Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company

1919 will play October 4 – 29, 2022 in Steppenwolf’s stunning new in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell.

By: Sep. 27, 2022
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Steppenwolf Theatre Company is presenting the Steppenwolf for Young Adults' world premiere of 1919, adapted by J. Nicole Brooks from Eve L. Ewing's collection of luminous and searing poems about the killing of Black teenager Eugene Williams in 1919 off the segregated Chicago lakeshore - and how this tragedy reverberates today. 1919 will play October 4 - 29, 2022 - the second-ever production in Steppenwolf's stunning new in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell - the centerpiece of its recently unveiled Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Arts and Education Center.

See rehearsal photos below!

Directed by Gabrielle Randle-Bent and Tasia A. Jones, the production features Sheldon D. Brown, DeMorris Burrows, Max Thomas, Sola Thompson, Jessica Dean Turner and Alexis Ward.

On July 27, 1919, Chicago erupted following the killing of 17-year-old Eugene Williams in treacherous waters off the segregated Lake Michigan shoreline. The days that followed made an indelible mark on the city - its sense of boundaries, of relationships between neighbors, and of the underlying systems of inequity and racism that persist today. Adapted from Ewing's poems, J. Nicole Brooks' play is a bold, hopeful, lyrical exploration of Black Chicagoans' resistance, fortitude and endurance: past, present and future.

Ticket Information

All audiences are invited to experience the world premiere of 1919, through both public performances and student matinees for school groups. Tickets start at $5 for teens through the Teen Arts Pass; $20 for the general public. Single tickets to 1919 are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and 312-335-1650.

Student Matinees

All student matinees for 1919 are currently sold out, however schools are encouraged to register for SYA's spring 2023 adaptation of Mahogany L. Browne's Chlorine Sky here.

Photo credit:

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
DeMorris Burrows, Sheldon D. Brown, Max Thomas and Sola Thompson

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Alexis Ward and DeMorris Burrows

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Alexis Ward and Jessica Dean Turner

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
DeMorris Burrows, Jessica Dean Turner, Sheldon D. Brown and Alexis Ward

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Sola Thompson, DeMorris Burrows and J. Nicole Brooks

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Gabrielle Randle-Bent and Max Thomas

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Tasia A. Jones

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
J. Nicole Brooks

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Jessica Dean Turner

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Sheldon D. Brown and Max Thomas

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
DeMorris Burrows

Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the Chicago Premiere of 1919 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Alexis Ward, Sheldon D. Brown and Sola Thompson




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