Tickets for Steppenwolf for Young Adults' THE COMPASS on Sale 10/20

Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA) concludes its 2015/16 season with the world premiere of The Compass, a groundbreaking, live interactive performance that explores the intersection of technology and decision-making. Devised and directed by Michael Rohd, The Compass runs February 24 through March 12, 2016 in the in the Downstairs Theatre; the press performance is Saturday, February 27 at 3pm. Tickets to public performances ($20, $15 with student I.D.) go on sale tomorrow, Tuesday, October 20 at 11am through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted) at 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

At the center of The Compass is a trial, determining the fate of a young person who used an app to make a life-altering decision. When you join us as audience members for the show, you become the Jury. In this play, every show will end differently, depending on what you, the Jury, decide. Join us as we navigate the question: When someone else, or something else, tells you what to do, what exactly are you responsible for?

Over the past two seasons, SYA has hosted a series of free events, titled Project Compass, aimed at engaging multigenerational theater audiences to dialogue about what goes into making a decision and how we are each guided by our own moral compass. The feedback from these events has played a major role in the structure and content of The Compass.

"For more than a year we've been interviewing experts, conducting cross-generational workshops, inviting other artists to respond to the theme with their own short works-all of this research has pushed and pulled at our core concept in key ways. The show has been truly impacted by these interactions and encounters, which I find exciting," shares Michael Rohd.

The design team includes Courtney O'Neill (scenic design), Carolyn Rose Sullivan (costume design), JR Lederle (lighting design), Rick Sims (sound design), Joseph A. Burke (projections) and David Masnato (content creator). Cassie Calderone is the Stage Manager. Casting will be announced at a later date.

Michael Rohd is founding artistic director of Sojourn Theatre, a 15-year-old ensemble-based company. He is on faculty at Northwestern University and author of the widely translated book Theatre for Community, Conflict, and Dialogue. His work with Sojourn, other theaters, arts councils, municipal/regional government bodies and in non-arts sector settings around the nation focuses on social practice, civic practice and capacity-building projects through collaboratively designed arts-based event, engagement and participation strategies. He leads the Center for Performance and Civic Practice, where current projects include Chicago's Civic Practice Lab and The Catalyst Initiative, a national program supported by The Andrew Mellon Foundation. He is currently the Doris Duke artist-in-residence at Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company.