Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago: In Their Own Words

Mayer (chair, theater, California State Univ.) was an early participant in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and that connection pays off in this account of its formation and flourishing. Mayer interviewed those who have been involved and who developed the company, paying special attention to the four who were there at the beginning of its formation and for decades after: Barbara June Patterson, Bruce Sagan, Maggie Marcus, and Lois Smith. He talks with more famous Steppenwolf members such as Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, and Laurie Metcalf, to name a few. How Steppenwolf came into being is a wild ride: how to go from nothing to being extraordinary, from a 200-seat space to a theater complex? This book tells the how but also the "who"—Mayer credits former board chairman Sagan, noting that he is the only person to merit a plaque in the building, and that "without his incredible vision for the theater's future, the company might not have made it." Many of the photos are too small, but the author does yeoman's work to illustrate the company's productions.