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle, Moment), Nick Horst (Wastwater, Fallow, A Brief History of Helen of Troy), and Joel Reitsma (Motortown) will be joined by an exceptional group of guest artists: McKenzie Chinn, David Fisch, Roy Gonzalez, Tom Jansson, Erika Napoletano, Paloma Nozicka, Miguel Nunez, and Carson Schroeder.

"Alex is a remarkable talent and a playwright we'll all be hearing lots from in the coming years," said Steep Artistic Director Peter Moore. "I'm honored that he and Josh brought Bobbie to Steep for further development. They felt like Steep was the perfect home for it, and we agreed. It's a challenging play, and it feels dangerous at times, but it's a lot of fun as well, and I can't wait to see it on our stage."

Bobbie Clearly runs September 29 through November 5 on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm. Sunday matinees have been scheduled for October 9, 16 and 30 at 3pm. The performance on Saturday, October 22 will be at 3pm. Tickets range from $10 to $35. Reservations can be made by calling (773) 649-3186 or by visiting www.steeptheatre.com. Steep Theatre is conveniently located by the Berwyn Red Line stop and is within blocks of the #92, #36, #146, #147, and #151 buses. The address is 1115 West Berwyn, Chicago, IL 60640.

CAST:
McKenzie Chinn
David Fisch
Roy Gonzalez
Nick Horst*
Tom Jansson
Erika Napoletano
Paloma Nozicka
Miguel Nunez
Joel Reitsma*
Melissa Riemer*
Carson Schroeder

PRODUCTION TEAM:
Director - Josh Sobel
Stage Manager - Lauren Lassus**
Assistant Director - Kristen Johnson
Set Design - Eleanor Kahn
Lighting Design - Jeff Glass
Sound Design - Thomas Dixon**
Costume Design - Brittany Dee Bodley
Prop Design - Jamie Karas
Puppet Designer - Adam McAleavey
Violence Designers - R&D Choreography (Victor Bayona and Richard Gilbert)
Choreographer - Jenna Schoppe
Dramaturg - Rebecca Adelsheim
Production Manager - Catherine Allen

*Denotes Steep Company Member
**Denotes Steep Artistic Associate

About the Director - Josh Sobel is the Artistic Director of Haven Theatre, as well as an ensemble member and literary manager with Strawdog Theatre Company, where he directed Paula Vogel's The Long Christmas Ride Home along with the world premieres of The Hunting of the Snark (subsequently remounted with Chicago's "Night Out In The Parks" and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland), Best Beloved: The Just So Stories and The Pied Piper in Strawdog's Hugen Hall. Upcoming projects include Young Jean Lee's We're Gonna Die at Haven Theatre and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre. Directing credits include work at Steep Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, A Red Orchid Theatre, LiveWire Chicago Theatre, Collaboraction's Sketchbook, WildClaw Theatre, The Ruckus, Tympanic Theatre, Polarity Ensemble Theatre, The Fine Print Theatre Company, the side project, Citadel Theatre, The Greenhouse Theater Center, Abbie-Fest and New Leaf Theatre. From 2010 - 2013 he served as Associate Director of the National Theater Institute summer "Theatermakers" program at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. Sobel is the recipient of a Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC) Observership on Hamlet at Writers' Theatre and is an associate member of SDC.

About the Playwright - Alex Lubischer is an MFA candidate in the Playwriting Program at the Yale School of Drama. Prior to pursuing his MFA, he spent several years in Chicago, followed by a short time in New York as a member of the Page 73 Writers Group. His plays include PIG.GOV Part 1, Bobbie Clearly, Ogalala, Giving Is Sexy, The Xylophone West, Acts of Contrition, Weird Kids, and Survey No. 5. In Chicago, his scripts have been produced by Haven Theatre, The Fine Print Theatre Company, Collaboraction, and Tympanic Theatre Company, among others. He has developed new work at Steep Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Theater, The House Theatre, Route 66 Theatre Company, Interrobang Theatre Project, the Great Plains Theatre Conference, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Alex has been a semifinalist for the P73 Playwriting Fellowship, a two-time finalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, and a resident playwright at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. He received his B.A. from the University of Southern California and is a proud alumnus of the National Theater Institute. Alex grew up on a farm in Nebraska.

Steep Theatre has become known as a home for hard-hitting, finely tuned ensemble work. With each production, the company has shepherded a growing community of audiences and artists into bold new territories of story and performance. Over the years, Steep productions have been named in TimeOut Chicago's Top Ten Shows of the Year list five times, the Tribune's Top Ten List twice, the Tribune's Best of the Fringe list twice, the Sun Times' best of the year list twice, and WBEZ's Top Ten Shows of the Decade. Steep has received 27 Jeff Nominations and has won the 2009 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble, the 2010 Jeff Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the 2011 Jeff Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the 2015 Jeff Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and the 2016 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble. Steep was named the 2010 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award Winner.

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