Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Tony Award-winning Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Gary Sinise,
Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry in the basement of a
church in Highland Park, Illinois. Its name comes from the Herman Hesse novel.
In 1980, the theater company moved into a 134-seat theater at the Jane Addams Hull House
Center on Broadway Avenue in the city proper. Two years later, the company moved to a 211-seat facility at 2851 N. Halsted
Street, which was their home until 1991, when they completed construction on and moved into their current theater complex at 1650
N. Halsted Street. With its current subscription base of more than 20,000, the company has helped make Chicago a leading city in
the performing arts.
In its inaugural season, the company presented Paul Zindel's And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Grease, Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, and Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.
In 1982, Sam Shepard's True West,
starring Sinise and John Malkovich, was the first of many Steppenwolf productions to
travel to New York City. In 1994, the company made its Los Angeles debut with Steve Martin's first play,
Picasso at the Lapin Agile.
Through its New Plays Initiative, the company maintains ongoing relationships with writers of international prominence and
supports the work of aspiring and mid-career playwrights. In 1988, Steppenwolf presented the
world premiere of The Grapes of Wrath, based on the John Steinbeck novel, which eventually went on to win the Tony Award
for Best Play. In 2000 it presented the world premiere of Austin Pendleton's
Orson's Shadow, which subsequently was staged off-Broadway and by regional theatres throughout the country.
Steppewolf operates several internship programs for students or young professionals.
Steppenwolf productions helped to launch the careers of a number of well-known American actors, including Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, Joan
Allen, John Mahoney, Martha Plimpton,
Francis Guinan, Glenne Headly, Gary Cole, Kathryn Erbe, and Laurie
Metcalf.
Among its many honors are a 1985 Tony Award for Regional Theatre Excellence and a 1998 National Medal of Arts. The company
currently is in its 31st season.
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