Mia Chung’s endlessly fascinating play Catch as Catch Can begins with a homecoming: Tim Phelan has returned to his family in Rhode Island, perhaps for good. 

Homecoming is a potent force, dramatically and socially. And it’s a fitting impetus for this production, which is its own reunion of sorts. Steppenwolf first planned to produce this play in the summer of 2020; now, six years and a series of minor miracles later, we’ve reassembled members of that original team (actors, director, designers) to finally deliver what we esteem to be one of the greatest feats of American playwriting of the last decade. 

There’s another homecoming to celebrate here: the brilliant Gary Cole returns to the Steppenwolf stage for the first time in 25 years, alongside his fellow ensemble members Audrey Francis and Tim Hopper. Mia’s play poses singular challenges for the actor (just you wait) and we’re lucky to have this team of brave and virtuosic artists tackling the challenge together. 

So why can’t we let this play go? Catch as Catch Can, like a friendly parasite, has lodged itself in our minds, our bones, our biology. Gary, Tim, Audrey and our intrepid director Amy Morton—none of them has been able to shake off this haunting, hilarious, provocative and downright audacious story. It gets under your skin, into your psyche, and it doesn’t let go. 

The central conceit of the play—that each actor inhabits two different characters (bridging different generations and genders)—is a bold challenge for the performer. Steppenwolf is always looking for opportunities that dare our ensemble to stretch the limits of what is possible within the bounds of an actor’s instrument. But beyond Mia’s formal devices, this is a tender, fragile play that is singularly beautiful and terrifying. Within the ingenious construction, there is an open, beating heart. 

At its core, Catch as Catch Can is a play about the various versions of self we all contain. There’s a self that we share with others, a self that we hide from the world and a version of self that we try to perfect until we can’t anymore. Often, we think of home as a place in which our construction of self is most comfortable (perhaps even safe); Mia’s play asks what happens when home is not the cure for your condition but the cause of it. 

All these conversations about self, home and identity make this play a natural conclusion to this landmark anniversary season of a theater built on family drama. For 50 years, Steppenwolf has invested in repeated relationships with artists and audiences, and together we’ve allowed stories and storytelling to reveal pieces of us that we may otherwise have never seen. We’ve done that with a deep commitment to egoless curiosity and humble bravery, and we’ve done it together. 

Whether this is your first time here or if you’ve lost count of your trips to Steppenwolf, thank you for the past 50 years and thank you for the future to come. 

Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis
Artistic Directors

Glenn Davis^†, Artistic Director
Audrey Francis^†, Artistic Director
E. Brooke Flanagan, Executive Director

STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS

CATCH AS CATCH CAN

Written by Mia Chung
Directed by Amy Morton^†‡

FEATURING

Gary Cole^†*, Audrey Francis^†* and Tim Hopper^†*

CREATIVE TEAM

Andrew Boyce⁺ Scenic Design
Izumi Inaba⁺ Costume Design
Yuki Nakase Link⁺ Lighting Design
Mikhail Fiksel⁺ Sound Design and Original Music
Kate DeVore Dialect & Voice Coach 
Jonathan L. Green Dramaturg
Patrick Zakem Creative Producer
Elise Hausken Production Manager
JC Clementz, CSA Casting
Laura D. Glenn^* Production Stage Manager
Jaclynn Joslin^* Assistant Stage Manager

Catch as Catch Can was developed through the Huntington Playwriting Fellow Summer Workshop supported by the Stanford Calderwood Fund for New American Plays at the Huntington Theatre Company, Boston, Massachusetts; and workshopped at JAW: A Playwrights Festival produced by Portland Center Stage.

World Premiere of Catch as Catch Can was produced
By Page 73 Productions
(Michael Walkup, Producing Artistic Director; Amanda Feldman, Managing Director)

Playwrights Horizons, Inc., New York City, produced
Catch as Catch Can in 2022

† member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble.
* member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers.
+ member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829 of the IATSE.
‡ member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.

This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

CAST

Gary Cole^†* Roberta Lavecchia/Robbie Lavecchia
Audrey Francis^†* Lon Lavecchia/Daniela Lavecchia
Tim Hopper^†* Theresa Phelan/Tim Phelan
Sarah Charipar^*  Nurse

UNDERSTUDIES

Sarah Charipar^*  Lon Lavecchia/Daniela Lavecchia
John Gregorio^*  Roberta Lavecchia/Robbie Lavecchia
Kevin McKillip^* Theresa Phelan/Tim Phelan, Nurse

ADDITIONAL STAFF

Sivan Spector Assistant Director
Alayna Klein Associate Set Design
Josephine Everett Assistant Costume Design
Daniel Friedman Assistant Lighting Design
Nina Domanus & Benji Felix Assistant Sound Design
Caroline Michele Uy Production Assistant
Maegan Pate Costume Assistant
Kenny Behmer, Josh Derby, Billy Earnisse, Kenny Faust, Jim Keith, Johnnie Schleyer Additional Carpenters
Marcus Klein Additional Properties
Niamh Sullivan, Jessica Wardell, Abby West Additional Paint

Catch as Catch Can will be presented in one act with no intermission.

As a courtesy to the actors and your fellow patrons, please turn off your cell phones before the performance. The taking of photographs and the use of any type of recording device are not allowed in the theater during performances and is a violation of state and federal copyright laws; digital media will be deleted, and tape or film will be confiscated.

Entry and re-entry into the theater after the performance begins is not guaranteed.

The theater reserves the right to limit admission of children younger than the age of six.