Steep Closes 14th Season with U.S. Premiere of BRILLIANT ADVENTURES, Opening Tonight

Steep Company Member Robin Witt is back in the director's chair for the final show of Steep's 14th season, the U.S. premiere of Alistair McDowall's Brilliant Adventures. The production marks not only the U.S. premiere of the piece, but also the U.S. premiere for McDowall, who is quickly becoming one of the hottest playwrights in the UK.

Appropriately, his work is paired with one of Chicago's most sought after directors, Witt, who has received Jeff nominations for Best Director the past two years and has directed some of Steep's most notable hits, including 2013's sensational Motortown.

Brilliant Adventures opens tonight, July 9th at Steep's Edgewater theater, where the company has put together a string of hits, while bringing new work and new voices to Chicago.

According to Alistair McDowall "there are no rules in theatre -- you can do anything. Whatever rules there are, you can break them -- immediately if you want to." McDowall's debut play, Brilliant Adventures, which was awarded a Bruntwood Prize in 2011, pulls apart the laws of physics while telling a story of brotherly love. Brilliant Adventures packs all the gritty British drama you've come to expect at Steep into a wildly entertaining sci-fi thriller with more than a touch of dark comedy. Steep has made a name for itself with uncompromising productions of bold, new work, and McDowall's piece certainly continues in that tradition.

Director Robin Witt, who is a Steep Ensemble Member, has been at the helm for many of Steep's most successful UK imports, including Simon Stephens' Motortown, Pornography, and Harper Regan; 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. Ms. Witt received Best Director nominations for her 2013 Flare Path and 2014 Men Should Weep, both with Griffin Theatre.

Brilliant Adventures will feature Steep Company Member Peter Moore (The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle, Motortown, The Receptionist, Pornography) and guest artists Curtis Edward Jackson, Ty Olwin, Brandon Rivera, Ryan McBride, and Will Kinnear.

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, and the 2011 Jeff Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Steep was named the 2010 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award Winner.

Brilliant Adventures runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8pm from July 9th through August 15th. Sunday matinee performances are scheduled for July 19th and 26th and August 2nd and 9th at 3pm. Tickets range from $10 to $35. Reservations can be made by calling (866) 811-4111 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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