Peter Moore, Travis Coe and Dana Black to Lead THE FEW at Steep Theatre

Four years ago, Bryan walked away from his life, his lover, and his labor of love -- a magazine for long distance truckers. Now, he's back, without explanation and without answers, looking to finish what he couldn't on the road. In an anonymous highway town, THE FEW pulls together the pieces of lives filled with loss.

Steep Theatre Company continues its fifteenth season with the Chicago premiere of Samuel D. Hunter's THE FEW, directed by Steep ensemble member Brad Akin, running April 14 - May 21, 2016.

Mr. Hunter's plays have received numerous critically acclaimed Chicago productions in recent years, including Griffin Theatre's production of Pocatello and Victory Gardens' productions of Rest and The Whale, which was named one of the top shows of the year by both the Chicago Tribune and TimeOut Chicago. The playwright has won an Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award, and he received the 2014 MacArthur Fellows Genius Grant. Mr. Akin directed past Steep plays strangers, babies, Under the Blue Sky, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and Book of Days. His productions have received multiple Jeff nominations and have been named to TimeOut's Top Ten Shows of the Year list.

"We've long admired Samuel's work and we're thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce one of his plays to Chicago audiences," said Steep Artistic Director Peter Moore. "His work really speaks to us and our attraction to stories of ordinary people in truly extraordinary circumstances." THE FEW received its world premiere at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, CA in October 2013.

The cast of THE FEW will feature Steep Theatre's artistic director Peter Moore, Travis Coe, and Dana Black. Mr. Moore has appeared in numerous Steep productions including last summer's hit production of Brilliant Adventures as well as Simon Stephens' Motortown and Harper Regan. Mr. Coe last appeared on Steep's stage in Martyr, and he is the co-founder and artistic director of The Unexpected Laboratory. Ms. Black will be making her Steep debut in THE FEW. She can currently be seen in Jackalope Theatre's world premiere of Rolling, and recent productions include Abraham Lincoln was a F@gg@t at About Face Theatre, for which she received an Equity Jeff nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and American Blues Theatre's Hank Williams: The Lost Highway, which won the 2014 Equity Jeff award for Best Musical.

Brad Akin is a Chicago-based director and educator. An ensemble member at Steep Theatre Company since 2005, Brad has directed several productions with his artistic family including the Chicago premieres of Linda McLean's strangers, babies, David Eldridge's Under the Blue Sky, Stephen Adly Guirgis's The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and Emily Mann's Greensboro: A Requiem. Outside his Steep home, Brad directed the Chicago premieres of Lucy Thurber's Where We're Born and Bekah Brunstetter's OOHRAH! at Steppenwolf's Garage Theater. Every summer, Brad has the great privilege of challenging the best and the brightest high school seniors of North Carolina as the theater instructor for the NC Governor's School. He received his Bachelor's degree in Performance Studies from Northwestern University.

Samuel D. Hunter's plays include The Whale (Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, GLAAD Media Award, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play), A Bright New Boise (Obie Award, Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), THE FEW, A Great Wilderness, Rest, and Pocatello. His newest plays, Lewiston and Clarkston, are set to premiere in the 2015/2016 season. He is the recipient of a 2014 MacArthur Genius Grant Fellowship, a 2012 Whiting Writers Award, the 2013 Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, the 2011 Sky Cooper Prize, the 2008 PONY/Lark Fellowship, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Idaho. His plays have been produced in New York at Playwrights Horizons, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Clubbed Thumb and Page 73, and around the country at such theaters as Seattle Rep, South Coast Rep, Victory Gardens, Williamstown Theater Festival, The Old Globe, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Marin Theater Company, and elsewhere. His work has been developed at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, the Ojai Playwrights Conference, Seven Devils, and PlayPenn. He is a member of New Dramatists, an Ensemble Playwright at Victory Gardens, a member of Partial Comfort Productions, and was a 2013 Resident Playwright at Arena Stage. He holds degrees in playwriting from NYU, The Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and Juilliard.

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 24 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, and the 2015 Jeff Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Steep was named the 2010 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award Winner.

THE FEW runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8pm from April 14th through May 21st. Sunday matinee performances are scheduled for April 24th and May 1st, 8th, and 15th 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.

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