Avenue A

David Steen’s Avenue A caused a sensation when it premiered in 1991 at Hollywood’s Cast Theatre featuring a then little-known Mark Ruffalo. After being heralded by The Los Angeles Times as “the year’s most memorable and disturbing new piece” and playing to sold-out houses, the show garnered four Los Angeles Critic’s Circle Awards including the Ted Schmitt Award for Best New Play. The show was later revived in 1999 at New York’s 29th Street Rep Theatre where it was (once again) a critical and popular hit, prompting the initial off-Broadway run to be extended. While it has enjoyed enormous success on both coasts, the play has not been produced since 1999. It remains unpublished.

Why did it take until 2007 for Chicago to experience what electrified audiences in New York and Los Angeles? Furthermore, what makes EP Theater — a new and relatively unknown company – the top contender to present Avenue A? This savage, taut, gripping, and mordantly funny glimpse at mysterious misfits attempting to “make good” is the ideal fit for an equally hush-hush group.

Mr. Steen will be in Chicago to mount Avenue A’s Midwest premiere, as EP Theater is committed to reinforcing the work’s integrity through the playwright’s direct involvement in all aspects from inception to production.

The production is directed by Bradley M. Bartolo and stars Tiffany Bedwell, Craig Cunningham, Julian Martinez and Garrett Prejean.

“A frayed nerve of a drama… intense and gritty… you do become strangely involved.”
— The New York Times

“A staggering portrait of urban dysfunction.”
— The Los Angeles Times

“Avenue A is a jewel of a play crafted with uncanny precision. Bittersweet, with a finale that is shocking, Steen’s play is lean and mean.”
— In Theater