Caroline Neff, Namir Smallwood, Tim Hopper, Emilie Maureen Hanson, and Kate Arrington Photo by Michael Brosilow

The story opens as "the world" intrudes on Mr. Wolf and Theresa, a teenage girl who seems to have lived her life entirely among books, contemplating the stars, infinity, and God. Mr. Wolf has only just returned from shopping for things that he thinks "they" will allow her to keep: a coat, a pair of shoes, and the first chocolate Theresa has ever tasted. He urgently asks for his permission to kill himself, out of her sight, which she grants.

We learn, then, that Theresa was abducted at age three and was missing for twelve years. She struggles to see the doctor who cares for her and the police detective who questions her as anyone other than Mr. Wolf, a situation that is further complicated by the fact that her father, Michael, is rendered speechless by the fulfillment of the miracle he had always hoped for. The arrival of Theresa's mother Hana in the home that Michael shares with his second wife Julie further ratchets up the tension.

The story that Joseph has chosen to tell is laudably clear and quite specific. Theresa's abduction is undeniably brutal in its details and Joseph does not shy away from that brutality, but neither does he center it. He is, instead, interested in the ramifications of loss for the characters. Whereas loss destroyed Michael and Hana's marriage, as the two could not make space for the way the other coped with the inevitable, the very same force brought Julie into Michael's life as she sought support and understanding in the wake of her own daughter's death from cancer and her husband's suicide in all but name.

Theresa's journey in the brief space that the play spans is the axis on which this universe spins. At the start, she clings to Mr. Wolf's delusion that she is a prophet and that her life is entirely unique and her own. But before the play's end, Joseph makes it clear in masterful, character-driven ways that the girl's embrace of this narrative is how she kept herself alive as the realities of her captor's madness became clear to her.

Telling Joseph's story as it deserves to be told demands much of the production team. Walt Spangler's scenic design establishes a worthy foundation by gliding realistic elements into an emphatic shadow box. The house where Wolf keeps his victims pushes forward almost to the extreme downstage edge, with its overflowing bookcases and the blackboard where Theresa performs her role. In contrast, Michael and Julie's house (which once belonged to Michael and Hana) comprises isolated sets that emerge from the wings, only to have the cavernous black space press down on them. When Theresa encounters incarnations of Mr. Wolf in the hospital and, presumably, the police station, these harsh, narrow spaces are rigidly confined to center state.

The projections by Rasean Davonté Johnson impart the necessary surreal, larger-than-life feel to the production. In conjunction with the fluid scenic design, these projections are particularly critical in the transition from the confines of Theresa's life with Mr. Wolf back into the wider world. And without the work of Keith Parham in the lighting design or Josh Schmidt's sound design and original music, no single element of the production would succeed nearly as well as it all does.

Dede Ayite's costume design is so subtle that its contributions might easily go unnoticed. But the connections and distinctions in terms of color and style of the characters' costumes are impressive and lasting. The blues and grays of Theresa's initial clothing, for example, are echoed in her father's. Hana's clothes are neutral in terms of color palette (and not so coincidentally mesh with the home that was once hers and that Michael has, apparently, changed very little), but the cuts and materials are aggressively stylish, particularly in contrast to the just-getting-by vibes of Julie and Michael.

The performances, guided by the clearly careful and thoughtful direction of Freeman, also honor the subtle, painful, human work that Joseph has created.

Emilie Maureen Hanson grasps the economy and realism of the character of Theresa. There is a critical thread of desperation that runs through her performance as the otherworldly savant. But it is important that this reads as a performance, and the nuance Hanson achieves when the character realizes the truth of this is devastating and crucial to why the drama succeeds.

Tim Hopper's abilities to melt into the characters of Mr. Wolf, Theresa's doctor, and a police detective in the immediate aftermath of her rescue are also important ingredients to this success. The characters Hopper plays other than Mr. Wolf are no simple instance of dual or treble casting. Rather, Hopper communicates that any one of the characters he plays need not be (but might have been) the villain of the piece.

As Michael, Namir Smallwood is outstanding. For much of the play's early going, Smallwood is called upon to be pointedly present in the scene without dominating it, often having no lines at all. In these moments, his movements and body language convey both his anguish and wonder. And as events wear on, he asserts himself as an individual who can (probably) arrange his own affairs and who will do his level best to ensure that Theresa's needs are met.

The character of Hana is the most challenging to get a handle on. Her coping mechanism has been to move away from the tragedy, both literally and figuratively; and with Theresa's return, she seems to assume that she can reassert herself as the center of her restored family. Kate Arrington captures this strong-willed practicality, which often reads as cold and self-centered, but in her interactions with the other characters also conveys that this hardness is also a coping mechanism.

Caroline Neff carries many of the play's moments of dark, uncomfortable humor as Julie. Neff pairs this with tremendous power, though, in communicating how raw Julie's grief remains. As Michael and Hana confront one another in an upstairs guest room, Theresa encounters Julie in the living room. The interaction is painful as the two mutually lash out, but the work that Neff and Hanson do together lands the emotional moment perfectly, making it clear that it has moved them both forward, however minutely.

Mr Wolf runs through November 2, 2025, at Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago IL. For tickets and information, please visit steppenwolf.org or call 312-335-1650.