Events and Programs

These events took place in fall 2007.

Public Programs

Unless otherwise noted, the following programs are free and open to the public. No reservations necessary.

Theater Thursday Lunchbreak
Thursday, September 27, 12:15 p.m.
Chicago Cultural Center’s Randolph Cafe
77 E. Randolph Street
Join Lookingglass Theatre for a reading of selections from The Crucible.

Listening Room
Wednesday, October 10, 7:00 p.m.
1624 N. Halsted Street
Admission is $5; reservations are encouraged.
The Chicago Public Library partners with Third Coast International Audio Festival and Steppenwolf Theatre Company on an evening that asks, through performance and audio documentary, what it means to be American and how that idea has shifted over time. The evening includes a live reading from The Crucible and unforgettable short audio documentaries, all rich in sound and imagery, exploring everything from what Americans today say they’d live and die for to the story of one man’s childhood, growing up as the son of a blacklisted screenwriter.

Panel: Nothing But the Truth
Thursday, October 11, 6:00 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street
On both sides of the red/blue divide, Americans can at least all agree that they want the truth. But how is the truth defined, and who controls it? Is the law built to defend the people’s right to the truth or the government’s purpose and responsibility in seeking it? How do the media, business and personal belief play a role? Join a panel of prominent Chicagoans as they take a step back from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible to look at the themes of the work as they relate to truth. Panelists include Rob Warden, Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions; Steve Huntley, Sun-Times columnist; Bernardine Dohrn, from Northwestern’s Children & Family Justice Center; and moderator U.S. District Court Judge David Coar.

Frank Rich in Conversation with John Calloway
Monday, October 29, 6:30 p.m.
Harold Washington Library Center
Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
400 S. State Street
Frank Rich, former longtime theater critic at the New York Times, is now best known for his commentary on politics and the media in his weekly Times op-ed column. Join John Callaway, former host of Chicago Tonight, when he asks Rich: What do we all—from the government to the media to the American people—have to learn from witch hunts and McCarthyism?

Performance and Discussion: Us vs. Them
In Salem in 1692, fear of the devil was so great that if you didn’t believe in witches, you were accused of being one. In 1950s America, if you questioned the direction of the country you were labeled a communist. Are we still living in an “us vs. them” society?

The Chicago Public Library is pleased to be partnering with Steppenwolf Theatre on a series of four public programs taking place at a variety of CPL branches. These one-hour programs will begin with a performance of The Crucible with actors from Steppenwolf Theatre. Then we’ll hear from prominent community leaders on how the themes of The Crucible relate to their communities—from the impact of fear on civil rights to questions of what liberties we might trade for safety. These programs will look at how we define not only “American” but also “un-American.”

• Wednesday, September 19, 6:00 p.m.
  Avalon Branch
  8148 S. Stony Island Avenue
  (312) 747-5234
  Discussion participants include Lee Walker, president of The New Coalition for Economic and Social Change, and former Illinois State Senator Alice Palmer.
• Thursday, October 4, 6:00 p.m.
  Blackstone Branch
  4904 S. Lake Park Avenue
  (312) 747-0511
  Discussion participants include Waldo Johnson from the University of Chicago Center for Study of Race, Politics and Culture and Sylvia Rivera, manager at Radio Arte.
• Monday, October 15, 6:00 p.m.
  Harold Washington Library Center
  Cindy Pritzker Auditorium
  400 S. State Street
  (312) 747-8191
  Moderated by Martha Lavey, artistic director at Steppenwolf Theatre, participants include Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations; Jean Fujiu, executive director of the Japanese American Service Committee; and C.C. Carter, director of community and cultural programming at The Center on Halsted. Steppenwolf Ensemble members James Meredith, Sally Murphy and Alana Arenas will perform.
• Wednesday, October 24, 6:00 p.m.
  Northtown Branch
  6435 N. California Avenue
  (312) 744-2292
  Discussion participants include Wahaj Ahmed, owner of Iqra Book Center, Commander Bruce Rotner from the Chicago Police Department and Vimal Prajapati from the West Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

Film Screenings

Join us for a screening of the 1996 film of The Crucible starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Joan Allen and Winona Ryder, with a screenplay by Arthur Miller himself.

• Wednesday, October 3, 6:30 p.m.
  Sulzer Regional Library
  4455 N. Lincoln Avenue
  (312) 744-7616
• Wednesday, October 10, 6:30 p.m.
  Woodson Regional Library
  9525 S. Halsted Street
  (312) 747-6921
• Saturday, October 20, 1:00 p.m.
  Harold Washington Library Center
  Video Theater, Lower Level
  400 S. State Street
  (312) 747-8191
  A discussion of the book and film follows this screening.

Good Night and Good Luck: A Film Screening and Discussion
Tuesday, October 16, 6:00 p.m.
DePaul University
Student Center, Room 120
2250 North Sheffield Avenue
Come to DePaul to enjoy a screening of the 2005 Academy-Award nominated film directed by George Clooney, which raises questions about media responsibility and governmental control amid the McCarthy hearings in the mid-20th century. This film explores the role television journalist Edward R. Murrow played in this controversial period. A discussion will follow, led by a prominent member of DePaul’s journalism faculty.

Putting a Face on Evil: Exploring Arthur Miller’s The Crucible—A Panel Discussion
Tuesday, October 23, 6:00 p.m.
DePaul University
Student Center, Room 120
2250 N. Sheffield Avenue
Join a panel of distinguished faculty from DePaul who will explore The Crucible from literary, historical and political perspectives. How have historians interpreted the Salem witch trials? What might we learn by considering Miller’s play alongside other literary texts that examine the Puritan past? Since the McCarthy era of the 1950s has faded, what makes The Crucible worth reading? What are the contemporary connections with the current political climate that make Miller’s play still relevant and thought-provoking?

The Crucible
By Arthur Miller
Directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro
September 13 – November 11, 2007
Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre
1650 N. Halsted Street
Featuring ensemble members Alana Arenas, Ian Barford, Francis Guinan, Ora Jones, Tracy Letts, James Vincent Meredith, Sally Murphy and Alan Wilder, Steppenwolf Theatre Company is proud to partner with Chicago Public Library on this fall’s One Book, One Chicago, and will co-present a series of four public discussions at various CPL locations. Steppenwolf is thrilled that this partnership encourages Chicagoans to not only read Miller’s much-admired work, but to see it on the stage. The Crucible launches Steppenwolf’s 2007-08 season, an exploration of the question, “What does it mean to be an American?”