I certainly was aware of the theatre company’s reputation as an edgy producer of riveting, intimate dramas, but I learned a lot in my interview with Columbus about the total arts package that is the Steppenwolf in 2004.

"A lot of people think of us as that theatre that does Sam Shepard," Columbus adds. "That’s not so much us anymore. Another thing that people don’t realize is that we have three performance spaces."

Columbus referred to the economically named Downstairs Theatre, Upstairs Theatre, and Garage Theatre, all housed in the structure built in 1991 at 1650 North Halsted Street in Chicago. The 510-seat Downstairs Theatre is the company’s mainstage. "As many as 80% of the people in our subscription audience have never visited the other two spaces," Columbus lamented, but he quickly switched to a more optimistic tone. "We think of our programming as tiered – having many styles. We think of it as serving different functions, serving different audiences. For instance, the 100-seat Garage space is where you’re going to see the kind of work that you won’t see in our larger theatres."

A quick glance at the schedule for Steppenwolf’s 2003-04 season shows several Midwest premieres in the Downstairs (including Man From Nebraska by ensemble member Tracy Letts) as well as revivals of well-known works by Robert Anderson (I Never Sang For My Father), Terrence McNally (Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune), and Romulus Linney (A Lesson Before Dying). The Upstairs showcases another premiere and two plays produced in cooperation with other companies (Naked Eye Theatre Company and About Face Theatre).

Many theatres rent space to other companies, but Columbus pointed out how Steppenwolf differs in that regard. "We don’t actually rent out our spaces. We have these visiting companies, but they come in as partners with us. We give them a lot of things that have nothing to with the production, like marketing support. Part of the idea is to give them things to help bring their show to a higher level. We only do two visiting productions a year and they work in either the Upstairs Theatre or the Garage Theatre. The aesthetic differs in these spaces. We try to give audiences a different kind of experience."

Other company programs involve making live theatre accessible to those who might not otherwise experience it. "We have an incredibly extensive Arts Exchange program which creates productions for school audiences. We’re just opening an adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities directed by Jessica Thebus. Last year Hallie Gordon directed a play by (Chicago playwright) Bryn Magnus called World Set Free. So we’re doing innovative and interesting work in that area. Arts Exchange takes programs to about 20,000 kids a year."

"People don’t realize we have a school at Steppenwolf. It’s a program for young professional actors started about five years ago. Jeff Perry, one of our founders, is the guiding light of that program. There are about 25 kids a year who participate from all over: Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany."

Having some knowledge of the company’s several building moves in its 28 seasons, I interjected. "It’s almost like you’re disembodied. You built this big beautiful space and you use it well, but you’re all over the place all the time: festivals, other countries. The name Steppenwolf is associated more with an artistic entity than it is with a building."

"Exactly," enthuses Columbus. "People think of us in this very limited box and it’s the question we’re always asking ourselves: ‘How do we get people to stop thinking of us as John Malkovich’s theatre and to understand that we’ve sent productions touring around the world?’" Although, Columbus admits, "One of the reasons that we got to where we are is that these people who have been successful actors in other media come back and give their artistic fire to the theatre."

Along with Malkovich, the Steppenwolf ensemble boasts fellow Oscar nominees Joan Allen and Gary Sinise, and television notables John Mahoney (Frazier) and Kathryn Erbe (Law and Order: Criminal Intent). Gary Cole of the cult hit Office Space is also an ensemble member. Steppenwolf even occasionally draws already established film actors into its ranks, such as Martha Plimpton and Austin Pendleton.

I mentioned Victory Gardens Theatre’s Sandy Shinner’s statement about prominent Chicago companies: "The Goodman is the director’s theatre, the Victory Gardens is the playwright’s theatre, and the Steppenwolf is the actor’s theatre." Columbus agreed. "A lot of the programs we do focus on what the actor brings to the table. That has to do with choice of material. Like, do we pick a piece that has the actors acting like puppets or do we pick a piece that has meaty parts? We’re going to go with the latter every time."

Steppenwolf was the first Chicago company to receive the Tony Award for Regional Theatre, which can only be earned once, but they’ve more recently earned the National Medal of Arts, presented in 1998 by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a White House ceremony. Awards have also come from the Drama League, the Illinois Arts Alliance, and the Joseph Jefferson Awards. They’ve also mounted many productions that have moved to Broadway and earned Tony Awards, such as 1990’s The Grapes of Wrath (directed by Frank Galati) and 2001’s revival of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (starring Sinise). 1996’s Buried Child and 1993’s The Song of Jacob Zulu were each nominated for a handful of Tonys.

Zulu was created by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, among many musical acts who have performed under the auspices of Steppenwolf, and especially its Traffic series, which began in 1996. Traffic began with more local and regional acts, but has also over the years attracted Steve Earle, Sam Phillips and T Bone Burnett, and the Roches. Other Traffic programming has combined music with poetry and storytelling from the likes of Studs Terkel, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Garrison Keillor.