DeaSign Language-Interpreted and Open-Captioned performances of SEX WITH STRANGERS

Hi, everyone!

I’m happy to announce that Steppenwolf has two opportunities for the deaf and hard of hearing community to see Laura Eason’s Sex With Strangersover the next few weeks: a sign-interpreted performance at 7:30 pm on Sunday, March 27^th (featuring interpretation by Mark Motyka and Elisabeth Treger), and an open-captioned performance at 3 pm on Sunday, April 3^rd.

For those of you haven’t seen one of our shows for a while (or ever!), I wanted to give you a heads up about a few things we’re doing to try to make a visit to Steppenwolf as easy as possible.

∙ At the base of this e-mail, I’ve listed different ways of purchasing half-price, $20 and $15 student tickets to both the sign-interpreted and open-captioned performances.

∙ For our last few sign-interpreted performances, we’ve been enlisting the help of some fantastic advanced ASL students to serve as ushers and lobby liaisons. The sign-interpreted performance of Sex With Strangers on March 27^th won’t be any different – they’ll graciously be on hand throughout the lobby and at the box office to help interpret and point folks in the right direction. (As for our non-signing staff, they’re all super friendly and have pads of paper and pens at the ready.)

∙ Sign-interpreted performances also feature a pre-show explanation of the synopsis and characters from the play’s sign master, a native signer who has spent the weeks prior to the performance interpreting the script, seeing the play multiple times, and working closely with the interpreters to present the highest level of interpretation. For Sex With Strangers, we’re happy to welcome back sign master Matt Dans, who has worked with us on shows such asAmerican Buffalo, Endgame and Detroit .

∙ Our open-captioned performances feature a text display of the words and sounds heard during the play. Placed near the stage, the LED display is positioned for optimal viewing by patrons sitting on the House Right side of both our Downstairs and Upstairs Theatres. Controlled by a captioner watching the play from the back of the theatre, the presentation of the text is synched live with the action onstage.

Please keep reading below for information about Sex With Strangers and ticketing. If you have any questions, though, please don’t hesitate to let me know! And, of course – if you know of anyone who would find this information useful, please feel free to share it!

Thanks!

Evan

Evan Hatfield  │ Front of House Manager│ Steppenwolf Theatre Company │ p 312.932.2445 │ f 312.335.0440

Sex With Strangers

By Laura Eason

Directed by Jessica Thebus

Ethan is a hot young writer whose online journals of “sexcapades” are the buzz of the blogosphere. Olivia is an attractive 30-something whose own writing career is fizzling. They hook up, sex turns into dating and dating into something more complicated.  A break-out hit at Steppenwolf’s 2009 First Look Repertory, and featuring performances by Steppenwolf ensemble member Sally Murphy and Stephen Louis Grush, Sex with Strangers explores how we invent our identity – online and off – and what happens when our private lives become public domain.

Laura Eason, a longtime member of the Lookingglass Theatre ensemble, is the author of more than 15 plays, both original works and adaptations.  Previous productions at Steppenwolf include When the Messenger is Hot, A Tale of Two Cities and Huck Finn.  Jessica Thebus directed Sex with Strangers during Steppenwolf’s 2009 First Look Repertory of New Work. Other Steppenwolf directing credits include Intimate Apparel, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, No Place Like Home, When the Messenger is Hot (also 59E59 Theaters, NYC) and Sonia Flew. 

Inexpensive tickets!

For the 7:30 pm sign-interpreted performance on March 27^th, half-price tickets ($26.50) are available in advance using promo code 8195. 

For the 3 pm open-captioned performance on April 3^rd, half-price tickets ($31.50) are available in advance using promo code 8197.

For both performances, four $20 tickets are reserved exclusively for patrons who utilize that performance’s interpretive service. These $20 tickets are sold on a first-come/first-serve basis, and go on sale at 1 pm on both March 27^th and April 3^rd. They can be purchased either by visiting the box office in person, or over the phone or TTY.

Student tickets are available for $15. Purchasers need to present a valid student ID. Only one $15 ticket per student.

We are working to remedy this, but patrons are currently unable to purchase tickets for accessible performances on our website. To order tickets, we thank you for contacting us by one of the methods below. When you purchase a ticket for a sign-interpreted or open-captioned performance, please indicate that you’re interested in the service so we may offer you the best possible line-of-sight seats.

In person: 1650 N Halsted

Phone: (312) 335-1650

TTY: (312) 335-3830 
E-mail: access@steppenwolf.org

Box Office Hours
Open 7 days a week except for certain major holidays 
11 AM to 5 PM Mon-Sat & 1 PM to 5 PM Sun 
Open until 7 PM on days with evening performances

Steppenwolf is located near all forms of public transportation and is wheelchair accessible.  Street and lot parking are available.  Assistive listening devices and large print programs are available for every performance.

Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's mission is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon.  The company, formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through on-going group work.  Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of 43 artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting and textual adaptation.  For additional information, visit www.steppenwolf.org,www.facebook.com/SteppenwolfTheatre and www.twitter.com/SteppenwolfThtr.