In terms of sheer plaudits and cultural capital, Steppenwolf would have a claim. Their landmark productions of uber-Americana epics like Grapes of Wrath and August: Osage County toured the world and put two new “classics” into the repertory. Not to mention their history showcasing definitive productions of the work of Sam Shepard. Still… there’s a reason we don’t hear about most of the average Steppenwolf season: it’s often made up of humdrum regional theatre fare and successful English plays. They’ve expanded their spaces recently so stay tuned.
Might I suggest that Bob Falls’ Goodman Theatre—Steppenwolf’s downtown rival—may be coming closer than any other US company to the National model: i.e., a big building led by an adventurous, seasoned director producing at a professionally high level to frequent wide acclaim?
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Where’s Our National Theatre? Don’t Look to NYC—The Playgoer
No.
I saw Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Steppenwolf and that singlehandedly makes a good argument for it being America’s National Theatre because it was THE GREATEST PRODUCTION OF OUR TIME. I also saw Middletown at Steppenwolf one day and then Chinglish the next day. Chinglish, which was overrated, was a very well-acted and written play, but it lacked the emotion and depth of Middletown, which I ended up seeing twice. I’ve only ever seen one thing at Goodman I really enjoyed and that was Animal Crackers. Goodman does safe shows with massive Bob Falls concepts and plays that have been running in St. Louis for a while, and touts them like the show is the biggest thing to happen in Midwestern theater. Steppenwolf did an epic three-and-a-half hour long play about family drama, a play that resulted in the Tribune theater critic accusing Steppenwolf and Bruce Norris, the playwright, of child abuse, and Middletown, a two-hour long modern absurdist play. Steppenwolf takes chances, Goodman doesn’t.
