Steppenwolf for Young Adults to Premiere Philip Dawkins's THE BURN Before Storycatchers Tour

Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA) is proud to produce the world premiere of The Burn, written by Chicago playwright Philip Dawkins and directed by Devon de Mayo. SYA presents this new play as part of their season which asks, "When does a lie become the truth?"

Public performances for The Burn are Saturday, February 17 at 3pm and 7:30pm; Friday, February 23 at 7:30pm; Saturday, February 24 at 3pm and 7:30pm; Friday, March 2 at 7:30pm; and Saturday, March 3 at 3pm and 7:30pm in the Upstairs Theatre. The press performance is Saturday, February 17 at 3pm. Weekday performances are reserved for school groups only. Tickets to public performances ($20; $15 with student I.D.) are currently on sale through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

Mercedes is an outsider. Tara makes sure she knows it. When a high school production of The Crucible forces them together, tensions escalate into acts of bullying-both online and IRL. This world premiere play explores what happens to a teacher and his students when a classroom conflict turns into an online witch-hunt.

Philip Dawkins is a Chicago playwright and educator. His plays include The Happiest Place on Earth (Side Show Theatre/Greenhouse Theater Center); Le Switch (About Face Theatre, The Jungle), Charm (Northlight Theatre), Miss Marx: Or The Involuntary Side Effect of Living (Strawdog Theatre), The Homosexuals (About Face Theater), and the musical adaptation of Dr.Seuss's The Sneetches with composer David Mallamud (Children's Theater Company, Minneapolis). His play Charm, received its NY premiere at MCC this fall, 2017. He teaches playwriting at Northwest University, Loyola University Chicago and through the Victory Gardens ACCESS Program.

Following its four-week run at Steppenwolf and working in collaboration with Storycatchers Theatre, Steppenwolf for Young Adults will tour its production of The Burn for a week to three Juvenile Justice Facilities in Illinois. Storycatchers Theatre, winner of the 2013 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, guides young people to transform their traumatic experiences into powerful musical theatre, developing the courage and vision to become leaders and mentors. By creating support for youth within the criminal justice system, Storycatchers prepares them to change their lives and emerge successfully from court involvement.

Building on the success of last year's collaboration with Storycatchers, during which Steppenwolf for Young Adults brought its production of Monster to three Juvenile Justice Facilities in Illinois, this tour will provide detained and incarcerated youth a chance to see the production and share their stories with professional artists involved with the play.

Playwright Philip Dawkins shares, "Working with Steppenwolf for young audiences in partnership with Storycatchers is a true privilege for me. I've been a fan of both groups for quite some time, and I'm so lucky to be working with such excellent, quality-minded leaders in putting young people's stories on stage."

The cast features Birgundi Baker (Tara), Nina Ganet (Andi), Phoebe Gonzalez (Mercedes), Erik Hellman (Erik) and Dyllan Rodrigues-Miller (Shauna).

The Burn production team includes Courtney O'Neill (scenic design), Melissa Ng (costume design), Heather Sparling (lighting design), Sarah Ramos (sound design) and Rasean Davonte Johnson (projection design). Other credits include Hallie Gordon (artistic producer), JC Clementz (casting director) and Brian Maschka (stage manager). Hallie Gordon is the Artistic Director of Steppenwolf for Young Adults.

Steppenwolf is located at 1650 N Halsted St near all forms of public transportation and is wheelchair accessible. The parking facility consists of both a covered garage ($11 cash or card) and an open-air lot, located just south of our theater at 1624 N Halsted. Valet parking service ($14 cash) is available directly in front of the main entrance at 1650 N Halsted St starting at 5pm on weeknights, 1pm on weekends and at 12 noon before Wednesday matinees. Street and lot parking are also available. For last minute questions and concerns, patrons can call the Steppenwolf Parking Hotline at 312.335.1774.

Committed to making the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language interpretation, open captioning and audio description are offered during the run of each play. Assistive listening devices and large-print programs are available for every performance. With the expertise of Assistive Hearing Systems Ltd., Steppenwolf installed an induction loop on both the main and balcony levels of our Downstairs Theatre in 2015. There is also an induction loop installed in the 1700 Theatre.

Connected to the main lobby is Steppenwolf's own Front Bar: Coffee and Drinks offers a warm, creative space to grab a drink, have a bite, or meet up with friends and collaborators, day or night. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 8am to midnight, Front Bar serves artisanal coffee and espresso is provided by La Colombe and has a new menu for this spring and summer with food prepared by Goddess and Grocer. The menu focuses on fresh, accessible fare, featuring grab-and-go salads and sandwiches for lunch and adding shareable small plates and desserts for evening and post show service. Go to www.front-bar.com for more.

Steppenwolf Education's unique approach combines play production with educational components to enhance arts education for young audiences, as well as their teachers and families. Every season Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA) creates two full-scale professional productions specifically for teens. Working closely with the Chicago Public and metropolitan area schools and other community partners, Steppenwolf's Education department annually ensures access to the theater for more than 15,000 participants from Chicago's diverse communities. The initiative also includes post-show discussions with artists; classroom residencies led by Steppenwolf-trained teaching artists in almost 100 classrooms in public high schools; professional development workshops for educators; and the Young Adult Council, an innovative year-round after-school initiative that uniquely engages high school students in all areas of the theater's operations, as well as other teen and community based programs.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier ensemble theater. Formed by a collective of actors in 1976, the ensemble has grown to 49 members who represent a remarkable cross-section of actors, directors and playwrights. Thrilling and powerful productions from Balm in Gilead to August: Osage County-and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony Awards-have made the theater legendary. Steppenwolf produces hundreds of performances and events annually in its three spaces: the 515-seat Downstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat 1700 Theatre. Artistic programing includes a seven-play season; a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; Visiting Company engagements; and LookOut, a multi-genre performances series. Education initiatives include the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf for Young Adults, which engages 15,000 participants annually from Chicago's diverse communities; the esteemed School at Steppenwolf; and Professional Leadership Programs for arts administration training. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Anna D. Shapiro is the Artistic Director and David Schmitz is the Executive Director. Eric Lefkofsky is Chair of Steppenwolf's Board of Trustees. For additional information, visit steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

To post a comment, you must register and login.