Wall of scripts at Steppenwolf

After a fulfilling, yet unhealthy, meal of raw oysters, buffalo wings and a hamburger, I'm sitting in the lobby of the Garage Theatre at Steppenwolf. It has a great feel, with heavy house music playing in the background. The theatre is literally on the bottom level of their parking garage and it is a true black box. A black curtain separates the lobby from the stage area.

They have an entire line of papers stacked against the wall as you enter.

Here's a picture of the actual Steppenwolf Theatre and the Garage is about half a block south of the main stage. Not bad when you consider the folks who started this theatre many years ago began by working out of the basement of a church. I think their rent was $10 a month. Now they operate on a mulit-million dollar budget and consume nearly an entire block of North Chicago. I'm about to see Fat Pig, by Neil Labute, one of my favorite playwrights. The play is about, though I haven't read it, a guy who has an overweight girlfriend and his friends are making fun of him constantly because of her weight. Neil Labute likes to explore the dark side of human nature and that is why I find him so compelling.

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