{"id":20061,"date":"2019-09-01T06:46:23","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T11:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ravenfoundation.org\/?p=20061"},"modified":"2021-11-04T15:12:18","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T20:12:18","slug":"steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Steppenwolf Theatre&#8217;s &#8220;Downstate&#8221; Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zD8VrU8vX44&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Clybourne Park and Steppenwolf Ensemble Member Bruce Norris challenges audiences to face the post-incarceration restrictions placed on sex offenders with his latest play &#8220;Downstate&#8221;. Developed in partnership with the National Theatre of Great Britain, &#8220;Downstate&#8221; examines the lives of four men convicted of sex crimes against minors. These former convicts share a group home in downstate Illinois where the offenses they committed continue to shape their lives. Declared the best show in Chicago theater in 2018 by Chicago Tribune&#8217;s Chris Jones, the question at the heart of this &#8220;problem&#8221; play is discussed by Loyola University Chicago Professor Emeritus and Raven Foundation Board Member Andrew McKenna and Maura Junius, Raven Foundation Marketing Director.<\/p>\n<p>Production photographs courtesy of Steppenwolf<br \/>\nPhoto credit Michael Brosilow<br \/>\n<a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zD8VrU8vX44&amp;t=10s\">0:10<\/a> &#8211; ensemble member Tim Hopper (Andy)<br \/>\n<a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zD8VrU8vX44&amp;t=26s\">0:26<\/a> &#8211; ensemble member K. Todd Freeman (Dee)<br \/>\n<a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zD8VrU8vX44&amp;t=31s\">0:31<\/a> &#8211; (L to R) ensemble members Francis Guinan (Fred) and K. Todd Freeman (Dee)<br \/>\n<a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zD8VrU8vX44&amp;t=35s\">0:35<\/a> &#8211; (L to R) Cecilia Noble (Ivy), ensemble member K. Todd Freeman (Dee) and Eddie Torres (Felix)<br \/>\n<a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zD8VrU8vX44&amp;t=39s\">0:39<\/a> &#8211; ensemble member K. Todd Freeman (Dee)<br \/>\n<a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zD8VrU8vX44&amp;t=43s\">0:43<\/a> &#8211; (L to R) ensemble member Tim Hopper (Andy), Aimee Lou Wood (Effie) and ensemble member Glenn Davis (Gio)<br \/>\n<a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zD8VrU8vX44&amp;t=50s\">0:50<\/a> &#8211; (L to R) ensemble member Glenn Davis (Gio), Cecilia Noble (Ivy), and Eddie Torres (Felix)<br \/>\n<a class=\"yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string\" spellcheck=\"false\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zD8VrU8vX44&amp;t=54s\">0:54<\/a> &#8211; (L to R) ensemble members Francis Guinan (Fred), K. Todd Freeman (Dee) and Tim Hopper (Andy)<\/p>\n<p>Videographer and editor &#8211; Sam Sorich[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bruce Norris&#8217; &#8220;problem&#8221; play questioning society&#8217;s post-incarceration treat of sex offenders is discussed by Loyola University Chicago Professor Emeritus and Raven Foundation Board Member Andrew McKenna and Maura Junius, Raven Foundation Marketing Director.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4330,4294],"tags":[4326,4325,4324,4323,3945],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Steppenwolf Theatre&#039;s &quot;Downstate&quot; Challenges - The Raven Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bruce Norris&#039; &quot;problem&quot; play questioning society&#039;s post-incarceration treat of sex offenders is discussed by Andrew McKenna and Maura Junius.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Steppenwolf Theatre&#039;s &quot;Downstate&quot; Challenges - The Raven Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bruce Norris&#039; &quot;problem&quot; play questioning society&#039;s post-incarceration treat of sex offenders is discussed by Andrew McKenna and Maura Junius.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Raven Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RavenFoundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/maurajunius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-01T11:46:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-04T20:12:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Downstate-playbill.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maura Junius\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Maura_Junius\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RavenFoundation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maura Junius\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Maura Junius\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3b84f029bee3192c8deeff7543db70ba\"},\"headline\":\"Steppenwolf Theatre&#8217;s &#8220;Downstate&#8221; Challenges\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-01T11:46:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-04T20:12:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges\/\"},\"wordCount\":272,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Downstate-playbill.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Bruce Norris\",\"convicts\",\"post-incarceration\",\"sex offenders\",\"Steppenwolf Theatre\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Raven Video\",\"Relationships\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ravenfoundation.org\/steppenwolf-theatres-downstate-challenges\/\",\"name\":\"Steppenwolf Theatre's \\\"Downstate\\\" Challenges - 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