ON NO MAN'S LAND
To attempt a faithful description of this play is a daunting task. Harold Pinter’s cryptic No Man’s Land has proved delightfully confounding for audiences since its premiere in 1975. Language is insufficient to capture the myriad interpretations to be found in this work.
Is the play a melodrama, the story of a stranger who inserts himself into the affairs of a house not his own? Is it a comedic marathon for actors, stuffed with wordplay and impossible quantities of booze?
At times it reads as one big in-joke at the expense of London’s class system, filled with references and allusions spanning cricket players, Virgil and Eliot. At other times it is an intellectual experiment, examining the (tenuous) connection between truth and language. Or is it simply a mystery for audiences to solve, connecting dots and weighing facts?
Perhaps the answer to these questions is a global “yes.” Pinter asks his audience to hold contradictory truths in his play filled with sharp turns; one moment it is morning, the next it is night. What can be said with certainty about the play is that it is a symphony, carefully scored, of cosmic dread and humor. It is a territorial standoff between generations that takes a frank look at loneliness, isolation and the relationships between men.
Also undeniable is that No Man’s Land provides two incredible roles for seasoned actors—the foppish Spooner, and the upper crust Hirst, played by Steppenwolf co-founder Jeff Perry. To have actors inhabit these dynamic characters at the center of a play, not in the background as an ailing grandfather or a foolish elder, is a rare gift.
Thank you for joining us for No Man’s Land, the final production in Steppenwolf’s season, our first in leading the institution. We hope you join us next year for more stories that provoke, challenge, inspire and delight.
Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis
Artistic Directors
STEPPENWOLF PRESENTS
NO MAN'S LAND
By Harold Pinter
Directed by Les Waters‡
FEATURING
Jon Hudson Odom*, Jeff Perry †*, Samuel Roukin* and Mark Ulrich*
CREATIVE TEAM
Andrew Boyce+ Scenic Design
Janice Pytel+ Costume Design
Yi Zhao+ Lighting Design
Mikhail Fiksel+ Sound Design
Courtney Abbott Fight Choreographer
Gigi Buffington Company Voice, Text & Dialect Coach
Tom Pearl Producing Director
JC Clementz, CSA Casting Director
Laura D. Glenn* Production Stage Manager
Jaclynn Joslin* Assistant Stage Manager
† 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.
No Man's Land” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
CAST
Jon Hudson Odom* Briggs
Jeff Perry †* Hirst
Samuel Roukin* Foster
Mark Ulrich* Spooner
UNDERSTUDIES
Mark David Kaplan* Spooner
John Lister* Hirst
Josh Odor Briggs
Ricki Romano Foster
ADDITIONAL STAFF
Zoe Lesser Assistant Director
Seojung Jang Assistant Lighting Design
Gianni Carcagno Production Assistant
Lauren Littlejohn Rehearsal Production Assistant
Lauren Casson COVID Safety Manager
Cindy Moon Costume Assistant
Melissa Wilson First Hand
Janelle Manno, Kyra Pan, Veronica Stark Stitchers
Billy Earnisse, Kenny Faust, Garrett Lampert, Tim Martin, John McTaggart, Carolyn Voss Additional Carpenters
Camille Toshiko Peotter Additional Properties
Sarah Lewis Scenic Charge Artist
Zhanna Albertini, Amy Couey, Livian Kennedy Additional Paint
This play lasts approximately 2 hours, including one 15-minute 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.