A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF gOD
By Samuel D. Hunter
Directed by Robin Witt
A Chicago Premiere
In A Case for the Existence of God, two single fathers search for hope and human connection as they confront crises of parenting and financial insecurity.
Ticket Waitlist
Tickets are completely sold out (extension and original run dates). Please complete the form below to sign up for the waitlist for your preferred show dates.
"...I live in the Edgewater neighborhood and could walk over to this little storefront theater and see this extraordinary work and it's that phenomenon in Chicago that around every corner... there is something astonishing and this is astonishing...get a ticket before it disappears." - Kelly Kleiman, Dueling Critics, WDCB 90.9 FM
"I was just riveted, held in my seat for all 90 minutes...I can only urge the listeners to make the journey..and see this extraordinary production" - Jonathan Abarbanel, Dueling Critics
"Under Robin Witt’s tight direction, Faust and Balogun’s connection is luminous, with both actors crafting subtle, multi-layered performances." - Devony Hof, Third Coast Review
"Faust and Balogun are individually superb and, together, even better." - Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
Tickets & Information
Performance Location
The Edge Off Broadway
1133 W Catalpa Ave
Chicago, IL 60640
Note: Performances will be held at The Edge Off Broadway while Steep moves forward with construction on our new home.
Ticket Pricing
General Admission: $30
Reserved Seats: $40
Access Tickets: $10*
Group Tickets: Contact us for a discounted rate for groups of 10 or more.
*Access tickets are our universal discount available to anyone in need of a discount
Contact us at access@steeptheatre.com or 773-649-3186 for more information or to reserve tickets.
Note: Tickets have sold out. Please use the “Ticket Waitlist” above.
Performance Schedule
Previews: July 13 - 18, 2024
Press Opening: Friday, July 19, 2024
Performances: July 19 - September 7 (Extended from August 25)
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm
Sunday afternoons at 3 pm
Run Time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
Note: Tickets have sold out. Please use the “Ticket Waitlist” above.
Covid Protocol: Masking during the performance is optional.
Production Sponsors: Dr. Susan Burland & George Plumb, Ken Burlington, James T. O'Neill, and Martha Anne & Stephen Yandle
Content Advisory: This production is intended for adult audiences. Click the button below for details.
Accessibility
Audio Description: Sunday, August 18, 2024 at 3:00pm
Open Captioning: Saturday, August 24, 2024 at 7:30pm and Sunday, August 25, 2024 at 3:00pm
CAST
Debo Balogunˆ*
Nate Faustˆ
Understudies
Reginald Hemphill
Benny Mora
CREATIVE TEAM
Director – Robin Witt
Stage Manager – Lauren Lassusˆ
Scenic Designer - Sotirios Livaditis
Lighting Designer - Brandon Wardellˆ
Costume Designer - Aly Amidei
Sound Designer - Thomas Dixonˆ
Props Designer - Amanda Herrmann
Intimacy and Violence Consultant - Christina Gorman
Production Manager - Jennifer Aparicio
Technical Director - Chas Mathieu
Casting Director - Lucy Carapetyanˆ
Casting Associate - Lisa Troi Thomas
Lead Electrician - Mark Brown
Assistant Stage Manager - Dorothy Craven
Assistant Director -Spencer Diedrick
Assistant Director - Lisa Troi Thomas
Scenic Assistant -Joe Johnson
Graphic Designer - Stu Kiesow
Photographer - Joseph Chretien-Golden
ˆ Steep Company Member
* Appearing through an Agreement between Steep Theatre and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
Samuel D. Hunter (Playwright)
Samuel D. Hunter grew up in Moscow, Idaho and lives in New York City with his husband and daughter. His full-length plays include The Whale (Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, GLAAD Media Award, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play), A Case for the Existence of God (New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play, Hull-Warriner Award), A Bright New Boise (Obie Award, Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), Greater Clements (Drama Desk nomination for Best Play, Outer Critics Circle Honoree), Lewiston/Clarkston (Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), The Few, A Great Wilderness, Rest, Pocatello, The Healing and The Harvest, among others.
His screenplay adaptation of The Whale, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Brendan Fraser, was nominated for the 2023 BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and received two Oscars, including Best Actor. He was also a writer and producer on all four seasons of FX’s Baskets.
He is the recipient of a 2014 MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship, a 2012 Whiting Writers Award and an honorary doctorate from the University of Idaho. His work has been produced off-Broadway in New York City by Lincoln Center Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, Signature Theatre, Page 73 Productions, Clubbed Thumb and Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre. Elsewhere, his work has been produced by Theatre Royal Bath, Theatre Rotterdam, Dallas Theatre Center, Seattle Rep, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, South Coast Rep and Victory Gardens, among others.
Robin Witt (Director)
Robin Witt has directed 12 plays for Steep including Simon Stephens’s Light Falls, Harper Regan, and Wastwater as well as Cordelia Lynn’s Lela & Co for which she received a Jeff Award. She is an ensemble member at both Steep Theatre and Griffin Theatre in Chicago. Other theatres she has worked for include Steppenwolf, Goodman, Northlight, Writers Theatre, Lookingglass and The Artistic Home. Witt is a Professor of Directing at UNC Charlotte and she holds a MFA from Northwestern University. She is the daughter of the late actor Howard Witt.