Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation’s premier ensemble theater company, is pleased continue its 48th season with the Chicago premiere of Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play, a biting comedy about everything right, wrong and woke in America, directed by Jess McLeod. The Thanksgiving Play will play April 25 – June 2, 2024 in Steppenwolf’s stunning in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, 1646 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Single tickets for starting at $20 are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. The press opening is Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 6 pm.
The Thanksgiving Play will feature ensemble members Audrey Francis (POTUS – Director, The Doppelgänger) and Tim Hopper (Downstate, Chicago, Off-Broadway & London) with Paloma Nozicka (Steppenwolf debut) and Nate Santana (Ironbound).
The cast of Steppenwolf Theatre’s Chicago premiere of The Thanksgiving Play includes (top, l to r) ensemble members Audrey Francis and Tim Hopper with (bottom, l to r) Paloma Nozicka and Nate Santana.
Four (very) well-intentioned theatre people walk into an elementary school. The work at hand: a Thanksgiving pageant that won’t ruffle any feathers. What could possibly go wrong? In MacArthur Genius Larissa Fasthorse’s skewering and satirical comedy, well, just about everything. Rambunctious, thorny and not altogether politically correct, The Thanksgiving Play serves up the hypocrisies of woke America on a big, family-style platter. Come get ya some.
The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (Scenic Design), Raquel Adorno (Costume Design), Keith Parham (Lighting Design), Tosin Olufolabi (Sound Design), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Elise Hausken (Production Manager), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Christine D. Freeburg (Production Stage Manager) and Kathleen Barrett (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.
Production Details:
Title: The Thanksgiving Play
Playwright: Larissa FastHorse
Director: Jess McLeod
Cast (in alphabetical order): Audrey Francis (Logan) and Tim Hopper (Caden), Paloma Nozicka (Alicia) and Nate Santana (Jaxton).
Location: Steppenwolf’s Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, 1646 N. Halsted St., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Thursday, April 25 – Saturday, May 4, 2024
Press performance/Opening: Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 6 pm
Regular run: Tuesday, May 7 – Sunday, June 2, 2024
Curtain Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays and Friday at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Tuesday, April 30; there will be an added 2 pm matinee performance on Wednesday, May 8 (there will not be at 7:30 pm performance); there will be no performances on Saturday, May 11 (Steppenwolf Gala); there will not be a performance on Tuesday, May 28.
Tickets: Single tickets for The Thanksgiving Play ($20 - $86) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are also currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30.
Accessible Performance Dates:
Audio-described and touch tour: Sunday, May 26 at 3 pm (1:30 pm touch tour, 3 pm curtain)
Open-captioned: Thursday, May 16 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, June 1 at 3 pm
ASL-interpreted: Friday, May 24 at 7:30 pm
Artist Biographies:
Larissa FastHorse (Playwright, Sicangu Lakota Nation) is an award-winning writer and 2020-2025 MacArthur Fellow. Her 2023 productions are The Thanksgiving Play (Second Stage at the Helen Hayes), Wicoun (Cornerstone Theater Company), Democracy Project (Federal Hall), Fake It Until You Make It (CTG Mark Taper Forum), For the People (Guthrie) and the national tour of Peter Pan (Networks). Selected past productions include What Would Crazy Horse Do? (KCRep), Landless and Cow Pie Bingo (AlterTheater), Average Family (Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis), Urban Rez and Native Nation (Cornerstone Theater Company), as well as numerous productions of The Thanksgiving Play, making it one of the most produced plays in America. HoganHorsestudio.com
Jess McLeod (Director) is a director and social justice advocate specializing in risky new work about America. Steppenwolf: Venus. Chicago: Resident Director, Hamilton; Wolf Play, Hang Man (The Gift); Earth To Kenzie (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Do You Feel Anger?, Fulfillment Center (A Red Orchid); Landladies (Northlight); How We Got On (Haven), Short Shakes! Midsummer (CST), Marry Me A Little (Porchlight). Regional: Radical (IAMA); There’s Always The Hudson (Woolly Mammoth); Pride And Prejudice (Long Wharf), The Great Khan (San Diego Rep); Hype Man (Actors Theatre of Louisville). Jess has developed new plays and musicals at Roundabout, the Atlantic Theatre Company, the O’Neill, Williamstown and Berkeley Rep Ground Floor. She is an NYCLU/Creatives Rebuild Artist-In-Residence; Woolly Mammoth’s BOLD Resident Director; and Co-Chair, with Michael Korie, of the Dramatists Guild Foundation Musical Theatre Fellows Program. www.jess-mcleod.com
Audrey Francis (Logan) serves as Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre, alongside Glenn Davis, where she has been an Ensemble member since 2017. She is an actor, director, educator and coach. Most recently, Audrey directed POTUS in Steppenwolf's 2023/24 season. Steppenwolf performing credits include The Herd, Between Riverside and Crazy, The Fundamentals, The Doppelgänger (an international farce) and Dance Nation. TV credits include Justified: City Primeval, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Empire. Film credits include Perpetrator, Knives and Skin, Later Days and Distant Learners. She has taught acting in New York, LA, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne, as well as at The University of Chicago and The Theatre School at DePaul. Audrey is a professional acting coach for Showtime, NBC, Fox and Amazon, and is the co-founder of Black Box Acting.
Tim Hopper (Caden) is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble. Recent roles at Steppenwolf include Andy in Downstate, which traveled to the National Theatre in London, and to Playwrights Horizons in New York. He also appeared at the Goodman Theatre in the title role of Uncle Vanya. Television appearances include Chicago Fire, the Amazon series Utopia, Fargo, The Americans, The Exorcist, Empire and Chicago Med. Film appearances include Perpetrator; Knives and Skin, School of Rock and To Die For, among others. Recipient of the 2018 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship. Broadway: Present Laughter. Off-Broadway: New York Theatre Workshop, Theatre for a New Audience, Vineyard Theatre and the Atlantic Theater. Regionally, at Long Wharf; Williamstown and La Jolla Playhouse. Internationally, the Edinburgh Festival and Antwerp's De Singel Theatre.
Paloma Nozicka (Alicia) makes her Steppenwolf Theatre Company debut. Chicago (selected): Teddy Ferrara (Goodman Theatre); Native Gardens (Victory Gardens Theatre); Bobby Clearly (Steep Theatre); The Harvest (Griffin Theatre); In the Canyon, The Light Fantastic, Exit Strategy, Long Way Go Down (Jackalope Theatre Company). Regional: Citizen Detective (Geffen Playhouse); Boeing Boeing (TheatreSquared). Television: Chicago Med, Proven Innocent, Chicago PD, The Red Line, Empire. Nozicka was a 2023 Jeff Awards nominee for “Best New Work” for her play Enough to Let the Light In. She is a member of Jackalope Theatre Company, and a playwright with the 2023/24 Geffen Playhouse Writer's Room. “For Kuma, who taught me to love every second.” palomanozicka.com @palomiiiiiiita
Nate Santana (Jaxton) Steppenwolf: Ironbound. Chicago: Golden Boy, Balm in Gilead (Griffin Theatre); The Abuelas, White Tie Ball (Teatro Vista); Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, The Legend of Georgia McBride (Northlight Theatre); Regional: Frankenstein, Sense and Sensibility (Indiana Repertory Theatre); References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (The Phoenix Theatre). Television: Chicago P.D., Suits, The Exorcist and Chicago Med.
Accessibility
As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production (see dates above). Assistive listening devices and large-print programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/plan-your-visit/accessibility or e-mail access@steppenwolf.org.
Sponsor Information
The Thanksgiving Play is supported in part by Conagra Brands Foundation. United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from Allstate Insurance Company, Northern Trust, Amazon, ArentFox Schiff, Kirkland & Ellis, PNC, and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater that is home to America’s ensemble. The company began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park, IL church—today Steppenwolf is the nation’s premier ensemble theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Deeply rooted in its ensemble ethos, the company is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and making the Steppenwolf experience accessible to all. Groundbreaking productions from Balm in Gilead and August: Osage County to Downstate and Pass Over—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony® Awards—have made the theatre legendary. Artistic programming includes a membership series; a Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; and LookOut, a multi-genre performance series. The nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education engages more than 20,000 participants annually in Chicagoland communities promoting compassion, encouraging curiosity and inspiring action. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. 2021 marked the opening of Steppenwolf’s landmark Lefkofsky Arts & Education Center—deepening the company’s commitment to Chicagoland teens and serving as a cultural nexus for Chicago. Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis are the Artistic Directors and E. Brooke Flanagan is Executive Director. Keating Crown is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees.
Steppenwolf’s Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.