Kate Arrington
The Steppenwolf ensemble member stars in ‘The Qualms’
Brooklyn-based actress Kate Arrington returns to the Steppenwolf stage this summer in a Bruce Norris-directed play, “The Qualms,” which uses a swingers’ get-together as the setting for discussions on “the politics of sex and relationships, monogamy, ownership and competition,” Arrington says. During the play’s run, the 39-year-old actress and her husband, actor Michael Shannon, are calling Chicago home. “We love being here,” she says. “My [5-year-old] daughter loves everything about it. As soon as we get there, she’s ready to go eat her eggs Benedict at Toast [2746 W. Webster] and play Skeeball at Glascott’s [2158 N. Halsted] — she’s got her whole list of Chicago favorites.”
Road to the stage
“I grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina — I think I did my first play in Raleigh when I was 7 at a little camp I went to. I just loved it and got addicted. [Later], I went to Northwestern for theater and then performance studies. It was such an ambition of mine to be in Steppenwolf. I spent all of college braving the train — it was scary in the late ‘90s — and I have no sense of direction, so getting off at North and Clybourn and seeing the big Steppenwolf sign, I had a clear vision.”
Character study
“[My character in ‘The Qualms’] is such a sweetheart. She’s earnest, and educated in a cable-TV sort of way — she knows a lot of things from Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. There are holes in her knowledge, but she’s been through a hundred times more life experiences than I have; she’s moved from place to place to find some sort of acceptance.”
Role call
“I thought about going to a swinging club [to prepare for the role] — I heard there was one in Brooklyn — then I just got terrified. I don’t think it’s cool to go there and be like, ‘I’m just doing research, don’t mind me!’ I read an amazing book, Swapping Secrets: The Swinging Guide for Normal People [by Matt and Amy Pro] to learn about the lifestyle — that’s what they call it, a lifestyle. I was very interested in learning about it.”
Good direction
“I’ve worked on a lot of Bruce [Norris’] plays. His writing is so specific, he’s thought through every single thing — he’s got it so figured out where each character is, not only where they are physically but he knows when your character is in the bathroom, when they’ve gotten up to get a drink. … He’s charted it emotionally. A lot of [the process] is just catching up to Bruce’s mind.” See “The Qualms” at Steppenwolf (1650 N. Halsted) through August 31. For tickets (starting at $44), visit Steppenwolf.org or call ( 312) 335-1650.