Earthquakes in London
By Mike Bartlett, directed by Jonathan Berry
As global destruction approaches, the lives of a climate scientist and his three estranged daughters come crashing unexpectedly back together. The wildly epic Earthquakes in London embodies the chaos of today’s society, and asks us what matters most when everything's falling apart.
Running Time: 3 hours, including one intermission
Extended Through March 18
Performance Schedule
Previews: January 21-25, 2017
Press Opening: January 26, 2017
Performances: January 26 - March 18, 2017
Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm
Sunday afternoons at 3pm
Industry Night: Monday, February 20 at 7:30pm
Full Performance Calendar
Accessibility
Open Captioning will be available on March 5, 2017.
Contact us at access@steeptheatre.com or 773-649-3186 for more information or to reserve tickets.
Running Time: 3 hours, including one intermission
Production Sponsors:
Kassie Davis & Bruce Beatus, Barbara & Randy Thomas, Lisa & Randy White
CAST:
Indra Andreshak
Leea Ayers
Lucy Carapetyan*
Martin Diaz-Valdez (starting 3/9/17)
Patricia Donegan*
Nate Faust
Greg Geffrard
Alex Gillmor*
Nick Horst*
Cindy Marker*
Donna McGough
Peter Moore*
Jim Poole*
Sarah Price
Omer Abbas Salem (through 3/5/17)
Amber Sallis
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Director – Jonathan Berry*
Stage Manager – Jon Ravenscroft
Set Design – Arnel Sancianco
Lighting Design – Brandon Wardell**
Sound Design – Matt Chapman**
Costume Design – Alison Siple**
Prop Design – Kat Powers
Projection Design – Joe Burke
Dialect Coach – Kendra Thulin*
Assistant Director – Denise Yvette Serna
Assistant Lighting Designer – David Goodman-Edberg
Assistant Stage Manager – Michael Starcher
Production Manager – Ellen Willett
Technical Director – Brian Sprague
*Denotes Steep Company Member
**Denotes Steep Artistic Associate
In the Press
3.5 STARS
'Earthquakes in London' a very personal play about the whole planet
"...staged with real fearlessness by director Jonathan Berry and his ensemble cast..."
"It is an important work; a Chicago storefront show demanding some attention..."
-Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
Read the full review.
Cancer, climate change and sex crimes? These plays took some guts
"I'd say that "Earthquakes in London" (which you really should see if you like to watch storefront theaters grapple with epic undertakings) probably humanizes this topic better than any work I've seen."
-Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
Read the article.
"Mike Bartlett’s dazzling play, making its U.S. premiere at Steep, is about our attempt—as all-too-human creatures with puny brains—to come to grips with the end of the world."
"...they beautifully convey our frailty in the face of forces too big to comprehend."
-Max Maller, Chicago Reader
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"Though the design elements create a space that allows for the human stories to unfold and the characters to travel in time, it is the nuanced and committed performances of the cast that make this a ride worth taking. At the heart of the sprawling mechanics of Bartlett’s vision is a family torn apart by ideological and personal concerns that mirror the soaring hopes of the human race as well as its self-destructive tendencies."
-Kerstin Broockmann, Chicago Stage Standard
Read the full review.
One of Four Storefront Productions We Don't Want To Miss During Chicago Theatre Week
"Bartlett examines both family and environmental dynamics in this thought-provoking play that doubles as a rallying cry for environmental protection."
-Krista Krauss Miller, Choose Chicago
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"Jonathan Berry’s direction is masterful, keeping this tragicomedy on track. ... Berry’s cast is excellent, particularly Carapetyan, Price and Marker as the three sisters."
-Nancy Bishop, Third Coast Review
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"This is an epic work, a fatalistic drama, the scale of which might be compared somewhat to the Goodman’s “2666” or the Hypocrites’ “All Our Tragic.”"
-Colin Douglas, Chicago Theatre Review
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"...under the direction of Jonathan Berry, the production’s ensemble handles this marathon of a play with grace and command."
-Rachel Weinberg, PerformInk
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Top 10 Shows for Early 2017
"Earthquakes in London": As a storefront theater known for the power of its acting, Steep Theatre stages the first Chicago production of the epic 2010 play by British writer Mike Bartlett. The piece is centered on the lives of three sisters who were abandoned by their father, a prominent scientist working in the field of climate change. Jonathan Berry, whose work in this space has often dazzled, is the director."
-Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
About Earthquakes in London
Steep Ensemble Member Jonathan Berry returns to Steep to direct Mike Bartlett’s Earthquakes in London. Berry, a Jeff Award winning director who most recently helmed Steppenwolf Theatre’s Constellations, has consistently directed some of Steep’s most successful shows, including Season 15’s Posh by Laura Wade, which won the Non-Equity Jeff Award for Best Ensemble, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Production. Playwright Mike Bartlett has been creating some of England’s most celebrated new work including plays Cock, Bull, and Olivier Award-winner and Tony Nominee, King Charles III, which will be making its Midwest Premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre in 2017. Earthquakes in London debuted at the National Theatre in London in 2010 and this will be its first performance in the U.S.
