LOOKOUT FOR STEPPENWOLF’S NEW SERIES
LookOut, Steppenwolf Theatre’s performance series that presents the work of artists and companies across genre and form, presents the Winter 2023 season, showcasing the work of Chicago’s exciting experimental devisers, choreographers, performers and more.
All LookOut performances take place in Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theater, an intimate and flexible venue nestled behind Front Bar, 1700 N. Halsted St. Tickets, which range in price from $12 – $40, are now on sale by visiting steppenwolf.org/lookout or by calling the Box Office at (312) 335-1650.
The full Lookout 2023 Winter season (in chronological order):
Beyond This Point Presents
Dreams, and why not?
Dates: Friday, November 4 & Saturday, November 5 at 8:00 pm
Ticket Price: $12
Description: Equal parts earnest and nihilist, Dreams, and why not? is a percussion-based piece that consciously and continuously breaks the border between reality and fiction, between facts and fabrications, both musical and performative.
ALL WE CAN SEE FROM HERE. Photo by Justin Lynk.
All We Can See from Here
By Ginger Krebs
In collaboration with Kennedy Alexandria, Lauren Kunath and Andy Slavin
Dates: Thursday, November 10; Friday, November 11 & Saturday, November 12 at 8:00 pm
Ticket Price: $20 general, $12 student
Description: All We Can See from Here proposes a ritual of interdependence. Four dancers will build a succession of symmetrical, interlocking shelters with their bodies. When synchrony falters, the team ceremonially recalibrates.
BEFORE WINTER. Photo by Jasper Kunst.
Before Winter
By Tony Kunst
Dates: Friday, November 18 & Saturday, November 19 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, November 20, 3:00 pm
Ticket Price: $15
Description: Before Winter is a solo performance based on multiple instances of Black Trans Women who have been discovered in lakes and rivers across the U.S. Merging text, sound and movement, Before Winter creates a haunting piece of theater that tackles ongoing issues concerning violence against Black Trans Women.
SURFACE TENSION. Photo by Ashley Smith/Wide Eyed Studios.
Surface Tension
By Company To X For
Dates: Thursday, December 10 & Friday, December 9 at 8:00 pm
Ticket Price: $25
Description: Surface Tension takes a beautiful and daring look at a queer friendship. At points ecstatic, dark, searching and joyful, this intimate circus show celebrates vulnerable connection through sincere juggling.
LINCOLN IN NEW SALEM
An Experimental Opera by Corey Smith
Dates: Thursday, January 5; Friday, January 6 & Saturday, January 7 at 8:00 pm
Ticket Price: $20
Description: LINCOLN IN NEW SALEM is a new experimental opera from performance artist Corey Smith that looks at Abraham Lincoln’s twenties through a kaleidoscope – a whirlwind of music, dance and myth-making for our most mythologized president.
TRAP DOOR
By Nereida Patricia, Lileana Moore and Ashanti Iamoa
Dates: Thursday, January 12; Friday, January 13 and Saturday, January 14 at 8:00 pm
Ticket Price: $20 general, $15 for BIPOC/NB individuals using PROMO: BICPOCNB
Description: TRAP DOOR uses narrative device, sound and movement to explore Trans politics of visibility and abstraction.
Trust Coming Home
By Jasmin Taylor
Dates: Friday, January 20 & Saturday, January 21 at 8:00 pm; Sunday, January 22 at 3:00 pm
Ticket Price: $40
Description: Hosted by Jasmin Taylor, Trust Coming Home is an evening of movement, sound and connection with various Chicago based artists and trainees of the Joffrey Contemporary Ballet Program. Inspired by Taylor’s return to – and safety within – her body, this evening hopes to inspire others to return to – and safely reside within – their own bodies.
DOGS OR CATS; AUGMENTED BODY. Photo by Kerberus Production.
Dogs or Cats; Augmented Body
By Jaerin So
Dates: Thursday, January 26; Friday, January 27 & Saturday, January 28 at 8:00 pm
Ticket Price: $25
Description: Dogs or Cats; Augmented Body is an interdisciplinary experimental puppetry show that combines bunraku-marionette puppetry and shadow puppetry. Based on Jaerin Son’s immigration experience, DC;AB tells the story of a female robot and her human physical therapist’s burgeoning friendship.
Additionally, the LookOut Series offers its new curatorial residency program, which offers an opportunity for up-and-coming Chicago practitioners to curate a series of performances over a two-week span. During this time residents are encouraged to approach these performances as a unit, placing them in conversation with one another. For the launch of this program, curators Kara Brody & Amanda Maraist chose to spotlight three movement makers in a series titled: work around. The series offers Chicago-based dance artists Cat Mahari, Tuli Bera and Drew Lewis time and resources towards the development of their work. Each of these artists will perform an iteration of their in-progress work for a two-weekend showcase in February.
work around
Curated by Kara Brody and Amanda Maraist
Built from a need for more support towards creative processes, work around aims to redirect the desire for finished products by allocating resources towards developmental stages of artists’ work. This two-week series amplifies the process of three exceptional Chicago-based dance artists – Cat Mahari, Tuli Bera and Drew Lewis. With 40+ hours of rehearsal space, each artist will dream up an iteration of their in-progress work for a two-weekend showcase.
Blk Ark: the impossible manifestation (work in progress)
By Cat Mahari
Part of work around
Dates: Saturday, February 4 at 8:00 pm; Sunday, February 5 at 3:00 pm
Ticket Price: $25
Description: Blk Ark: the Impossible Manifestation (work in progress) asks: “What will it take to get free?” and “Can we see a new world from here?” In embodiment of Hip Hop’s Wildstyle, Mahari uses movement to escape from bondage and create an alternative world.
Bangali Meye
By Tuli Ber
Part of work around
Dates: Thursday, February 9 & Friday, February 10 at 8:00 pm
Ticket Price: Pay-what-you-can, $20, $15, $10 and $5
Description: Incorporating traditional and contemporary dance, film, fashion and ritual, Bangali Meye sheds new light on living in the United States of America in this performance that is equal parts intimate and epic.
Heavy Objects
By Drew Lewis
Part of work around
Dates: Saturday, February 11 at 8:00 pm; Sunday. February 12 at 7:00 pm
Ticket Price: $30
Description: Heavy Objects (and light movements) is a reflection of the life and work of artist and activist David Wojnarowicz (1954-1992), and also a self-portrait that studies duration, accumulated fatigue, and entering and exiting periods of darkness.
