Austin Pendleton, Jeff Perry, and More to Star in Steppenwolf Theatre's NO MAN'S LAND

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, will conclude its 47th season with Harold Pinter's celebrated masterwork No Man's Land directed by Les Waters (In the Next Room..(or the vibrator play), Dana H., Middletown), playing July 13 - August 20, 2023 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 Sunday, July 23 at 6 pm.

No Man's Land will feature ensemble members Austin Pendleton (The Minutes - Broadway, My Cousin Vinny, Billions) and Jeff Perry (Alaska Daily, Scandal, August: Osage County) with Samuel Roukin (Turn: Washington's Spies, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) and Michael Patrick Thornton (A Doll's House - Broadway, Private Practice, The Red Line).

In the drawing room of his stately Hampstead mansion, the wealthy, aging Hirst hosts his newfound acquaintance, the enigmatic Spooner, for an evening of endless beer, scotch and vodka. The night winds on, the drinks keep pouring and the ground keeps shifting - until two sinister younger men arrive and interrupt the bacchanal. Steppenwolf returns to Harold Pinter's modern masterpiece: a generational power struggle, a tug of war between expert wordsmiths, a maze of murky meaning. Or perhaps it's just two old English sots waxing nostalgic and waiting for the sun to rise. In No Man's Land, you can never be certain, and nothing is as is seems.

The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (Scenic Design), Janice Pytel (Costume Design), Yi Zhao (Lighting Design), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design), Gigi Buffington (Company Voice and Text Coach), Tom Pearl (Producing Director), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting Director), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

No Man's Land

Playwright: Harold Pinter

Director: Les Waters

Cast: Ensemble members Austin Pendleton (Spooner) and Jeff Perry (Hist) with Samuel Roukin (Foster) and Michael Patrick Thornton (Briggs).

Location: Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, July 13 at 8 pm, Friday, July 14 at 8 pm, Saturday, July 15 at 3 pm & 8 pm, Sunday, July 16 at 3 pm, Wednesday, July 19 at 8 pm, Thursday, July 20 at 8 pm, Friday, July 21 at 8 pm and Saturday, July 22 at 3 pm & 8 pm

Press performance/Opening: Sunday, July 23 at 6 pm

Regular run: Tuesday, July 26 - Sunday, August 20, 2023

Curtain Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays and Friday at 8 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will be a 2:30 pm performance on Wednesday, August 9; there will not be an 8 pm performance on Wednesday, August 9.

Tickets: Single tickets ($20 - $98) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and Red Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Open-captioned: Thursday, August 3 at 8 pm and Saturday, August 12 at 3 pm

ASL-interpreted: Friday, August 11 at 8 pm

Audio-described and touch tour: Sunday, August 13 at 3 pm (1:30 pm touch tour, 3 pm curtain)

Mask-required performance: Wednesday, August 9 at 2:30 pm

Artist Biographies:

Harold Pinter (Playwright) was born in London in 1930. He lived with Antonia Fraser from 1975 until his death on Christmas Eve 2008. (They were married in 1980). After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama, he worked as an actor under the stage name David Baron. Following his success as a playwright, he continued to act under his own name, on stage and screen. He last acted in 2006 when he appeared in Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape at The Royal Court Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson. He wrote twenty-nine plays including The Birthday Party, The Dumb Waiter, A Slight Ache, The Hothouse, The Caretaker, The Collection, The Lover, The Homecoming, Old Times, No Man's Land, Betrayal, A Kind of Alaska, One for the Road, The New World Order, Moonlight and Ashes to Ashes. Sketches include The Black and White, Request Stop, That's Your Trouble, Night, Precisely, Apart From That and the recently rediscovered, Umbrellas. He directed twenty-seven theatre productions, including James Joyce's Exiles, David Mamet's Oleanna, seven plays by Simon Gray (one of which was Butley in 1971, which he directed the film of three years later) and many of his own plays including his last, Celebration, paired with his first, The Room at The Almeida Theatre, London in the spring of 2000. He wrote twenty-one screenplays including The Pumpkin Eater, The Servant, The Go-Between, The French Lieutenant's Woman and Sleuth. In 2005, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Other awards include the Companion of Honour for services to Literature, the Legion D'Honneur, the European Theatre Prize the Laurence Olivier Award and the Moliere D'Honneur for lifetime achievement. In 1999, he was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature. Harold Pinter was awarded eighteen honorary degrees.

Les Waters (Director) is a multi Obie Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated director. Previous shows at Steppenwolf are The Designated Mourner by Wallace Shawn, The Memory of Water by Shelagh Stephenson and Middletown by Will Eno. He has directed on Broadway, Off Broadway and many theatres throughout the U.S. From 2003-11 he was Associate Artistic Director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and from 2012-18 he was the Artistic Director of Actors Theatre of Louisville. He is both the subject and co-author of The Theatre of Les Waters: More Like the Weather, edited by Scott T. Cummings, published by Routledge, 2022.

Austin Pendleton (Spooner) began working with Steppenwolf in 1979 when he directed the Ensemble in Say Goodnight, Gracie by Ralph Pape. After that he returned to direct Loose Ends by Michael Weller, Three Sisters and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Then he was cast opposite Laurie Metcalf in Educating Rita, directed by Jeff Perry, and on the first day of rehearsal he was asked to join the Ensemble officially. Since then, he has acted and directed at Steppenwolf frequently, and most recently acted on Broadway in the Steppenwolf-originated The Minutes by Tracy Letts, directed by Anna Shapiro. He has acted over the years in several Broadway shows (the first being the original production of Fiddler on the Roof, in which he was the first Motel, the Tailor), and many off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway shows. He has also directed in these venues, winning a Tony nomination for The Little Foxes (with Elizabeth Taylor) and an Obie Award for Three Sisters (with Peter Sarsgaard and Maggie Gyllenhaal). He's appeared in about 300 movies, and on TV in recurring roles in Oz and Homicide. He has written three plays: Orson's Shadow (which started at Steppenwolf, in the production, directed by David Cromer, that moved to off-Broadway and ran for a little under a year); Uncle Bob (the second production of the play, after its New York premiere); and Booth, which, after its New York premiere played at Writers' Theater in Glencoe. He was also commissioned by Writers' Theatre to write the libretto for A Minister's Wife, a musical adapted from Shaw's Candida, with music by Josh Schmidt and lyrics by Jan Tranen, which then moved to the Newhouse Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York. All these works are published and have been frequently produced around the country, and in the case of Orson's Shadow, in London, and in the case of Uncle Bob, in Paris, translated by Jean-Marie Besset.

Jeff Perry (Hirst) 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. 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 The Steppenwolf Theatre Documentary. "I owe my life in art to the guidance of every teacher, artist, student and storytelling colleague I've been blessed to share time and space with."

Samuel Roukin (Foster) makes his Steppenwolf Theatre Company debut. Broadway: Cyrano de Bergerac (Roundabout). International: His Dark Materials, Henry IV 1&2, The Kitchen (National Theatre); Great Expectations (Royal Shakespeare Company); Hamlet (Old Vic); Seven Jewish Children (Royal Court); The Taming of the Shrew (Bristol Old Vic); The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Curve). Film: Happy-Go-Lucky, Bright Star, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Solomon Kane, Equity, A Call to Spy, All Souls, Canvas. Television: Turn: Washington's Spies, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Counterpart, Pantheon, The Librarians, Salem, The Magicians, The Hollow Crown, Appropriate Adult. Video Game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Education: Bristol Old Vic, University of Hull.

Michael Patrick Thornton's (Briggs) Steppenwolf Theatre Company credits include Middletown, The Elephant Man, The Crucible, Doubt and Richard III (co-productions with the Gift Theatre). Michael's acclaimed improv show You & Me played at Steppenwolf, Second City and internationally. Broadway: A Doll's House with Jessica Chastain, Macbeth with Ruth Negga and Daniel Craig. Off-Broadway: Nassim. Selected Chicago: Title and Deed (Lookingglass); Othello (Iago), Suicide, Incorporated, The Good Thief (The Gift Theatre). Selected Film & Television: The View From Tall, NCIS, The Good Doctor, Let The Right One In, Away, Madam Secretary, Elementary, Counterpart, The Red Line, The Exorcist, Private Practice.

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 (see dates above). Assistive listening devices and large-print 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/plan-your-visit/accessibility/ or e-mail access@steppenwolf.org.

COVID Precautions

As the Chicago theatre community continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Steppenwolf Theatre remains committed to the safety of its patrons and staff. For the most up-to-date information on our venue's COVID precautions, please visit steppenwolf.org/welcomeback.

Sponsor Information

No Man's Land is supported in part by Northern Trust. United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from Allstate Insurance Company, Amazon, ComEd, PNC and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater that is home to America's ensemble. The company began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park, IL church-today Steppenwolf is the nation's premier ensemble theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Deeply rooted in its ensemble ethos, the company is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and making the Steppenwolf experience accessible to all. Groundbreaking productions from Balm in Gilead and August: Osage County to Downstate and Pass Over-and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony Awards-have made the theatre legendary. Artistic programming includes a membership series; a Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; LookOut, a multi-genre performance series; and the Steppenwolf NOW virtual stage. The nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education engages more than 20,000 participants annually in Chicagoland communities promoting compassion, encouraging curiosity and inspiring action. While firmly 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. 2021 marked the opening of Steppenwolf's landmark Lefkofsky Arts & Education Center-deepening the company's commitment to Chicagoland teens and serving as a cultural nexus for Chicago. Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis are the Artistic Directors and E. Brooke Flanagan is Executive Director. Keating Crown is Chair of Steppenwolf's Board of Trustees.

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.

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