Steppenwolf Theater Company

The Steppenwolf ensemble first began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park, IL church, the ambitious brainchild of three high school and college friends: Jeff Perry, Terry Kinney and Gary Sinise. Fast forward 40 years and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company has become the nation’s premier ensemble theatre—redefining the landscape of acting and performance. The ensemble has grown to 49 members who represent a remarkable generation of actors, directors and playwrights. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions from Balm in Gilead and Grapes of Wrath to August: Osage County—and accolades that included the National Medal of Arts and twelve Tony® Awards—have made the theatre legendary. Steppenwolf’s artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its sharp appetite for groundbreaking, innovative work. Steppenwolf operates as a not-for-profit organization relying on community support to produce or present up to 16 plays and nearly 700 performances, readings and other events every year on our three stages. The theatre’s artistic and educational programs draw a multi-generational audience of nearly 200,000 from the greater metropolitan Chicago area, while our impact reaches well beyond this region with productions that tour nationally and internationally.