Speaking with... Jon Steinhagen about ‘Blizzard ’67’ at Chicago Dramatists

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Steven Spencer (from left), Andy Lutz, Andy Hager and John Gawlik star in "Blizzard '67" by Chicago Dramatistsresident playwright Jon Steinhagen.

‘blizzard ’67’

† Through Feb. 12

† Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago

† Tickets, $15-$32

† (312) 633-0630;
chicagodramatists.org

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Updated: January 12, 2012 10:52AM

Mention the blizzard of ’67 to Chicagoans who lived through it — whether they were tiny tots at the time or grownups with a gaggle of kids — and invariably the anecdotes will flow freely. Everybody who experienced the 23-inch snowfall that brought Chicago to a grinding halt, remembers where they were on Jan. 26, 1967, as a predicted 4-inch snowfall turned into a 24-hour tempest.

Tens of thousands of commuters were stranded; thousands of cars abandoned on highways and side streets; and nearly 800 CTA buses sat trapped in the impassable roadways. There were also empty grocery store shelves, incidents of looting, and more than one person lost his life shoveling snow or being dragged under by snow plows that couldn’t see pedestrians in front of them in the blinding snow.

The 45th anniversary of the blizzard is around the corner (exactly to the day and date, it turns out, including the mild January weather that led up to the big snow; it was an unseasonable 65 degrees just two days before the storm).

Chicago Dramatists resident playwright Jon Steinhagen has used that day in Chicago history as the backdrop for his new work, “Blizzard ’67” in which he explores basic human nature in the face of Mother Nature’s unrelenting force. The 42-year-old Steinhagen wasn’t born when the blizzard of ’67 hit Chicago, but he didn’t have a shortage of “resources” for the project.

“I asked older people I worked with, and my nearest and dearest friends and family, anyone who I could talk to who was around for the blizzard,” Steinhagen said. “It wasn’t hard to get people talking about the storm at all. Everyone had a story, a memory, photographs.”

The play, which opens Jan. 14, centers on four men who share a carpool every day to and from work, but really don’t know one another. Trying to drive home during the height of the storm, they find themselves stuck in the snow somewhere on the outskirts of the Loop, when one of them exits the vehicle due to an extenuating circumstance. Shortly thereafter the other three hear what they think are gunshots and see what they believe are shadowy figures lurking outside the car. The three make the decision to abandon the car and run for their lives, leaving the fourth man somewhere out there, his ultimate fate unknown to them. The story paints a portrait of what men will or won’t do when pushed to the limits of humanity.

Steinhagen talked to the Sun-Times about his timely production.

Question:What was the impetus to write a play about this one day in Chicago history?

Jon Steinhagen: About 10 years ago, I was working on a script that contained 8 scenes, each set in a different decade. A play for 8 men that looked at the way men treat each other, the survival instinct of men, from the 1930s up to the year 2000 when I was writing it. The scene that took place in the 1960s was set in a car with four men during the ’67 blizzard in which one guy leaves the vehicle and soon after, the three others run off leaving him behind. But I never did anything with the script. Ten years later, that scene from the play occurred to me and I wondered if it could be something bigger. In essence, I wrote out from that scene.

Q.How cool was it to have an entire city full of source material?

JS: When I began writing this play, I consulted clips from the local papers, pored over tons of facts on the Internet, spoke to so many people and got so many personal details. I used all that info to bolster the narrative.

Q.The story is rather dark, and takes an unexpected turn, which I won’t reveal of course. But what did you learn about your fellow man as these characters took shape?

JS: I really started to realize how blunt men can be when pushed to anger or pushed to their limits. Men can be very forthcoming about their brutality, and not necessarily physically violence. They can exhibit a ruthlessness that is almost immeasurable as they assert their place in the world. And they can be very reticent about discussing what’s going on in their personal lives. These characters have their quirks. The blizzard makes them almost primitive.

Q.In the play, three of them have to decide what to do when they can’t see “what’s out there” in the storm. What would you have done?

JS: I don’t honestly know. It’s easy to look at their situation and say I would have gone out there and seen what was there and not run away. But that’s hindsight. I don’t know what I would do if I were caught in fearsome weather and heard what I thought were gunshots outside my car and couldn’t see through the blowing snow. I can’t say that I would act heroic — just or look out for myself. I hope I never have to make that choice.

Q.You have a lot of product placement in the play, Chevy Caprice, Jewel stores, the Tip Top Tap at the Allerton Hotel.

JS: It’s all details from stories that people told me. The cars are very important in the story, of course. And my mom worked at a Jewel and that day when the store closed early, employees were sent home with stuff. [Laughs] My mom came home with all these cakes.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Got a story or photo about the blizzard of ’67 you’d like to share? Fill out the form below. We may use the information for publication in the Sun-Times and on our website.