By Lauren Emily Whalen
What is the price of genius—and who really “deserves” it? Inspired by an 1830 Pushkin play that fictionalized the rivalry between composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus won both the Tony Award for Best Play when it premiered and the Academy Award for Best Picture several years later. Now directed by two-time Tony winner Robert Falls, Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of Amadeus celebrates the company’s 50th anniversary with style.
In 18th-century Vienna, Salieri (Ian Barford) serves as court composer for Emperor Joseph II (Gregory Linington) and an in-demand teacher for rising stars. Enter Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (David Darrow), an enfant terrible with prolific, prodigious talent. Decades after Mozart’s passing, a dying Salieri speculates whether he had a part in the mad genius’s decline—or has Salieri overestimated his importance all along?
Performing in the round, the 18-member cast is gorgeously draped in Amanda Gladu’s elaborate, symbolic costumes, including detailed appliques on the garments of Joseph II’s court and a stunning orange brocade gown for Mozart’s wife, Constanze (Jaye Ladymore). As Mozart suffers, his hot-pink trousers and chaotic red wig fade to dull brown garments and, eventually, to no wig at all.
Standout performances include Ladymore’s vibrant turned long-suffering spouse, Linington’s scene-stealing emperor (with an iconically delivered catchphrase), and Darrow’s sharply empathetic Mozart. Even at his brattiest, the latter’s vulnerability is on display: an aging child prodigy dependent on external validation and increasingly desperate as it evaporates.
Amadeus stumbles a bit in staging. Falls’ style—especially beautiful in an Act II sequence involving the entire cast and gold brocade chairs—doesn’t translate to Salieri’s duality as a deliciously unreliable narrator and a vicious character in his own story, hell-bent on ruining his rival. Given the staging, at any given moment, it’s difficult to discern whether Salieri is relaying the narrative or participating in it.
Steppenwolf’s Amadeus may not reach perfection, but its exploration of artistic jealousy and the cost of being exceptional makes for compelling, beautiful theater.
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Fast facts: ‘Amadeus’
Despite some missteps, Steppenwolf’s Amadeus succeeds as a resonant exploration of artistic rivalry featuring David Darrow in the title role.
- Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago
- Running time: Approximately 2 hours 45 minutes with one intermission
- Performances through January 11, 2026
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