Asked about the Chicago premiere of " Defiance ," director Jason Loewith suggests a headline: " Steve Pickering back at the Next Theatre."

Or better still, he said, "' Steve Pickering 's triumphant return to the Next.' We're totally, totally lucky to have him back. He's an amazing actor. And he was born to play this role."

Pickering, Next's artistic director from 1994 to 1999, stars as Lt. Col. Littlefield in John Patrick Shanley's play about racial tensions on a Marine base in 1971.

In the eight years since his stint in Evanston , Pickering has been an itinerant star of the stage. He acted alongside Brian Dennehy in the Goodman Theatre's "Death of a Salesman," a role that took him to five cities over six and half years. Now back in Chicago , he's living in Roscoe Village and launching Shanghai Low Theatricals, a group that develops literary adaptations for the stage.

Good place to be
"I enjoy the community here," he says. "I enjoy the people. They do theater for theater's sake. It's always a good, honest experience. There's really no better place to be."

Recent Pickering performances have included his role as Kent in Robert Falls ' controversial 2006 production of "King Lear."

"That was my 28th show at the Goodman, and I think probably the one I'm most proud of," Pickering says. "It was an extraordinary experience."

Pickering was eager to return to the Next Theatre, but when Loewith first approached him about " Defiance ," he had already committed to acting in "Major Barbara" in his home state of Tennessee right when he would need to be rehearsing for " Defiance ."

Wanting to do both shows, Pickering negotiated an unusual rehearsal schedule with Actors' Equity, that let him do two " Defiance " rehearsals in summer and the rest in October and November. He said the process seemed to be working, despite the fact that "Major Barbara" had occupied his mind for so long. "It's like memorizing the Magna Carta, so everything in your brain has to go away," he says.

He credited other members of the " Defiance " cast, especially Laura T. Fisher, who plays his wife, for helping him get back up to speed. The cast also includes Osiris Khepera , David Rispoli and Joseph Wycoff.

Time of turmoil
" Defiance " is Shanley's follow-up to his Pulitzer- and Tony-winning "Doubt," the second part of a projected trilogy examining ethical issues at American institutions. While "Doubt" was set at a Catholic school in the 1950s, " Defiance " takes place two decades later, at a time of social turmoil in the United States .

"The whole country seemed to be either about protecting old values or defying them to blaze a trail to new ones," Loewith says.

Trying to relieve tensions at Camp Lejeune , Pickering 's character appoints a young black captain to serve as his executive officer.

"When you look the way I look, you play an awful lot of baddies in your life," Pickering says. "With this guy, it has more to do with what kind of jam you can get yourself in when you're so desperately trying to do the right thing, but at the same time mowing down most of the people around you in order to get the right thing done."

Loewith says his approach to directing " Defiance " is straightforward.

"I just need to get out of the way of the play and let it do its stuff," he says. "Shanley has written a very tight and elegant piece. It's 90 minutes, no intermission. It rockets through."

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