4 May 2021 | Block Club Chicago

Steppenwolf To Open New Theater Building, Education Center During 2021 Comeback Season

By Jake Wittich

The building will feature a 400-seat round theater and a state-of-the-art education center. It's expected to open to audiences in November.

The Steppenwolf Theatre is gearing up for its 2021–22 season, which will see the ensemble theater company move into its new home in Lincoln Park.

The company’s upcoming season will be a blend of virtual and in-person shows as Steppenwolf prepares to open its larger space at 1646 N. Halsted St. in late fall.

Steppenwolf has been closed for more than a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but construction on its $73 million campus expansion project continued.

The 50,000-square-foot building is expected to be finished this fall. It will feature a 400-seat Round Theater, in which the audience wraps entirely around the stage, and an education center.

Designed by architect Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the theater building will also feature a two-story atrium lobby, a wine bar and a sidewalk lounge.

“The opening of our new building is a testimony to the confidence that the cultural heartbeat of Chicago will come roaring back with the grandness this city deserves,” Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan said. “Steppenwolf will continue its legacy of creation and service for generations to come.”
Steppenwolf’s season will kick off virtually before bringing fans to the space for the first time in November for a revival of “Bug,” written by Tracy Letts and directed by David Cromer.

For the first time in Steppenwolf’s 46-year history, every play in the upcoming season is written by an ensemble member.