Steppenwolf Theatre Company has announced its strikingly eclectic 2024-25 season, including the surely unpredictable pairing of former artistic director Anna D. Shapiro and Michael Frayn’s British backstage farce “Noises Off,” a revival of Sam Shepard’s “Fool for Love” with star actors yet to be announced, the world premiere of Ngozi Anyanwu’s bluesy “Leroy and Lucy,” featuring Jon Michael Hill, the Chicago premiere of “The Book of Grace” by Suzan-Lori Parks, and the return of the much-admired ensemble member Amy Morton in Noah Diaz’s “You Will Get Sick.”
Steppenwolf also said it is not producing any shows specifically dedicated to its Steppenwolf for Young Adults program in 2024-25, but instead is offering student matinees for four of the five mainstage shows, a new approach to youth programing similar to that of the Goodman Theatre but also a reduction in producing activity at Steppenwolf.
The season will begin with “Noises Off” (Sept. 12 to Oct. 27), a co-production with the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles and with a cast including Audrey Francis, Francis Guinan, Ora Jones, James Vincent Meredith and Karen Rodriguez.
Awoye Timpo then directs “Leroy and Lucy” (Oct. 24 to Dec. 15), and Steppenwolf opens 2025 with Jeremy Herrin’s new staging of “Fool for Love” (Jan. 30 to March 16, 2025), likely to be a internationally prominent production with a big-name cast, to be announced. That’s followed by “The Book of Grace,” directed by Steve H. Broadnax III and featuring co-artistic director Glenn Davis.
“You Will Get Sick” (June 5 to July 13, 2025) is the summer offering and this new play about illness and caretaking will star Cliff Chamberlain and Namir Smallwood as well as Morton, who has been starring on the TV show “Chicago P.D.” and has not been seen on the Steppenwolf stage for seven years.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com