Photo Flash: Steep Theatre Presents LINDA By Penelope Skinner

Linda Wilde is a titan - an award-winning executive at Swan Beauty Corporation with another brilliant new ad campaign up her sleeve. In the wake of her success, Linda's husband, daughters, and a new generation of emerging leaders are following their dreams, but her immaculately curated work-life balance hasn't prepared her for the battle for visibility in a world focused on everlasting youth. Olivier Award nominee Penelope Skinner's Linda is a searingly funny portrait of a woman on the front lines of the fight for relevance.

Steep Ensemble Member and Jeff Award winner Robin Witt returns to Steep this summer to direct the Midwest premiere of Penelope Skinner's Linda. Skinner, whose work has recently earned acclaim on large stages in both New York and London, has been described as Britain's "leading young feminist writer." Linda premiered at The Royal Court Theatre in London and 2015 and made its U.S. premiere at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2017, for which it was nominated for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play by the Outer Critics Circle Awards. Director Robin Witt has consistently produced some of Steep's most notable shows, including last year's runaway hit Lela & Co., which recently received Jeff Awards for Best Production of a Play, Best Director, and Best Performer in a Principal Role.

Linda will feature Destini Huston, Caroline Phillips, Omer Abbas Salem, Rochelle Therrien, and Steep Ensemble Members Lucy Carapetyan, Peter Moore, Jim Poole, and Kendra Thulin in the title role. Linda will mark the Steep Theatre debuts for Destini Huston, Caroline Phillips, and Rochelle Therrien, while Omer Abbas Salem was last seen on Steep's stage in 2017's Earthquakes in London.

About the Playwright
Penelope Skinner's plays include The Ruins of Civilization (Manhattan Theatre Club; 2015); The Village Bike (Royal Court Upstairs; 2011); The Sound of Heavy Rain (Paines Plough/Crucible Theatre Sheffield); Greenland (co-writer, National; 2011); The Literary Ball (co-writer, International Rough Cut, Royal Court; 2010); Eigengrau (Bush Theatre; 2010); Midnight at the Hotel Beauregard (Paines Plough / Rose Bruford College; 2010); Fucked (Old Red Lion; 2008 / Assembly Rooms Edinburgh; 2009). Television credits include: Fresh Meat - episode 3 (Objective Productions / Channel 4; 2011). She was a member of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme and was subsequently invited to join their Supergroup in 2009. She was also part of the Paines Plough Future Perfect Scheme in 2009/10 and on attachment to the National Theatre in 2010. She was the recipient of the 2011 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright for The Village Bike.

About the Director
Steep Ensemble Member Robin Witt has been at the helm for many of Steep's most notable UK imports, including Cordelia Lynn's Lela & Co, Simon Stephens' Wastwater, Motortown, Pornography, and Harper Regan; Alistair McDowall's Brilliant Adventures, Dennis Kelly's Love and Money; Jez Butterworth's Parlour Song; and Laura Wade's Breathing Corpses. Her Harper Regan is still the best-selling show in Steep history and was named one of the Top Ten shows of 2010 by both the Chicago Tribune and TimeOut Chicago, and her Breathing Corpses was named one of TimeOut's Top Ten Shows of 2008. In addition to directing numerous productions at Steep, Robin is also an ensemble member of Griffin Theatre Company where she has directed Ferber and Kaufman's Stage Door, Terrence Rattigan's Flare Path, Ena Lamont Stewart's Men Should Weep, and John Van Druten's London Wall. Witt received the 2015 and 2016 Jeff Awards for Best Director for Men Should Weep and London Wall and was nominated in 2014 for Flare Path. Her productions have been cited as "Best of the Year" by the Chicago Tribune, TimeOut Chicago, and Chicago Reader. She has worked at a variety of Chicago area theatres including The Goodman, A Red Orchid, and Steppenwolf. Robin recently directed Juliet: A Dialogue About Love for sacred playground theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts (BFA) and Northwestern University (MFA). Robin is an Assistant Professor at UNC Charlotte.

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 41 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 17th 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.

Linda Wilde is a titan - an award-winning executive at Swan Beauty Corporation with another brilliant new ad campaign up her sleeve. In the wake of her success, Linda's husband, daughters, and a new generation of emerging leaders are following their dreams, but her immaculately curated work-life balance hasn't prepared her for the battle for visibility in a world focused on everlasting youth. Olivier Award nominee Penelope Skinner's Linda is a searingly funny portrait of a woman on the front lines of the fight for relevance.

Steep Ensemble Member and Jeff Award winner Robin Witt returns to Steep this summer to direct the Midwest premiere of Penelope Skinner's Linda. Skinner, whose work has recently earned acclaim on large stages in both New York and London, has been described as Britain's "leading young feminist writer." Linda premiered at The Royal Court Theatre in London and 2015 and made its U.S. premiere at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2017, for which it was nominated for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play by the Outer Critics Circle Awards. Director Robin Witt has consistently produced some of Steep's most notable shows, including last year's runaway hit Lela & Co., which recently received Jeff Awards for Best Production of a Play, Best Director, and Best Performer in a Principal Role.

Linda will feature Destini Huston, Caroline Phillips, Omer Abbas Salem, Rochelle Therrien, and Steep Ensemble Members Lucy Carapetyan, Peter Moore, Jim Poole, and Kendra Thulin in the title role. Linda will mark the Steep Theatre debuts for Destini Huston, Caroline Phillips, and Rochelle Therrien, while Omer Abbas Salem was last seen on Steep's stage in 2017's Earthquakes in London.

About the Playwright
Penelope Skinner's plays include The Ruins of Civilization (Manhattan Theatre Club; 2015); The Village Bike (Royal Court Upstairs; 2011); The Sound of Heavy Rain (Paines Plough/Crucible Theatre Sheffield); Greenland (co-writer, National; 2011); The Literary Ball (co-writer, International Rough Cut, Royal Court; 2010); Eigengrau (Bush Theatre; 2010); Midnight at the Hotel Beauregard (Paines Plough / Rose Bruford College; 2010); Fucked (Old Red Lion; 2008 / Assembly Rooms Edinburgh; 2009). Television credits include: Fresh Meat - episode 3 (Objective Productions / Channel 4; 2011). She was a member of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme and was subsequently invited to join their Supergroup in 2009. She was also part of the Paines Plough Future Perfect Scheme in 2009/10 and on attachment to the National Theatre in 2010. She was the recipient of the 2011 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright for The Village Bike.

About the Director
Steep Ensemble Member Robin Witt has been at the helm for many of Steep's most notable UK imports, including Cordelia Lynn's Lela & Co, Simon Stephens' Wastwater, Motortown, Pornography, and Harper Regan; Alistair McDowall's Brilliant Adventures, Dennis Kelly's Love and Money; Jez Butterworth's Parlour Song; and Laura Wade's Breathing Corpses. Her Harper Regan is still the best-selling show in Steep history and was named one of the Top Ten shows of 2010 by both the Chicago Tribune and TimeOut Chicago, and her Breathing Corpses was named one of TimeOut's Top Ten Shows of 2008. In addition to directing numerous productions at Steep, Robin is also an ensemble member of Griffin Theatre Company where she has directed Ferber and Kaufman's Stage Door, Terrence Rattigan's Flare Path, Ena Lamont Stewart's Men Should Weep, and John Van Druten's London Wall. Witt received the 2015 and 2016 Jeff Awards for Best Director for Men Should Weep and London Wall and was nominated in 2014 for Flare Path. Her productions have been cited as "Best of the Year" by the Chicago Tribune, TimeOut Chicago, and Chicago Reader. She has worked at a variety of Chicago area theatres including The Goodman, A Red Orchid, and Steppenwolf. Robin recently directed Juliet: A Dialogue About Love for sacred playground theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts (BFA) and Northwestern University (MFA). Robin is an Assistant Professor at UNC Charlotte.

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 41 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 17th 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.

Photo Credit: Claire Demos

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