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THE KNOWLEDGE HAS BEEN EXTENDED!
We've got more Knowledge up untile June 23rd.
That's right. Steep's sold-out hit is sold-out no more.
Critics and audiences are praising Steep's latest!
The Knowledge is booking up fast! Don't miss out! Buy your tickets today for Steep's latest hit.
Read what the critics are saying:
"...an intensely compassionate play: real, raw and true."
- Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
read the review >
"the Steep ensemble acts the bloody stuffings out of this show."
- Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
read the review >
"fine performances in Jonathan Berry's smartly staged production, particularly and unsurprisingly Neff's, make The Knowledge
worth picking up."
- Kris Vire, Timeout Chicago
read the review >
"Unerring authenticity and can't blink intensity...For a theater company with such an esteemed history of scorching, exquisitely-acted productions and sold-out runs, this one belongs at the top of the list."
- Tom Lawler, The Fourth Walsh
read the review >
Jeff Recommended!
THE KNOWLEDGE
WITH ENSEMBLE MEMBERS
Caroline Neff†, Jim Poole and Michael Salinas
AND Carolyn Braver, Jerry MacKinnon, Jr., Clancy McCartney and Sarai Rodriguez
PRODUCTION MANAGER Julia Siple* STAGE MANAGER Ellen Willett PROP DESIGN Jamie Karas COSTUME DESIGN Sally Dolembo SET DESIGN Dan Stratton LIGHTING DESIGN Pete Dully* SOUND DESIGN Matthew Chapman DIALECT COACH Kendra Thulin* FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHER Joey deBettencourt ASST. DIRECTOR J. Cody Spellman TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Julie Allen
*denotes ensemble member
**denotes Steep artistic associate
† member of Actor's Equity
Director Jonathan Berry will team up with actor Caroline Neff in Steep Theatre's upcoming U.S.
Premiere of John Donnelly's The Knowledge. The two long-time Steep associates quickly have become two of Chicago
theater's brightest stars. Mr. Berry, 2012 Jeff Award winner for Best Director, and Ms. Neff, 2011 Jeff Award winner for Best
Actress in a Featured Role, have been delighting audiences at Steep for the better part of the last decade; however, The
Knowledge will mark the first time that the two have collaborated on a Steep production. The Knowledge opens on Thursday,
April 18th, at Steep Theatre.
The Knowledge premiered in 2011 at London's Bush Theatre as part of their "School Series": a pairing of plays examining
the current state of education in Britain. Playwright John Donnelly worked as a teacher in various schools across England
and, in The Knowledge, offers a disturbing, blisteringly funny account of a young teacher going off the rails in a failing
school system. Mr. Donnelly is a past winner of the Tom Erhardt Award, the PMA Award for Best New Writer, and the
NSDF Sunday Times Playwriting Award. His other plays include Little Russians (Tricycle Theatre/ First Blast: Proliferation
Season), Encourage the Others (Almeida Projects), Songs of Grace and Redemption (Liminal Theatre/Theatre 503),
Showtime (LAMDA), Conversation #1 (The Factory/V&A/Latitude Festival) and Bone (Royal Court Theatre).
Director Jonathan Berry is a Steep Artistic Associate whose past collaborations with the company have produced some of the
more memorable shows in recent Chicago theater history. In 2011, their Midwest Premiere of Festen received rave reviews
from critics across the board and was sold out for the entirety of its 10-week extended run. Festen was given the Chicago
Tribune's highest rating of Four Stars and was named one of the top shows of 2011 by Timeout Chicago, the Chicago Sun
Times, theatreinchicago.com, and Chicago Theatre Beat. Steep and Berry followed in 2012 with yet another Four Star,
extended hit -- Moment. Moment ran for 9 sold-out weeks at Steep before transferring to Theater Wit for an added six-week run in front of near capacity crowds.
Berry's other Steep credits include the Midwest Premiere of Howard Korder's The Hollow Lands and Bertolt Brecht's The
Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, which was named one of the top shows of 2007 by Timeout Chicago and the Sun Times and was named one of the top ten shows of the decade by Kelly Kleiman of WBEZ. Mr. Berry is also a Griffin Company artistic
associate where he has directed the North American premieres of Simon Stephens' Punk Rock, Port, and On the Shore of the Wide World, among many other productions. He was nominated for two 2012 Jeff Awards for Best Director for his work on
Griffin's Punk Rock and Spring Awakening, winning the award for Punk Rock.
Steep Ensemble Member Caroline Neff won the 2011 Jeff Award for Best Actress in a Featured Role for her work in Steep's
A Brief History of Helen of Troy. She followed that up in 2012 with another Jeff nomination for her work in Steep's Under the Blue Sky. The Knowledge will mark Ms. Neff's first time back at Steep since Under the Blue Sky. In that time, she has worked extensively throughout the city, perhaps most notably as Irina in Steppenwolf's production of Three Sisters, adapted by Tracy Letts and directed by Anna Shapiro. The last time Caroline Neff and Jonathan Berry worked together, on Griffin Theatre's 2011 production of Simon Stephens' Port, Ms. Neff received a Jeff Nomination for Best Actress in a Featured Role. She ultimately lost -- to herself, for A Brief History of Helen of Troy.
The Knowledge | April 18th through June 23rd, 2013
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm
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