We could think of no better way to launch our 2023-24 season than with Sanctuary City, Pulitzer Prize-Winner Martyna Majok’s long overdue Steppenwolf debut.

Martyna is one of the great writers of our time, writing incisively and personally about the margins of American society with compassion, detail and thrilling theatricality. That this show will be performed for a truly intergenerational audience (Steppenwolf members by night and Chicagoland students by day) is a unique opportunity for this exceptional play. With director Steph Paul energetically leading a cast of talented Chicago actors, we are reminded of Steppenwolf’s early years: young actors diving into plays that demand rigor and vulnerability from its performers.

Watching Martyna’s play, we are struck with the seemingly infinite and perhaps beautifully simple ways to help each other - to offer sanctuary. Offering the small things: stay here, eat this, let’s talk. In a world that increasingly feels cold and insular, this is a welcome reminder. But what is truly remarkable in the play is the collision of those intimate everyday relationships between friends and the complex national issues of politics, citizenship and belonging. At this intersection, the play presents its characters with impossible choices that are the makings of great drama. Who can make the choice between love and citizenship?

And it poses another bold question: what does it say of a society that asks not its elders, but rather its youth to navigate this near-impossible choice?

It would be irresponsible to produce this play without acknowledging and engaging the migrant crisis here in our own sanctuary city of Chicago. In the last year, thousands upon thousands of asylum seekers have arrived in the city, often by bus, and the number continues to rise dramatically each day. Living in police stations, in community centers, in churches; sleeping on cots and on floors, these newest Chicagoans are in dire need of basic supplies. And this city’s social services were already under incredible strain before the current influx of arrivals.

In that spirit, during the course of the run of Sanctuary City, we are partnering with Community Care Collective, a mutual aid network based in the 33rd Ward, to provide much needed support for these newest Chicagoans. We encourage you to donate to the cause via their website and to read about requests for physical donations later in our digital program book.

Welcome to Sanctuary City, the first show of Steppenwolf’s 23-24 Season, the first season which we have programmed together. We look forward to a year of incredible storytelling ahead.

Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis
Artistic Directors

Sanctuary City is the first Steppenwolf production that has both a full membership series run and a full run of high school student matinees as part of Steppenwolf for Young Adults. We are excited to cultivate an intergenerational audience for this moving show.

We invite everyone to take a look at our Sanctuary City Study Guide—an interactive resource to deepen your experience with our production.

Hear from our Teen Curators Gus and Charlotte, who have been coordinating this guide with Steppenwolf Education and the Sanctuary City creative team. In addition to lesson plans and activities for the classroom, you will find articles, artist interviews and so much more! 

STEPPENWOLF PRESENTS

SANCTUARY CITY

By Martyna Majok
Directed by Steph Paul^‡

FEATURING

Grant Kennedy Lewis, Brandon Rivera, Jocelyn Zamudio

CREATIVE TEAM

Yeaji Kim Scenic Design 
Izumi Inaba+ Costume Design 
Reza Behjat+ Lighting Design 
Mikhail Fiksel+ Sound Design
Greg Geffrard Intimacy Choreographer
Kate DeVore Vocal Coach
Patrick Zakem Creative Producer
Elise Hausken Production Manager
JC Clementz, CSA Casting Director 
Michelle Medvin* Production Stage Manager
Christine D. Freeburg* Assistant Stage Manager (through October 8)
Kathleen Dickinson* Assistant Stage Manager (beginning October 3)

Sanctuary City is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized performance materials are supplied by TRW PLAYS, 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. www.trwplays.com

Sanctuary City had its World Premiere at New York Theatre Workshop
Jim Nicola, Artistic Director, Jeremy Blocker, Managing Director, 2020

Sanctuary City was developed, in part, at the 2018 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab

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

† 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.

CAST

Grant Kennedy Lewis B
Brandon Rivera Henry
Jocelyn Zamudio G


UNDERSTUDIES

Robert T. Cunningham B
Jonathan Moises Olivares Henry
Bernadette Santos Schwegel G

ADDITIONAL STAFF

Amber Calderón Assistant Director
Erica Lauren Maholmes Assistant Lighting Designer
Amara Skinner Assistant Sound Designer
Tiffany T. Taylor Assistant Intimacy Choreographer
JP Marquez Cultural Consultant
Bel Kiely Research Associate
Joe Creen Run Crew
Emily Hanlon Production Assistant
Annaliese Voci Dresser
Kotryna Hilko Costume Assistant
Matthew Carpenter, Renee Dwyer, Billy Earnesse, Kenny Faust, Tim Martin, Carolyn Voss Additional Carpenters 
Camille Toshiko Peotter Additional Properties 
Sarah Lewis Scenic Charge Artist
Amy Couey, Ann Huerta, Marcus Klein Additional Paint

This play lasts approximately 95 minutes 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.

A Q&A WITH DIRECTOR STEPH PAUL

Edited by Derek Van Barham

What draws you to this play? Why are you excited to be working on it now?

Steph Paul: I'm first generation Haitian-American. I understand what it means to feel both from here and from there, to feel in between. I have a connection with this home that is America, but also, what does that mean?

When I was in Chicago, I worked for 11 plus years in Albany Park. Albany Park has historically been a port of entry for immigrants, and the young people I worked with were around the age of G and B in Sanctuary City. Some were documented. Some were not. In their early high school years, they were all in a similar boat of youth and school. It felt like everybody was running the same race.

And then as we moved towards sophomore and junior year, as some students were making plans for the future… it became very clear: certain people had access to a path that others were denied. I got to witness what it meant for young people to be swimming in a sea of the unknown. The opportunity to engage with Sanctuary City feels like an honoring of the truth that I experienced and witnessed. And I want to honor and amplify it all — the pain, the struggle, the joy — as best I can.

Excitingly, Sanctuary City will play for a multigenerational audience: both our general audiences, as well as Chicagoland teens via our Steppenwolf for Young Adults matinees. How does that affect your work as director? 

SP: Oh my god, I am thrilled. Young people are the ultimate truth tellers. They are incredible thought partners and deserve to have a front row seat to the art. Knowing that this show will play for a wide range of ages really doesn’t change the work, though. My hope is everyone can find their way in. People will almost certainly experience the play differently and that's okay. That variance can create an opening for discussion and connection.  It is my hope that it's not just one type of audience for each part of the run. It’s really important for both members and young audiences to be together because this work is for all of them.  

And what should our audiences expect?

SP: We're gonna have a good ass time. The play is super funny, so let's lean into the humor. The play is super painful, so let's not run from the pain. For me, it feels important to run to the truth of it. Living with the fullness and richness of these experiences feels really important. And at the end of the day, they're young people. Emotions are high. Let’s celebrate all of that. 

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Community Care Collective

Steppenwolf is partnering with Community Care Collective (CCC33), a mutual aid network based in the 33rd Ward, to provide much needed support for recent arrivals and asylum seekers. To support these newest Chicagoans, we encourage you to donate to the cause via the CCC33 website. 

You can also donate directly by bringing ready-to-eat, non-perishable snacks and drinks to the donation bin in our lobby.