HOOKMAN an Existential Slasher Comedy Comes to Steep Theatre

Her mother warned her about the treacherous hook-handed man hiding in the back seat, but only after a tragic accident could Lexi see the real threat of the hookman. The bitingly funny, edge-of-your-seat scary Hookman is a lethally sharp slasher comedy about grief, adolescence, and the power of the stories we tell each other and ourselves.

Steep Theatre will plunge into the world of horror with their upcoming Midwest premiere of Lauren Yee's Hookman. The play, which has been described by Yee as an "existential slasher-comedy", will be directed by the Jeff Award-winner Vanessa Stalling (United Flight 232 - Best Play, Midsize). The production will mark Stalling's Steep Theatre directorial debut. Hookman opens Thursday, April 20th at Steep Theatre, in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago. ??The cast of Hookman will feature Karen Rodriguez, Kiayla Ryann, Aja Wiltshire, Sasha Smith, James Doherty, and Mary Tilden.

"Lauren has crafted a story that is uniquely hilarious, terrifying, and emotionally affecting, and Vanessa and her team have an extraordinary vision for this story," said Steep Artistic Director Peter Moore. "This is some new territory for us in terms of storytelling and, frankly, I'm chomping at the bit to be in the audience to watch it unfold."

About the Director
Vanessa Stalling is a freelance director based in Chicago, Illinois. Most recently, Stalling adapted and directed United Flight 232 from Laurence Gonzales' Flight 232 for The House Theatre, which won Jeff Awards for Production (Play, Midsize) and Ensemble, and was included in Chicago Tribune's "Top 10 Productions in 2016." Stalling is also known for her work as an artist of Redmoon Theater. While at Redmoon, she enjoyed performing, directing and serving as Associate Artistic Director. Redmoon directing credits include a remount of The Cabinet, which toured Brazil as part of the FILO Festival, Winter Pageant, Princess Club, Twilight Orchard and roaming performances for President Obama's White House Halloween Celebrations. Other Chicago area directing credits include: Stage Left, Red Tape, and Actors Gymnasium. She greatly enjoyed her time as the 2016 Michael Maggio Directing Fellow at The Goodman Theatre, during which she directed the New Stages performance of Kirsten Greenidge's new work, And Moira Spins, and the Playwrights Unit reading of Jenni Lamb's Messina. Stalling is also a company member of The House Theatre of Chicago and an instructor at Columbia College and University of Chicago.

About the Playwright
Lauren Yee is a playwright born and raised in San Francisco. She received her bachelor's degree from Yale University, and her MFA in playwriting from UCSD, where she studied under Naomi Iizuka.
She was a Dramatists Guild fellow, a MacDowell fellow, a MAP Fund grantee, a member of The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group, a Time Warner Fellow at the Women's Project Playwrights Lab, the Shank playwright-in-residence at Second Stage Theatre, a Playwrights' Center Core Writer, and the Page One resident playwright at Playwrights Realm. She has been a finalist for the Jerome Fellowship, the PONY Fellowship, the Princess Grace Award, the Sundance Theatre Lab, and the Wasserstein Prize. Her play Samsara has been a nominee for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the L. Arnold Weissberger Award. Her work has been published by Samuel French.

Her full-length work has been produced at AlterTheater, Artists at Play, The Chance Theatre, City Lights Theatre Company, Cleveland Public Theatre, Company One, Encore Theatre/Z Space, fu-GEN, the Hub Theatre, Impact Theatre, Moxie Theatre, Mu Performing Arts, Pan Asian Rep, SF Playhouse, SIS Productions, Victory Gardens Theatre, and others. Lauren's work has also been developed at Lincoln Center Theatre/LCT3, the Goodman Theatre, The Public Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Second Stage Theatre, Centerstage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Aurora Theatre, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, East West Players, the Hangar Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theatre, the Magic Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, PlayPenn, and the Playwrights' Center.

Her play The Hatmaker's Wife was an Outer Critics Circle nominee for the John Gassner Award for best play by a new American playwright. Ching Chong Chinaman was picked as a top 10 play of the year by City Pages and the East Bay Express, and Crevice was a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominee for Best Play. Other honors include three Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival playwriting awards, Kumu Kahua Theatre's Pacific Rim Prize, and writing fellowships from the American Antiquarian Society, the Byrdcliffe Artist Colony, the Edward F. Albee Foundation, the El Gouna Writers' Residency, the Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers, and the New York Mills Cultural Center. She has also received funding from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, Theatre Bay Area, and UCSD's Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies, as well as an award from PlayGround's New Play Production Fund. Lauren is a member of the Ma-Yi Theatre Writers Lab.

About Steep Theatre
Housed in what was once a small grocery store steps from the Berwyn Red Line stop, and lead by an ensemble of 34 actors, directors, designers, writers, and other theatre artists, Steep is the quintessential storefront theatre. Described by Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune as "a storefront theater known for the power of its acting," Steep creates powerful productions of plays by today's most exciting writers and features the work of Chicago's hottest theatre artists in an intimate, accessible space. Currently in its 16th season, Steep is 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.

Steep Theatre is conveniently located by the Berwyn Red Line stop and is within blocks of the #92, #36, #146, #147, and #151 buses.

Steep Theatre
1115 West Berwyn, Chicago, IL 60640

April 20 - May 27, 2017
Press Opening: Thursday, April 20 at 8pm
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8pm
Sunday matinees at 3pm (excluding April 23)
The performance on May 20 will feature audio description and a pre-show touch tour, which will begin at 7pm. The performance on May 21 will feature open captioning.

General Admission Tickets: $25
Reserved Seat Tickets: $35
Access Tickets: $10 (Steep's universal discount for students, artists, whomever)
(773) 649-3186
www.steeptheatre.com

www.steeptheatre.com
773-649-3186
info@steeptheatre.com
Twitter: @SteepTheatre
Facebook: SteepTheatre

CAST, in order of appearance:
Karen Rodriguez
Kiayla Ryann
Aja Wiltshire
Sasha Smith
James Doherty
Mary Tilden

PRODUCTION TEAM:
Director - Vanessa Stalling
Stage Manager - Lauren Lassus**
Set Design - Arnel Sancianco
Lighting Design - Pete Dully*
Sound Design & Original Composition - Jeffrey Levin
Costume Design - Mieka van der Ploeg
Prop Design - Eleanor Kahn
Projection Design - Mark Comiskey
Violence & Gore Design - Jon Beal
Assistant Director - Dani Wieder
Production Manager - Catherine Allen

*Denotes Steep Company Member
**Denotes Steep Artistic Associate

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