{"id":1635,"date":"2025-06-13T17:21:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T17:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=1635"},"modified":"2025-06-13T17:21:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T17:21:28","slug":"amy-morton-is-back-on-stage-at-steppenwolf-theatre-and-still-brutally-unapologetically-honest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=1635","title":{"rendered":"Amy Morton is back on stage at Steppenwolf Theatre and still brutally, unapologetically honest"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Audrey Francis sits in a fancy chair in the top-floor library of Steppenwolf Theatre, where she oversees programming as one of two artistic directors. She\u2019s about to answer a reporter\u2019s question when a brisk knock sounds on the glass door.<\/p>\n

Amy Morton, who is scheduled for an interview after <\/i>Francis, pushes past a public relations staffer and enters the room. Asked if she\u2019s comfortable answering questions in front of her director, Morton flashes a middle finger at Francis and takes a seat in a high-backed royal blue leather chair. They both laugh.<\/p>\n

Morton, the two-time Tony nominated actress, joined Steppenwolf\u2019s ensemble in 1997 and is one of the actors most associated with both its gritty brand of American theater and its ensemble model. Across her career, she has moved fluently between TV and theater, though these days, she\u2019s likely more recognizable for her yearslong stint on television as Sgt. Trudy Platt on NBC\u2019s \u201cChicago P.D.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Oak Park native is making her way back to Steppenwolf \u2014 her artistic home, as she calls it \u2014 for the first time in eight years. She\u2019s doing so in part to work with Francis, her former student, whom she\u2019s known for more than 20 years. It neatly illustrates how Steppenwolf, which was recognized with two Tonys on theater\u2019s biggest stage<\/u><\/a> this month, remains a place where generations of top-tier theater talent often share the same stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read the script and I loved it,\u201d said Morton. \u201cThen, when [Francis] said she wanted to direct it, I was like, \u2018I\u2019m in.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

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Amy Morton (right) said she was persuaded to return to Steppenwolf\u2019s stage after eight years in part because of director Audrey Francis (left), her former student and the current co-artistic director of the theater. Francis calls Morton her mentor. <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

As actor and director, the duo power Steppenwolf\u2019s latest production, \u201cYou Will Get Sick,\u201d opening Sunday and running through July 20. The show, a Chicago premiere written by Noah Diaz, is about an unlikely friendship between a terminally ill patient (Namir Smallwood) and his noticeably older caretaker (Morton).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of directors that I want to work with,\u201d said Morton. \u201cThat\u2019s just the way it is in theater. Directing is really hard. It\u2019s stupid hard. So, when you find a good one, you want to keep working with them over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morton and Francis first met back in 2004 in the School at Steppenwolf, a former 10-week intensive summer acting program led by ensemble members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget when I was in my 20s and Amy was my teacher,\u201d said Francis, who now calls Morton her mentor. \u201cI remember thinking that she was such an awesome teacher, and I learned so much from her about acting and theater, but more about how to be a respectable, courageous human being.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis remembers Morton hanging out with students outside of class and her joy in seeing them succeed.<\/p>\n

Asked about her first memories of Francis, the seasoned actor Morton shoots her director a quick grin.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was hilarious,\u201d said Morton. \u201cShe made me laugh, and that\u2019s always important. But she also was a gamer. She\u2019ll try anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the next two decades, Morton and Francis remained close. Francis became an assistant at the Steppenwolf school as she launched into her professional acting career; she said Morton was a huge supporter of her endeavors. In recent years, the two have taught acting classes together.<\/p>\n

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Amy Morton and Sadieh Rifai are among the cast of \u201cYou Will Get Sick.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Later in the day, during rehearsals, the chemistry between the two is even more apparent.<\/p>\n

For starters, they just happened to both wear jean jackets to rehearsal. Then they are working on a scene featuring Morton and Smallwood. The scene is complex to stage and needs precise timing to work.<\/p>\n

In the scene, Smallwood, whose character uses a wheelchair, has a surreal stroke, and his mind becomes disconnected from his body. Another actor, Jordan Arredondo, is located underneath the stage, voicing Smallwood\u2019s conscience over speakers.<\/p>\n

Working with the playwright, sound designer, lighting designer and stage manager, the actors and director must sync the voice of the actor offstage with the movements onstage \u2014 a set of directions that include Smallwood falling from the wheelchair onto the stage floor.<\/p>\n

But the moment is proving hard to nail. Everyone in the room speaks at once to try to solve the problem. Morton and Francis in particular go back and forth, nearly finishing each other\u2019s sentences, until finally Morton proffers the winning solution.<\/p>\n

Francis says loudly, \u201cOnce again, Amy solved it.\u201d She adds with a chuckle, \u201cSee how problematic she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a trust that they have with one another that is palpable,\u201d Smallwood said of the pair. \u201cYou can\u2019t miss it. There\u2019s a love between the two of them as people and as artists that is really cool to see. Audrey is a beast. She\u2019s a really good director.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n \"Waiting<\/p>\n<\/picture>\n
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Amy Morton (left) plays Trudy Platt, a desk sergeant with attitude, on NBC\u2019s \u201cChicago PD.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/p>\n

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Richard A. Chapman\/Sun-Times, File<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Morton does have a reputation for being what some may call tough and others would say is radically straightforward. She\u2019s funny. And curses a lot. And says exactly what she thinks \u2014 which comes from her approach to acting.<\/p>\n

Morton champions the Meisner technique of acting, which even she admits can be a bit frightening. The method requires actors to play off each other\u2019s behaviors and be vulnerable and brutally honest with scene partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole point of Meisner is connection and listening,\u201d said Morton. \u201cBefore the writer puts words on the paper, the writer has an impulse, and that impulse is what you\u2019re trying to get at as an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ensemble members Namir Smallwood and Amy Morton in a scene from Steppenwolf Theatre\u2019s Chicago premiere of \u201cYou Will Get Sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

One recurring word that came up speaking to Morton was \u201cbulls—.\u201d In fact, she said that\u2019s what makes Steppenwolf\u2019s brand of ensemble theater, which includes both high-profile, seasoned actors like Morton and up-and-comers like Smallwood. There are no egos. Everyone can call \u201cbulls—\u201d when necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody has a bull—- meter, and they\u2019re not afraid to cry bull—- on somebody else\u2019s bull—-,\u201d explained Morton. \u201cSo, the acting has to be honest or it doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s part of this particular institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before we wrap the interview, I ask Morton what she likes about Francis as a director. And of course, she gives it to me straight:<\/p>\n

\u201cShe directs like I do. Which is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Davis is WBEZ\u2019s theater reporter.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n