LookOut, Steppenwolf Theatre’s performance series that presents the work of local artists and companies across genre and form, proudly announces its Spring 2025 Season, showcasing the eclectic work of Chicago's dynamic community of dancers, choreographers and performance artists. Highlights from the lineup of nine unique engagements include: Knockout, a dynamic and daringly athletic duet from Kara Brody and Erin Kilmurray; a reverent new work venerating Queer history and representation from Darling Squire; and The Uncanny Attic, a cult-favorite celebration of the work of gothic illustrator Edward Gorey.
Additionally, the LookOut Series is thrilled to announce the return of its curatorial residency program. Celebrated drag artist and self-proclaimed “Bollywood Barbie” Abhijeet will curate two drag programs investigating the culture of idol-worship in Bollywood films, featuring an ensemble of bold South Asian drag artists.
This annual curatorial residency program offers an opportunity for a Chicago performance practitioner to curate a series of shows over a two-week span. Previous curatorial residents include Amanda Maraist, Kara Brody and Helen Lee.
LookOut Series Associate Producer Lauren Steinberg comments, “This spring we’re doubling down on our support of movement makers by presenting a wide breadth of artists that move in all different directions within the form. As a part of that, we found ourselves wanting to explore a new avenue for our curatorial residency this year. Ahbijeet has been a leader in the effort of creating iconic drag shows in alternative spaces to expand the artform's reach. That is why we are so excited to be partnering with them to bring DREAM DEVIS, a one-of-a-kind theatrical drag spectacle as a culmination to the season.”
LookOut Spring 2025 highlights include (left to right) Ashwaty Chennat in "little fears," Erin Kilmurray and Kara Brody in Lucky Plush Productions’ "Knockout," Ahbijeet in LookOut’s curatorial residency "DREAM DEVIS" and Susie Kirkwood and Jill Summers in A Beautifully Gruesome Production’ "The Uncanny Attic: Chapters A-D."
All LookOut performances take place in Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, the intimate venue nestled behind Front Bar, 1700 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Tickets, which range in price from $5 – $35, are now on sale by visiting steppenwolf.org/lookout or by calling the Box Office at (312) 335-1650.
The full LookOut 2025 Spring Season (in chronological order):
Lucky Plush Productions presents
Knockout
By Erin Kilmurray + Kara Brody
Dates: Friday, January 24, Saturday, January 25, Friday, January 31 and Saturday, February 1 at 8 pm; Monday, January 27 and Sunday, February 2 at 7 pm
Ticket Price: $30
Description: A fierce duet between two women, Knockout is a self-possessed, ever-morphing cinematic dance that jump cuts through a thrill-ride of fight sequences, toothful camp, intimacies, power dynamics and relationships, and that asks what happens in the disorienting moment between point of contact and before we hit the floor?
3-for-1 Psychic Special
Featuring Ginger Krebs, Ian Hatcher and Coppice
Dates: Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $20
Description: What does the future hold? At least one answer to this question can be found in this set of performative transmissions from this world and beyond. In 3-for1, Ginger Krebs will mesmerize and apologize her way through a backdoor portal to power, Ian Hatcher will offer coaching on gainful employment in the age of AI and Coppice will conduct a "grounding” soundscape.
The Uncanny Attic: Chapters A-D
A Beautifully Gruesome Production
Dates: Thursday, February 20, Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $30 – $40
Description: The Uncanny Attic is an absurdist dark comedy told through puppetry, clowning, dance, live music, stop motion animation and an unhealthy dose of death. Inspired by the artwork and literary nonsense of Edward Gorey, it’s a world where catastrophic events happen with utter regularity and its inhabitants–particularly children–are an endangered species.
Theytriarch
By Darling Squire
Dates: Friday, February 28 and Saturday, March 1 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $15
Description: Theytriarch is a historical fiction that explores the lives of queer people and their various roles in society over the centuries. Part community ritual and sermon, Theytriarch uses movement, music and poetry to celebrate two-spirits, 3rd gender, transgender and non-binary peoples.
Grit
By Maggie Vannucci
In collaboration with Laura Baumeister, Rahila Coats, Kate Laughlin, Hannah Marcus and Courtney Mackedanz
Dates: Thursday, March 6, Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $15 – $25
Description: Grit is a live dance work interrogating the underbelly of achievement through explorations of the isolating cost of competitive natures amongst four female performers. By blurring the lines between exhaustive pleasure and exhaustive pressure, the four performers move through tension-filled repetition, playful provocation and amorphous structures to suggest an emergent collective.
little fears
By Ashwaty Chennat
In collaboration with Tuli Bera, PM Tummala, Jacky Kelsey and Abhijeet
Dates: Friday, March 14 and Saturday March 15 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $15 – $25
Description: little fears explores our relationships with everyday objects and in turn, the things we can glean about ourselves through them. Drawing from South Asian music, dance traditions, pantomime and puppetry and set in a living room, little fears is a healthy dose of media consumption with a few scoops of goo and a small serving of identity crisis.
Wondrous Stage presents
Briefly Breathless
By Jeremy Ohringer
Dates: Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22 at 8 pm
Ticket Price: $20
Description: Inspired by the experience of those who swim in Lake Michigan year-round, Briefly Breathless is an experimental dance theater piece staged in and around a giant sheet of plastic. Through rigorous movement experiments and an ensemble dance vocabulary, Briefly Breathless examines the culture of cold plunges and asks us to embrace discomfort, to face our fears and to search for our inner resilience.
PRAISE MOTHER SQUAD presents
VOIR DIRE
Dates: to be announced
Ticket Price: $10 – $30
Description: Presented as a culmination of stories developed by the SQUAD, VOIR DIRE explores the presence and absence of choice from bodily autonomy by embracing unapologetic movement sequences in the Black majorette style while inviting collaborators to work through their own stylings of playful improvisation and deliberate commentary.
Curatorial Residency
DREAM DEVIS
Curated by Abhijeet
In collaboration with Leha as The Salamander, Masala Sapphire, Gulabi Sapphire, Shruthi Kannan & DJ RIYA RIYA.
Act One: Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5 at 8 pm
Act Two: Saturday, April 12 at 8 pm and Sunday, April 13 at 7 pm
Ticket Price: $25
Description: Who are the women we idolize and what is our relationship to them? DREAM DEVIS is a queer celebration of the feminine archetype in Indian cinema and an exploration of worshipping and being worshiped. This two-act multimedia series is a love letter to the dream devis of the silver screen: ingenues, mothers, vamps, courtesans, superhuman shapeshifters, and beyond told through drag, dance, music and film.
Accessibility:
Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater is equipped with an induction hearing loop and assistive listening devices are available upon request. Our building features wheelchair-accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair, and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/plan-your-visit/accessibility or e-mail access@steppenwolf.org.
Sponsor Information:
The LookOut Series is supported in part by the Walder Foundation. United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Good Chaos, Joyce Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Ron and Paula Mallicoat, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Robert Rivkin and Cindy Moelis, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, ArentFox Schiff, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Conagra Brands Foundation, Steven and Nancy Crown, CRC Group, Rich and Margery Feitler, Julius Frankel Foundation, FROST CHICAGO, Goldman Sachs, Shmaila Tahir and Asheesh Goel, Bob and Amy Greenebaum, Kirkland & Ellis, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Christopher and Eileen Murphy, The Orlebeke Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker, Sacks Family Foundation, Smart Family Foundation of Illinois, Gary Sinise Foundation, Elliot A. Stultz, and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation’s premier Ensemble Theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions - from Balm in Gilead and Grapes of Wrath to August: Osage County, Downstate and The Brother/Sister Plays - have made this theatre legendary. Founded in 1976, Steppenwolf started as a group of teens performing in the basement of a church. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 12 Tony Awards, and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair, Keating Crown - Steppenwolf continually redefines the landscape of acting and performance.
Steppenwolf’s Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.