Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago 50th Season

Steppenwolf Theatre announced updates to its upcoming 50th Anniversary Season. Due to artistic scheduling conflicts, the previously announced production of Topdog/Underdog will now shift to a future season. In its place, Steppenwolf is pleased to present Conor McPherson's adaptation of August Strindberg's master class in marital warfare The Dance of Death. Directed by ensemble member Yasen Peyankov, the production marks ensemble member Kathryn Erbe's return to Steppenwolf after nearly three decades, joined by Steppenwolf co-founder and ensemble member Jeff Perry.

Steppenwolf also announced Tony Award-winning director Robert Falls will now helm its much-anticipated production of Amadeus, making his Steppenwolf directorial debut. Falls will step in for ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro, who is taking a leave from artistic projects for health reasons. This Oscar and Tony Award-winning masterpiece by Peter Shaffer will feature a powerhouse cast including ensemble members Ian Barford, Robert Breuler, K. Todd Freeman, Francis Guinan, Sally Murphy and Yasen Peyankov, along with the newly announced addition of Karen Rodriguez.

Steppenwolf Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis comment, "On behalf of Anna and the entire ensemble, we are moved and honored to finally welcome Robert Falls for his Steppenwolf directing debut. Bob, who has worked with upwards of 20 of our company members over the years, has a career that has shaped and transformed the trajectory of Chicago's theater community. It's fitting, then, that his first (and long overdue) production at Steppenwolf is Amadeus: a timeless look at artistic ambition and genius. We know that our production is in the inventive and reliable hands of one of the all-time greats."

Davis and Francis add, "When it became clear that scheduling challenges had rendered our production of Topdog/Underdog impossible for the coming season, we were disheartened. Luckily, Steppenwolf is built around an ensemble teeming with inspiration and overflowing with ideas. This production of The Dance of Death is the product of that endlessly passionate ensemble, and we were immediately awed and excited by Yasen's vision for this piece. What a pair of blessings: first, that Jeff Perry (one of our intrepid co-founders) will join the 50th Season; second, that we can simultaneously welcome ensemble member Kathryn Erbe back to Steppenwolf after nearly three decades. Shifting gears is always challenging, but having the collective passion of Steppenwolf's artists at our backs is a reminder of the power of ensemble."

Steppenwolf's 50th Anniversary Season features five Steppenwolf Membership Series productions: a world premiere, two Chicago premieres and two modern masterpieces - all emblematic of the five decades of bold, visceral and muscular work that has made the Chicago theater legendary. Ensemble members from across generations are coming back to their home on Halsted to celebrate the last fifty years and secure the launch of the next fifty. Steppenwolf also doubles down on its decades-long mission to immerse Chicago's youth in the arts through its lauded educational initiatives - and provide much-needed artistic space for the city's bustling community of multi-disciplinary artists, along with itinerant theatre companies.

Founded in the mid-1970s by Gary Sinise, Jeff Perry and Terry Kinney in the basement of a suburban church, the ensemble has expanded to 49 celebrated artists - among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the industry. Productions launched from the theatre - from The Grapes of Wrath and August: Osage County ­- to Pass Over and Purpose - have earned the company accolades including the National Medal of Arts, 14 Tony Awards and two Pulitzer Prize-winning commissions. More than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally and more than 130 world premieres have left an indelible mark on the American Theatre.

The 2025/26 Season is presented at Steppenwolf's expanded campus, which includes three theaters: the Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, the Downstairs Theater and the intimate 1700 Theater.

2025/26 Classic Memberships are now on sale starting as low as $160 and include all five Membership Series productions - three plays in the Downstairs Theater and two in the Ensemble Theater. Classic Members receive priority access to seats along with full membership benefits, including unlimited ticket exchanges. The Black Card, Steppenwolf's flex membership, offers six ticket credits starting as low as $128 that allow patrons flexibility for when and how they see shows at Steppenwolf. For patrons under 30, RED Card Memberships offer six ticket credits for just $107. Discounted packages for students and teachers and accessible packages are also available.

STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY'S FULL 50TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

Mr. Wolf
September 11 - November 2, 2025
Fourteen years ago, the infant Theresa was stolen from her parents. Now, the precocious 15-year-old has been rescued, and quickly returned to a family that had nearly forsaken hope - a family she neither recognizes nor understands. In ensemble member Rajiv Joseph's unflinching play, a miraculous reunion sets the stage for provocative conversations: what makes a house a home? What nightmares are we willing to face for the sake of our children? And ultimately, what part do we play in the grand saga of human existence?

Amadeus
November 6, 2025 - January 4, 2026
Vienna: a cacophony of music and intrigue. The emperor's composer, Antonio Salieri, holds court until the flamboyant entrance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: prodigy and wild child. The two artists begin a vicious and thrilling duet, a rivalry that will define their lives and legacies for years to come. Winner of 5 Tonys and 8 Academy Awards, Amadeus is the ultimate ode to ambition and musical genius, a brilliant requiem for a villain in history - but a hero in his own story. Vi saluto!

The Dance of Death
January 29 - March 22, 2026
In the high stone tower of an isolated naval fortress, Alice and Edgar approach their 25th wedding anniversary, haunted by shadows of resentment and bitterness. When Alice's cousin Kurt comes to visit, the delicate balance of their dreary cohabitation falls off its axis, cracks growing into canyons. In Conor McPherson's riff on August Strindberg's master class in marital warfare, a timeless love triangle waltzes to the surreal rhythm of madness, plunging us all into the deep.

Windfall
April 9 - May 31, 2026
This is a story about money. Don't let them fool you otherwise. When Mac loses his child in a clash with the local police, he is visited by three strangers who advise him to take the city's cash settlement, relocate and forget his grief - or else stay and remain impoverished surrounded by memories of the world his child fought so hard to protect. This world premiere from Academy Award-winning ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney explores how grief, justice, sexuality, gender, history and even pride become secondary concerns in the wake of currency.

Catch as Catch Can
June 4 - July 12, 2026
When a prodigal son returns to blue collar New England, his homecoming sets off a spiraling crisis for two families, threatening not only their relationships but their very identities. In Mia Chung's wildly inventive Catch as Catch Can, three actors take on six roles, bridging generation and gender, in a theatrical tour-de-force that upends the kitchen sink drama and asks what happens when we refuse to play the roles we're prescribed. Spanning hilarity, stunning virtuosity and outright horror, this ferocious Chicago premiere - featuring an all-ensemble cast - must be witnessed to be believed.