Stepping into a character role featured in any of the plays by the late playwright Sam Shepard takes both the chosen actor and theater audiences on travels to the darkest reaches of the mind.
Shepard, who died at age 73 in 2017, explored the gritty and shadowy underside of life and the consequences of decisions, trying to balance and sort out the good from the bad.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company has already added another week of performances for their stage revival of Pulitzer Prize winner Shepard’s dark and beautiful early masterpiece “Fool for Love,” playing into next month through Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago.
Directed by Jeremy Herrin, “Fool for Love” features Steppenwolf ensemble members united for the four-member cast starring Cliff Chamberlain, previously seen in “The Minutes” and “Superior Donuts,” Tim Hopper from “The Thanksgiving Play” and “Downstate,” and Caroline Neff known from her roles in “POTUS” and “Another Marriage” playing opposite new to the Steppenwolf stage Nick Gehlfuss as seen on TV’s “Chicago Med,” “Chicago PD” and “Chicago Fire.”
Set in a seedy motel room in the Mojave Desert, May, played by Neff, and Eddie, played by Gehlfuss, have been reunited, and the play opens with the couple trapped under a cloud of regret, soaked in booze, brawling and fears from the past looming over their sexual connection.
Both must also endure the haunting memories of their parents, especially “the Old Man,” portrayed as the rocking chair phantom guise of Hopper, who smiles at the control he holds over others.
Confused Martin, the character played by Chamberlain, shows up to the motel planning to take May on a movie date but first must confront the couple’s growing tensions and tormented twisted and intertwined lives from their pasts.
Chamberlain is an actor who lives in Munster with his wife and family, and though he’s been familiar with Shepard’s plays for the past decades, “Fool for Love” was one of the works he hadn’t read until he was considering joining the production.
“I hadn’t read this play or even seen it before, so this was fun for me to approach this work as a new play for me even though it’s been around since 1983,” Chamberlain said.
In 1985, Shepard played the male lead character Eddie for the film adaptation starring Kim Basinger as directed by Robert Altman. The play and later film version were born during the same decade as Shepard’s 25-year relationship span with actress Jessica Lange (whom he has two children with). The couple had met while both starring in the 1982 film “Frances” with Lange as the title character based on the life of Hollywood movie star Frances Farmer, who suffered from mental illness and spent her final years living in Indianapolis.
Steppenwolf Artistic Directors Glenn Davis, who is originally from South Holland, and Audrey Francis agree Shepard’s legacy and work shares a foundation with their theater space.
“Through the decades, Steppenwolf has returned again and again to Sam Shepard’s searing body of work,” Davis said.
“His plays, filled with tension, symbol and muscle, pose delights and demands for actors and audiences alike. ‘Fool for Love’ is no exception, with Eddie and May’s iconic power struggle at the heart of this prize-winning masterpiece. It’s lightning in a bottle.”
Chamberlain joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2018 with riveting onstage turns in productions like “Belleville” and “Clybourne Park.” He will be seen in the Netflix upcoming film “RIP.”
“My wife is from Munster, and that’s where we live now with our three daughters,” Chamberlain said.
“I’m originally from Los Angeles, and after I met my wife in Chicago, we married and had our two daughters before moving back to California, where we had our third daughter. But with the pandemic, we decided to move back home here to Munster, and we love it. My wife owns her own business. We moved into the house where my wife grew up.”
Tickets for “Fool for Love” range from $20 to $138 by calling 312-335-1650 or visit steppenwolf.org.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company ranks as one of the nation’s premier ensemble theater companies with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Founded in 1976, Steppenwolf started as a group of teens performing in the basement of a church. The Steppenwolf Education and Engagement program serves nearly 15,000 teens annually, including the schools of Northwest Indiana.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@powershealth.org.
