Under the leadership of Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, Court Theatre is proud to announce its 72nd season. As America marks 250 years of nationhood, Court Theatre, as Chicago's premier stage for classic work, responds with a season that examines our shared pursuit of Life and Liberty.

The 2026/27 season will feature the American premiere of Winsome Pinnock's Tituba, set in colonial Salem against the backdrop of the infamous witch trials, directed by Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent, with dramaturgy by Avery Willis Hoffman, performed at the University of Chicago's iconic Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Following Tituba, we move to twentieth-century Pittsburgh one last time as Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson directs August Wilson's masterwork, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, bringing his staging of the August Wilson American Century Cycle at Court Theatre to a triumphant conclusion. We then proudly feature Luis Alfaro's Mojada, a blistering reimagining of the Greek classic Medea, as a testament to twenty-first century immigrant life in Chicago, produced in partnership with Teatro Vista Productions and directed by Wendy Mateo and Denise Yvette Serna. The season concludes with safronia, an epic new opera that highlights a family's fight for justice across generations, created by inaugural Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young and directed by Timothy Douglas.

Court Theatre's 72nd season is an exploration of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit. America is at an undeniable inflection point. We, as a set of complex communities, are reexamining our systems and very ways of being, challenging long-held beliefs, and asking urgent questions. Theatre—which we believe to be a foundational pillar of civic discourse—helps us to find new pathways through complicated times. The 2026/27 season peers deep into the heart of distinctly American stories—with all their nuance, contradictions, and beauty—and reaffirms the crucial resilience of the classics.

Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman shares, "As our country passes a historic milestone, Court's 2026/27 season works towards demonstrating theatre's place at the center of civic life. Our art form has historically offered fresh perspectives, inspired spirited discourse, and created unique and shared experiences that help us better understand each other and ourselves. In this moment of intense reflection, we are re-committing to this complicated, but basic, mission, all of which feels increasingly urgent, and getting to the heart of how theatre can make a real impact. In my first full season as the new Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, I am proud that Court is leading these conversations."

Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre adds, "The 2026/27 season affirms that American stories are varied, complex, and beautiful, and it has something for everyone. From Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson's historic completion of the August Wilson Century Cycle, to a new opera, to a national premiere, to a Chicago-specific adaptation, this season stretches our expectations and expands the boundaries of our art form. This is exciting for us, our audiences, and the artists we're working with—some of whom we're thrilled to welcome to Court's stage for the first time. We can't wait to present a season that is as varied, complex, and beautiful as the America outside our doors."

The first production in Court Theatre's 2026/27 season begins in December 2026, markedly later than years past, and will take place offsite at the University of Chicago's Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Court's Abelson Auditorium will be dark for the summer and fall of 2026 as we modernize our lighting equipment and implement a new fall protection system. These changes will create a safer working environment for theatre technicians, and provide necessary and exciting updates to our intimate house.

The 2026/27 Court Theatre Season Up Close:

AMERICAN PREMIERE

TITUBA

By Winsome Pinnock

Directed by Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent

Dramaturgy by Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman

Limited Engagement at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

December 2026, dates to be announced

Performed in the hallowed halls of the University of Chicago's Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, the 2026/27 season opens with the American premiere of Tituba—a theatrical experience that offers a new lens on pre-Revolutionary War America through spiritually charged language, music, and dance.

In this solo performance, Tituba—the real-life person accused in the Salem witch trials of 1692 and featured in Arthur Miller's classic The Crucible—invites the audience to journey through her mystical world to hear her side of the story. With care and wry humor, she details her history with the girls in Salem Village, her beloved mother and husband, Reverend Parris's rage, the violence of enslavement, and her unspoken indigenous name, building to a scathing climax and the ignition of historic mass hysteria.

Set against the backdrop of the institution that accused Tituba centuries ago, Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent directs, with dramaturgy by Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman. Together, they bring Tituba's life story to light in a sacred place, uplifting her voice and showcasing the transformational power of storytelling.

JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE

By August Wilson

Directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson

January 8 - February 7, 2027

More than twenty years in the making, Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson completes a defining chapter of his artistic legacy. With Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Parson completes August Wilson's American Century Cycle and joins an elite circle of directors who have staged all ten plays at the same theatre.

It is 1911, and Harold Loomis and his daughter, Zonia, have been on the road for years, searching for Zonia's mother and, unbeknownst to Harold, chasing his forgotten song. Their journey leads them to Seth Holly's boardinghouse, where they meet Holly, his wife, and fellow boarders who, like them, are in relentless pursuit of love, identity, freedom, and purpose.

Wilson's iconic, evocative prose and vivid characters shine in this portrayal of a nation haunted by slavery, with spirits around every corner and no escape in sight.

Ron OJ Parson's residency is made possible by The Joyce Foundation.

MOJADA

By Luis Alfaro

Directed by Wendy Mateo and Denise Yvette Serna

Presented In Partnership with Teatro Vista Productions

March 12 - April 11, 2027

An adaptation of an ancient classic tale of revenge, sacrifice, and the high price of pursuing freedom, Mojada renders Euripides's Medea myth urgently and achingly alive in the city of Chicago.

Medea survived a treacherous journey from Mexico to the United States in search of a better life, but the promise of the American Dream is quickly unravelling. She sews exquisite garments in her backyard, suffocated by fear. Her son sheds tradition as fast as he can, trading huaraches for Vans. And her husband grows distant, seduced by ambition and proximity to power. Trapped between who she was and who America demands she become, Medea finds herself in a standoff with the very dream she risked everything to reach. 

Co-directed by Teatro Vista Productions' Artistic Director Wendy Mateo and Artistic Collective member Denise Yvette Serna, Mojada confronts the contradictions at the center of American identity: opportunity and erasure, belonging and betrayal. Both a love letter and a searing indictment, this electrifying production asks: What are we willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of liberty?

safronia

Written, composed, and scored by avery r. young

Directed by Timothy Douglas

May 14 - June 13, 2027

An extraordinary new opera from inaugural Chicago Poet Laureate avery r. young, safronia blends gospel, blues, funk, folklore, poetry, and history to tell a tale of triumph and trauma, ownership and loss. Banished from their land, the Booker family is deadset on reclaiming what's theirs and granting their patriarch's last wish. But one final reckoning remains: safronia must avenge her father's death.

safronia is an epic poem told through the vibrant music of the hundreds of thousands who journeyed to Chicago during the Great Migration—and a revelatory conclusion to the 2026/27 season. It celebrates the sonic legacy of artists like Curtis Mayfield, Nina Simone, and Oscar Brown Jr., and completely reimagines the scope of the American classical music landscape.

After mounting a concert-style performance at Lyric Opera, composer avery r. young and director Timothy Douglas bring a fully realized production to Court's intimate venue, promising an evening that shimmers, soars, and binds us in a communal American history.

safronia was workshopped and commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago, with its world premiere concert-style production at Lyric Opera House on April 17-18, 2026.

Subscription Information

Three and four-play subscriptions to Court's 2026/27 season range from $120 to $300 and are on sale now. Please note, seating at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel is general admission; subscribers will receive access to the preferred section. To purchase a subscription or to receive more information, call the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court's website at CourtTheatre.org. Individual tickets for Tituba will go on sale September 1st. Individual tickets for all other productions will go on sale October 1st.

About the Artists

WINSOME PINNOCK (Tituba Playwright) is a recipient of the 2022 Windham-Campbell Prize. She was born in Islington, North London, and is an award-winning playwright and dramaturg. Her work has been produced on the British stage and internationally since 1985. She was the first black British female writer to have a play produced by the Royal National Theatre. Winsome was Associate Professor in Drama at Kingston University from 2005 to 2019, and was Senior Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University. She has worked as a dramaturg with the Royal National Theatre's New Views scheme as well as with the Royal Court's International Department. The prizes awarded to her work include the George Devine Award, The Pearson Plays on Stage Award and the Unity Theatre Trust Award.

GABRIELLE RANDLE-BENT (Tituba Director, Associate Artistic Director) is a mother, director, dramaturg, and scholar. Her directorial highlights include A Raisin in the Sun; Antigone; The Island; and The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice (co-directed with Charles Newell) at Court Theatre; 1919 (Steppenwolf); and The Year of Magical Thinking (Remy Bumppo). She is a co-founder of the Civic Actor Studio, a leadership program of the University of Chicago's Office of Civic Engagement. She has a BA in Drama from Stanford University, an MA in Performance as Public Practice from the University of Texas at Austin, and a PhD from Northwestern University.

DR. AVERY WILLIS HOFFMAN (Tituba Dramaturg, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director) is proud to join Court Theatre. Avery recently served as inaugural Artistic Director, Brown Arts Institute and Professor of the Practice of Arts and Classics at Brown University. Over the last two decades, she has curated multidisciplinary projects as inaugural Program Director at Park Avenue Armory, led content development for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History, managed Avery Productions, and produced multiple artistic collaborations with director Peter Sellars. A Marshall Scholar, Avery earned a DPhil and MSt in Classical Languages and Literature from Oxford, and a BA in Classics and English from Stanford.

AUGUST WILSON (Joe Turner's Come and Gone Playwright) authored Radio Golf, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Gem of the Ocean. Mr. Wilson's works garnered many awards, including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987) and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain's Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as seven New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Jitney, and Radio Golf. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theatre located at 245 West 52nd Street, The August Wilson Theatre. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2007.

RON OJ PARSON (Joe Turner's Come and Gone Director, Resident Artist) is Resident Artist at the Tony Award-winning Court Theatre. Credits include East Texas Hot Links, The Lion in Winter, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Two Trains Running at Court Theatre; HYMN (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Twisted Melodies (Northlight Theatre); Toni Stone (Goodman); Trouble in Mind (TimeLine Theatre); Relentless (TimeLine and Goodman); and The Reclamation of Madison Hemings (Indiana Repertory Theatre). Ron received a 3Arts Make a Wave grant in 2021, the 2022 Zelda Fichandler Award, a University of Chicago Diversity Award, many Jeff Awards and Black Theatre Alliance Awards, the LA NAACP Award for Jitney; he is a Joyce Foundation grantee, and was named Chicagoan of the Year for Theater by the Chicago Tribune. Ron is a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. www.ronojparson.net. 

LUIS ALFARO (Mojada Playwright) is a Chicano playwright, poet, and performance artist born and raised in downtown Los Angeles. He is the 2024 World Theatre Artist for Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and the recipient of the 2024 award in literature from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. He was the Associate Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group at the Music Center of Los Angeles County (2021-2022, 1995-2005), home of the Mark Taper Forum, and the Ahmanson and Kirk Douglas Theaters, where he produced over one hundred and fifty new play commissions, productions, workshops, and readings. His plays include Aztlan, Earlimart, The Travelers, Electricidad, Oedipus El Rey, Mojada, Delano, Body of Faith, Alleluia the Road, Black Butterfly, Bruja, and Straight as a Line. He was a student of the playwright Maria Irene Fornes, performance artist Scott Kelman, and a product of the Inner-City Cultural Center in downtown Los Angeles.

WENDY MATEO (Mojada Co-Director) is the Artistic Director of Teatro Vista Productions, and an actor, writer, director, and filmmaker. Mateo has been seen on stages throughout Chicago, including at Lookingglass Theatre, where she is an ensemble member. Mateo's directing credits include the play Not for Sale 2.0 by Guadalis del Carmen at UrbanTheater Company, ¡Bernarda! By Emilio Williams at Teatro Vista Productions and the upcoming world premiere of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao at Goodman Theatre. On television and film, Mateo can be seen on Chicago Med, as Ronnie in Station Eleven, and in Steve McQueen's Widows. As a filmmaker, Wendy has written and produced three short films including the latest, Hair, written and directed by Lorena Diaz and Wendy Mateo.

DENISE YVETTE SERNA (Mojada Co-Director) is an award-winning theatre practitioner in Chicago, Illinois. Credits include productions and new play development with Teatro Vista Productions, Lyric Opera of Chicago, MCA Chicago, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Neo-Futurists, Paramount Theatre, Bramble Theatre Company, Strawdog Theatre Company, Prop Thtr, and Global Hive Laboratories. Denise has facilitated international workshops, productions, readings, fundraisers, panels, and festivals to promote activism for racial equity, accessibility, climate justice, gender based violence, immigration, literacy, community collaboration, and collective joy. deniseyvetteserna.com.

avery r. young (safronia Playwright, Composer, and Librettist) is Chicago's inaugural Poet Laureate, American Poet Laureate Fellow, interdisciplinary artist, and a co-director of The Floating Museum. His art practice spans from the co-curation of The Chicago Architecture Biennial 5, This Is A Rehearsal, to written and performance works featured in national and international exhibitions, theater, festivals, and anthologies.  He has scored Lise Haller Baggeson's Hatorgrade Retrograde: The Musical, scoring Red Clay Dance's Rest.Restore.Nourinsh.Move.Heal, and produced two albums, booker t soltreyne: a race rekkid and tubman. The latter is the soundtrack to his volume of poetry titled, neckbone: visual verses [Northwestern].

TIMOTHY DOUGLAS's (safronia Director) credits include The Color Purple (Signature Theatre, Helen Hayes Award), She Who Dared (Chicago Opera Theater), Champion (Boston Lyric Opera), Blue (New Orleans Opera), the premiere of Something Happened in Our Town (Children's Theatre Company), Frankenstein (Classic Stage Company), and the Great Theatre of China production/tour of Disgraced. He has made productions for Arena Stage, Berkeley Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, Denver Center, Downstage New Zealand, Folger Shakespeare, Guthrie Theater, Juilliard, Kennedy Center, Mark Taper Forum, Milwaukee Rep, National Theatret Norway, Portland Center Stage, Red Bull, and Steppenwolf, among many others, including Yale Rep's world premiere of August Wilson's Radio Golf. timothydouglas.org.

About Court Theatre

Winner of the 2022 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Court Theatre reimagines classic theatre to illuminate our current times. In residence at the University of Chicago and on Chicago's historic South Side, we engage our audiences with intimate and provocative experiences that inspire deeper exploration of the enduring questions that confront humanity and connect us as people.

The Joffrey Ballet has completed a major refresh of its Chicago-based home, The Joffrey Tower (10 E. Randolph Street), featuring interiors by Rubiostudio, and vivid environmental graphics by acclaimed artist & designer Bob Faust, renowned for crafting work with typography at its core, and showcasing visually-stunning examples of Concrete Poetry, courtesy of the national Poetry Foundation, also based in Chicago.  Together, this interdisciplinary collaboration of art, design, architecture, dance, and poetry aims to re-imagine Joffrey Tower as both a home for ballet and a living work of art; creating an environment as inspiring and dynamic as the Company itself.

Under the direction of Joffrey President and CEO Greg Cameron, Joffrey leadership began re-thinking the environment of The Joffrey Tower post-COVID, aiming to create an integrated campus within the Tower’s four floors to strengthen engagement between the Company Artists, its Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet students, Community Engagement students, and administrative personnel. Key elements of the resulting $2.5 million restoration, funded by generous Joffrey supporters, include the creation of an industry-leading Health and Wellness center and the installation of new Harlequin Wood Sprung Floors. The project also expanded the Tower’s Anne L. Kaplan Costume Shop, the Grainger Academy lobby, and administrative facilities, adding meeting rooms and workspaces.

“To support their work on stage, it is of the utmost importance that our Company Artists and students are taken care of off stage, so we sought for Joffrey Tower’s surroundings to be mindful of both the artists’ physical and mental wellbeing.  A great deal of attention was paid to providing leading-edge fitness equipment and spa facilities in our expansive new Health and Wellness Center, along with offering a variety of comfortable and vibrant spaces for our artists to both individually renew and to congregate for camaraderie,” offered Cameron.

To carry out this first renovation since the Tower opened in 2008, the Company enlisted architect (and Joffrey Board Director) Elva Rubio and Corporate Concepts Inc. to facilitate the interior architecture. Rubio, founder of Chicago-based Rubiostudio, has over 30 years of experience in various practice fields, including urban design, interior design, design education, communications design strategy, and the built environment. 

“My firm clearly understood the assignment put forth by the Joffrey Board: to design a practical and functional floor plan that brings the administrative and artistic functions together, enabling a great exchange of energy and ideas. Given my 20 years as a supporter of the Joffrey, it has been an honor to help deliver a space that serves all the Company’s needs, and I’d like to think our design has created a ‘wonderful chaos’ of interactivity,” said Rubio.

Upon completion of the structural foundation, and with over 6,000 sq. ft. of wall space as his canvas, Faust then dramatically embellished walls throughout Joffrey Tower with his signature “Wallworks,” larger-than-life kaleidoscopically re-mixed photographs. Seeking to interpret themes of movement, the origin photos – now remixed in sizes up to 50 x 400 feet – ranged in subject from Joffrey rehearsal and performance shots to behind-the-scenes costumes and scenic props.

“Working closely with Elva and her team, the ‘Wallworks’ installation for the Joffrey is unique in that she made the decision early on to design the space, knowing there would be art activations throughout. Many of the usual design details were omitted in exchange for clean white space. I sourced imagery, not usually celebrated but no less critical to performance making, for its details, colors, and textures to create ever-evolving and ‘moving’ patterns across these key walls. Visitors will encounter fragments of costumes, props, backstage mechanicals, and even former advertising remixed into contemporary patterns to bring a definable visual identity to Joffrey Tower,” added Faust.

And, in furthering the Joffrey’s commitment to Chicago artists and culture, Faust’s colorful wall installations are accompanied by inspirational lines of poetry, designed as site-specific Concrete Poems, works that are as much a piece of visual art as they are poems.  Curated as part of a new collaboration between the Joffrey and the Chicago-based Poetry Foundation, incorporated into the environment are excerpts of work by six local poets: Alfonso Carrara, Tarfia Faizullah, Angela Jackson, José Olivarez, Anne Stevenson, and the former (and inaugural) Poet Laureate of Chicago avery r. young.  

The Joffrey Ballet concludes its 2025-2026 70^th Anniversary Season with the highly anticipated Chicago Premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s Eugene Onegin, a richly layered and deeply human exploration of love, loss, and redemption inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s poetic novel. From the acclaimed creative team behind Anna Karenina, Eugene Onegin—a co-production with San Francisco Ballet—features an original score by the award-winning composer, performer, and conductor Ilya Demutsky and an immersive set design that plunges audiences into the fragility of the human heart. Eugene Onegin is presented for ten performances only at the historic Lyric Opera House, 20 North Upper Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago, from June 4 to 14, 2026.

ABOUT THE JOFFREY BALLET
The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies in the world today, with a reputation for boundary-breaking performances for 70 years. The Joffrey repertoire is an extensive collection of all-time classics, modern masterpieces, and original works.

Founded in 1956 by pioneers Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, the Joffrey remains dedicated to artistic expression, innovation, and first-rate education and engagement programming. The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE and President and CEO Greg Cameron.

The Joffrey Ballet is grateful for the support of its 2025–2026 70^th Anniversary Season Sponsors: The Abbott Fund, Alphawood Foundation Chicago, Daniel and Pamella DeVos Foundation, Gallagher, The Florian Fund, Anne L. Kaplan, and Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation. Live Music Sponsors Sandy and Roger Deromedi, Sage Foundation, and The Marina and Arnold Tatar Fund for Live Music. The Joffrey also acknowledges our Season Partners: ATHLETICO and Chicago Athletic Clubs.

For more information on The Joffrey Ballet and its programs, visit joffrey.org. Connect with the Joffrey on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

IT’S TIME: ABOUT TIMELINE’S NEW HOME

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, under the leadership of Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis and Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan, today announced its 2026/27 Season, marking the next chapter of the company's bold, visceral and muscular work, while celebrating a dynamic range of exciting new voices and Steppenwolf legends. The 51st Season features five Steppenwolf Membership Series productions: two world premieres, a Chicago premiere, an English-Language premiere and a modern masterpiece – all emblematic of Steppenwolf's indelible impression on the American Theatre. Steppenwolf also doubles down on its decades-long mission to immerse Chicago's youth in the arts through its lauded educational initiatives – and provide much-needed artistic space for the city's bustling community of multi-disciplinary artists, along with itinerant theatre companies.

Steppenwolf Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis comment, "It is perhaps clearer today than at any other moment in our 50-year history: Steppenwolf is the place to experience the next big thing in American theatre. From Broadway transfers of plays that were born right here on Halsted Street, to world premieres that go on to be produced all over the country, this company continues to define cutting-edge, risky and damn fine theatre for audiences around the world."

Davis and Francis continue, "But, if you know Steppenwolf, you know that the awards, the recognition, the platitudes: it's all secondary to what drives us forward. Everything we do begins with our North Star of bringing Chicago audiences theatre they can sink their teeth into, brought to life by our ensemble of world class artists. In planning our 51st season, we knew we wanted to bring Chicago a slate of plays that deliver on Steppenwolf's promise of teeing up gritty, provocative and riotous drama – before you might see it somewhere else."

Raising the curtain on Steppenwolf's 51st Season, Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Topdog/Underdog returns to North Halsted more than two decades after the company's celebrated 2003 production. Helmed by Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon, ensemble members Glenn Davis and Namir Smallwood go head-to-head in this fast-paced and ferocious thrill ride. Up next, Steppenwolf continues its tradition of bringing new works to the American theatre canon with the world premiere of Chicago playwright Stephanie Alison Walker's biting satire Adirondack Chair Circle, directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon and featuring ensemble member Audrey Francis. The 2026/27 continues with the Chicago premiere of The Comeuppance, a riveting dark comedy from Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright of Purpose. Ensemble member Tina Landau ​directs this co-production with American Conservatory Theater featuring an ensemble-stacked cast including Celeste M. Cooper, Caroline Neff, Karen Rodriguez and Namir Smallwood​. Next spring, Steppenwolf presents the English-Language premiere of Ellen B., a psychological thriller by internationally-lauded playwright Marius von Mayenburg, translated by Daniel Brunet and directed by Whitney White. Concluding the 2026/27 season, ensemble member Terry Kinney directs the world premiere of Adam Rapp's haunting and emotional The Night Fawn, featuring ensemble member Cliff Chamberlain. 

The 2026/27 Season is presented at Steppenwolf's expanded campus, which includes three theaters: the Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, the Downstairs Theater and the intimate 1700 Theater.

Steppenwolf Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan adds, "Moving into the theater's next half century, Steppenwolf continues our commitment to the core values that have made us a global leader of theatrical innovation and a cultural citizen for the City of Chicago. The five dynamic plays produced by our company will be complemented by robust teen programming and education programs that throw open our doors for the next generation of learners, makers and appreciators. Additionally, our three stages will welcome a wide variety of local and visiting artists across discipline, expanding our service as a neighborhood hub for art and innovation."

2026/27 Classic Memberships are now on sale starting as low as $165* and include all five Membership Series productions – three plays in the Downstairs Theater and two in the Ensemble Theater. Classic Members receive priority access to seats along with full membership benefits, including unlimited ticket exchanges. The Black Card, Steppenwolf's flex membership, offers six ticket credits starting as low as $128* that allow patrons flexibility for when and how they see shows at Steppenwolf. For patrons under 30, RED Card Memberships offer six ticket credits for just $107*. Discounted packages for students and teachers and accessible packages are also available. For more information and to purchase Memberships, visit Audience Services at steppenwolf.org or call (312) 335-1650. *Prices include handling fees

Throughout the 2026/27 Season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to education and the next generation of audiences with dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions (Topdog/Underdog, Adirondack Chair Circle, The Comeuppance and Ellen B.). Reaching nearly 15,000 teens, educators and community members annually, Steppenwolf Education and Engagement also includes in-school residencies, teen programs, community partnerships and public programs, educator trainings and Maker Workshops – a series of on-site workshops in artmaking and theater production. For additional information about Steppenwolf's Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip visit steppenwolf.org/education.

Additionally, Steppenwolf's 2026/27 Season reaffirms the organization's commitment to spotlighting the work of Chicago's vibrant and eclectic artistic communities in the 1700 Theater. Since opening its doors in 2016, this malleable, intimate space has hosted over 1,000 performances featuring the wide breadth of innovative, bold and adventurous work from more than 3,200 artists across a variety of performance genres. As it steps into its second decade of programming, the 1700 Theater will be the home of an ongoing collaboration with Teatro Vista Productions as part of a multi-year partnership between the two organizations while also continuing to feature performing artists across theatrical disciplines of dance, drag, music, storytelling, comedy, puppetry and more.

Steppenwolf also plans to continue presenting the work of exciting visiting artists and companies in the Downstairs Theater and Ensemble Theater, after the success of presentations of comedy, musical theater and theater artists in recent seasons. These engagements are announced on a rolling basis, with Steppenwolf Members enjoying early access. 

STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY'S 2026/27 SEASON

Topdog/Underdog 
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks 
Directed by Kenny Leon​ 
September 17 — November 1, 2026 
Featuring ensemble members Glenn Davis and Namir Smallwood​ 
in the Downstairs Theater 
Press opening: Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 6 pm

Brothers Lincoln and Booth, named in jest, are two Black men living in America just trying to get by. Lincoln dresses like his namesake, reenacting his assassination for money and laughs. Booth stays stuck in their apartment, working tirelessly on his three-card hustle. Sibling rivalry and a lifetime of resentment come to a head in this fast-paced and ferocious thrill ride from Suzan-Lori Parks. The deck is stacked with a Tony Award-winning director, a Pulitzer Prize-winning script and a tour-de-force showdown for ensemble members Glenn Davis and Namir Smallwood. "Take thuh cards and show me whatcha got!" 

Adirondack Chair Circle – World Premiere!
Written by Stephanie Alison Walker 
Directed by Pam MacKinnon 
Featuring ensemble member Audrey Francis​ 
October 22 — December 6, 2026 
in the Ensemble Theater 
Press opening: Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 6 pm

Banna has it all... or at least that's what the other suburban moms think. Beneath the charcuterie boards, backyard soirees and pickleball, there's a funny feeling bubbling underneath this seemingly perfect facade. Is it the pressure to save her children from the beliefs of the school district? Or is it just that suspicious crow watching her every move? A piercing world premiere from a playful Chicago voice, Stephanie Alison Walker's Adirondack Chair Circle exposes the hilarious hypocrisy of the clubs we join and the company we keep. And has a damn good time doing it. 

The Comeuppance – Chicago Premiere!
Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by ensemble member Tina Landau ​
A co-production with American Conservatory Theater 
Featuring ensemble members Celeste M. Cooper, Caroline Neff, Karen Rodriguez and Namir Smallwood​ 
February 4 — March 21, 2027 
in the Downstairs Theater 
Press opening: Saturday, February 13, 2027 at 7:30 pm

Welcome back, St. Anthony's graduating class of 2002! On the night of their 20th high school reunion, a group of misfit Millennial classmates reconnect for a familiar pregame: drinks, pot, a limo ride and a whole lot of messy memories. But, in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' riveting dark ensemble comedy, a specter looms over the proceedings, reminding us that time only marches forward, even for '90's kids. This Chicago premiere from the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Purpose is a contemplative, hilarious and grave reflection on life and death. 

Ellen B. – English-Language Premiere!
Written by Marius von Mayenburg ​
Translated into English by Daniel Brunet
Directed by Whitney White
April 1 — May 9, 2027 
in the Ensemble Theater
Press opening: Sunday, April 11, 2027 at 6 pm

Astrid, a teacher, lives with Klara, her considerably younger partner – and also her former student. When Wolfram, the school's headmaster, drops by for a visit, he brings with him uncomfortable accusations, and the search for truth erupts into a wicked game of power and desire. In this psychological thriller with no easy answers, internationally-lauded playwright Marius von Mayenburg touches the nerve between past and present, professional and private, truth and lie.

The Night Fawn – World Premiere!
Written by Adam Rapp
Directed by ensemble member Terry Kinney
Featuring ensemble member Cliff Chamberlain​
May 27 — July 3, 2027 
in the Downstairs Theater
Press opening: Sunday, June 6, 2027 at 6 pm

Brendan has a story, one that hurts to tell. He's lost his job, his marriage has ended and he's headed back home to settle his late mother's affairs. It's there that he finds the need to talk, as an unthinkable secret from his childhood demands attention. A provocative confession with haunting implications about memory and revenge, Adam Rapp's The Night Fawn offers a sunset to our season – but real monsters don't wait to come out after dark. 

2026/27 SEASON ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Topdog/Underdog 

Suzan-Lori Parks (Playwright) is a multi-award-winning writer and musician. She is the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Topdog/Underdog, which recently won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Revival. Her other plays include Sally & Tom (2024), Plays for the Plague Year (Drama Desk Award, Best Music, 2023) and Father Comes Home From The Wars (2014). Parks' first marathon-writing "micro diary plays," 365 Days/365 Plays were produced worldwide in what was the largest grassroots collaborative theatre project to date. She is a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, a novelist: Getting Mother's Body (Random House); and a screenwriter: Girl 6, Genius: Aretha, and The United States vs Billie Holiday. Parks also writes songs and fronts her band "SLP& The Joyful Noise," with her punk-couture medicine show, The Tune Up, world-premiering this summer. As a college student Parks is grateful to have studied creative writing with James Baldwin, who encouraged her to write for the theatre.

Kenny Leon (Director) is a Tony Award-winning director. Broadway: Othello, Our Town, HOME, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch, Topdog/Underdog, Ohio State Murders, A Soldier's Play, American Son, Children of a Lesser God, Holler If Ya Hear Me, A Raisin in the Sun, The Mountaintop, Stick Fly, August Wilson's Fences, Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf. Off-Broadway: This World of Tomorrow (The Shed), King James, The Underlying Chris, Everybody's Ruby, Emergence-See! (The Public), Smart People (Second Stage). Opera: Amahl and the Night Visitors, Margaret Garner. Television: Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, Colin in Black & White, 4400, Amend: The Fight for America, American Son (adapted for Netflix), Hairspray Live!, The Wiz Live!, Steel Magnolias, Dynasty, In My Dreams. Author: Take You Wherever You Go. Artistic Director Emeritus: Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company. Senior Resident Director: Roundabout Theatre Company. Awards: Obie, Actors Fund Medal of Honor, George Abbott Lifetime Achievement for American Theatre, Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre.

Glenn Davis (Lincoln) is an actor, producer and Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, alongside Audrey Francis, where he has been an ensemble member since 2017. His Steppenwolf credits include Downstate, The Christians, You Got Older, The Brother/Sister Plays, Head of Passes, King James (also Mark Taper Forum), Describe the Night, and, most recently, Purpose. Broadway credits include Purpose (Tony nomination–Best Featured Actor, Tony Award–Best Play) and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (also Kirk Douglas Theatre, Mark Taper Forum). Off-Broadway credits include Transfers (MCC Theatre), Wig Out! (Vineyard Theatre), Downstate (Playwrights Horizons, Outer Critics Circle Nomination) and King James (MTC). Other regional credits include Moscow x6 (Williamstown Theatre Festival). International credits include: Downstate (National Theatre, UK); Edward II, The Winter's Tale and As You Like It (Stratford Festival); Othello (The Shakespeare Company). Television credits include Billions, 24, The Unit, Jericho and The Good Wife. Glenn is an Artistic Associate at the Young Vic in London and at the Vineyard Theatre in New York. He is also a partner in Cast Iron Entertainment, a collective of artists consisting of Sterling K Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Michael Hill, Andre Holland and Tarell Alvin McCraney. Cast Iron is currently in residence at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. In 2021, Glenn founded The Chatham Grove Company along with his producing partner Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Namir Smallwood​ (Booth) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2017. Steppenwolf: Mr. Wolf, You Will Get Sick, The Book of Grace, The Seagull, Bug, True West, BLKS, Monster, Man In Love, The Hot L Baltimore, Last Night and the Night Before. Broadway: Bug, Pass Over. Off-Broadway: Pipeline, Pass Over (Lincoln Center). Chicago: Primary Trust (Goodman); Charm (Northlight Theatre); The Grapes of Wrath (The Gift Theatre); East Texas Hot Links (Writers Theatre). Regional: Marin Theatre Company, Pillsbury House Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Guthrie Theater. International: True West (Galway International Arts Festival). Television: Chicago Fire, Betrayal, Elementary, American Rust (Showtime/FreeVee), Power Book IV: Force (STARZ). Film: Rounding, About Time, Bailey's Blues.

Adirondack Chair Circle

Stephanie Alison Walker (Playwright) is an internationally-produced, award-winning playwright whose work is known for the personalization of the political, humor in darkness and the dramatization of the resilience of women. She is a native Chicagoburbian who has lived all over including London, Buenos Aires, San Juan Island and fifteen years in Los Angeles. She received her Bachelors in English/Creative Writing and Spanish from the University of Colorado and her Master of Professional Writing from the University of California. She began writing plays while working for Fox Theatricals in Chicago. Her play about the housing crisis, American Home, was the inaugural winner of American Blues Theatre's Blue Ink Award. Her play about the mothers of the disappeared in Argentina, The Madres, received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at Teatro Vista in Chicago, Skylight Theatre Company in L.A., Moxie Theatre in San Diego and Shrewd Theatre Company in Austin. It was the 2019 Winner of the Francesca Primus Prize, winner of the Ashland New Plays Festival, the Generations Prize and semi-finalist for the CTG/ Humanitas Prize for playwriting. Her follow-up play The Abuelas, premiered at Teatro Vista and was recently adapted into a short film titled The Birthday Gift. The Art of Disappearing was a finalist for the Primus Prize and enjoyed critical praise for the world premiere in Chicago by 16th Street Theater in 2015. Friends with Guns, her play about liberals and gun ownership was an O'Neill Finalist, winner of Best New Play at the 2019 Valley Theatre Awards, and had its Chicago premiere by A Short Leap Theatre Company in 2025. Sophia Hayden Deserves Better tells the story of the architect of the Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and was recently a part of Gglassfest by Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago. The Ordeal of Water, inspired by the first women to work as Longshoremen at the Port of Los Angeles, was most recently a part of Bay Street Theater's New Works Festival. Adirondack Chair Circle, her play that tackles suburban book-banning moms, was developed at The Inkwell Theater Company and A Red Orchid's Studio at A Red Orchid. Her short plays have been anthologized by Smith & Kraus. Her full-lengths are published by Broadway Publishing, Inc. In addition to writing plays, she is currently adapting Friends with Guns and The Abuelas as features while raising two spirited boys and selling real estate in the suburbs of Chicago. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Honor Roll Playwrights, NNPN Affiliated Artist, and a proud alumni of the Playwrights Union. stephaniealisonwalker.com

Pam MacKinnon (Director) is a Tony, Drama Desk and multi-Obie Award winning director. She is the artistic director of American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She has directed more than eighty productions. Her Tony Award-winning production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? originated at Steppenwolf. Her production of Bruce Norris's Downstate (Steppenwolf, National Theatre and Playwrights Horizons) was celebrated with several Jeff Awards and won Pam her second Obie. She served as president of SDC, the national Union of choreographers and directors.

Audrey Francis​ (Cast) currently serves as Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre, alongside Glenn Davis, where she has been an Ensemble member since 2017. Audrey directed You Will Get Sick in Steppenwolf's 2024/25 season and POTUS in the 2023/24 season. She has performed on stage in Catch as Catch Can (upcoming), Noises Off, The Thanksgiving Play, The Herd, Between Riverside and Crazy, The Fundamentals, The Doppelgänger (an international farce) and Dance Nation. TV and film credits include Justified: City Primeval, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Empire, Perpetrator, Knives and Skin and Later Days. Audrey is an acting coach for NBC, Fox, Showtime, and Amazon. She is also the co-founder of Black Box Acting and the co-creator of Steppenwolf's corporate training program, Steppenwolf IMPACT.

The Comeuppance

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins ​(Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright. Recent theatre credits include Purpose (Tony Award; Pulitzer Prize; Broadway, Steppenwolf), Appropriate (Tony Award; Broadway, Second Stage), The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre), Girls (Yale Rep), Everybody (Signature Theatre), War (Yale Rep; Lincoln Center/LCT3), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre), Appropriate (Obie Award; Signature Theatre), An Octoroon (Obie Award; Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience) and Neighbors (The Public Theater). He currently teaches at Yale University and serves as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild council and on the boards of Soho Rep, Park Avenue Armory, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Honors include a USA Artists fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, the MacArthur fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award.

Tina Landau ​(Director) is a writer, director and Steppenwolf ensemble member since 1997 where her 20 productions include Ms. Blakk for President (also writer with Tarell McCarney), The Brother/Sister Plays, The Wheel, The Time of Your Life, Head of Passes, Space (also writer), The Berlin Circle, The Tempest, Superior Donuts, and more. Many of these productions then moved on to play at multiple theaters such as The Public in NYC, the Taper in LA, Seattle Rep, American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Rep. On Broadway, Tina wrote the book for and directed the musical Floyd Collins (Lincoln Center Theater, 6 Tony noms including Best Revival), wrote book, co-lyrics and directed Redwood (starring Idina Menzel), and conceived and directed The SpongeBob Musical (12 Tony noms, Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle winner–Best Direction and Best Musical.) Her other Broadway credits include Paula Vogel's Mother Play (with Jessica Lange, 4 Tony noms including Best Play), Tracy Letts' Superior Donuts and the musical Bells Are Ringing (also both Tony nominated). Her Off-Broadway productions include Bill Irwin and David Shiner's Old Hats, Chuck Mee's Big Love and Iphigenia 2.0 (all Signature), Paula Vogel's A Civil War Christmas (NYTW), Tarell McCraney's Head of Passes and In the Red and Brown Water (both at the Public) and Wig Out! (Vineyard). Regionally, Tina has directed the musicals Transparent (CTG in Los Angeles) and Dave (Arena Stage), among numerous others. She's been additionally recognized by the Drama League, New Dramatists, Lucille Lortel and Obie awards, and is the recipient of a United States Artist Fellowship and a Princess Grace Statuette. Tina was an Artist-in-Residence at Little Island in NYC and is the co-author with Anne Bogart of The Viewpoints Book.

Celeste M. Cooper (Cast) is joyful to join the cast of The Comeuppance and is grateful to the creative team, fellow performers and audience for the opportunity to explore and share another story together. Steppenwolf: BLKS, Doppelgänger, Familiar, A Doll's House, Part 2, virtual show Duchess! Duchess! Duchess! (New York Times Critic pick); The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, POTUS. Chicago Theatre: Blues for an Alabama Sky (Court Theatre–Jeff Awards Best Production); Measure for Measure (Goodman Theatre); Stick Fly (Windy City Playhouse); Ruined (Eclipse Theatre); Corduroy (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); and more. Regional: For Colored Girls... (Kansas City Repertory); Building The Wall (Curious Theatre in Denver); Mrs. Harrison (Indiana Repertory); What I Learned in Paris (South Coast Repertory); Confederates (The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis). TV: Recurring on Chicago P.D.; guest roles on 4400 and Sense8. Film: Spike Lee's Chiraq; leading role in indie feature Range Runners (currently streaming). Radio: Unshackled Radio Program – voicing dramatized true stories. Awards: Most Promising Actress (Black Theater Alliance); Best Actress – Range Runners (Twister Alley); NewCity Stage magazine's "People Who Really Perform for Chicago" (2020 & 2023). Education: BA – Tennessee State University; MFA – The Theatre School at DePaul University. IG: @be_that_light | Represented by: Paonessa Talent Agency

Caroline Neff (Cast) is a Steppenwolf ensemble member. At Steppenwolf, she was last seen in Mr. Wolf, Fool for Love, POTUS, Another Marriage, Describe the Night, Seagull, Dance Nation, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, You Got Older, Linda Vista (also Taper Forum and Broadway), The Fundamentals, The Flick, Airline Highway (also Broadway), The Way West, Three Sisters, Annie Bosh is Missing and Where We're Born. Select theatre credits include: Lettie (Jeff Award Best Actor; Victory Gardens Theater); Uncle Vanya (Goodman Theatre); A Brief History of Helen of Troy (Jeff Award for Best Actress), The Knowledge, Harper Regan, In Arabia We'd All Be Kings (Steep Theatre); The Downpour (Route 66 Theatre); Port (Griffin Theatre); 4000 Miles (Northlight Theatre); Moonshiner (Jackalope Theatre). Regional credits include: Peerless (Yale Repertory Theatre). Film and television credits include: Parallax (upcoming Apple TV), FBI, Three Women, Let the Right One In, The Red Line, Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, Open Tables and Older Children, and heard in multiple Audible Projects such as: Song of the Northwoods, Crowded Hours, Denali and Boar's Nest. She is a proud company member of Steep Theatre and holds her BA from Columbia College.

Karen Rodriguez (Cast) currently stars as Wanda Salazar in Netflix's The Hunting Wives alongside Brittany Snow and Dermot Mulroney. She'll next star in Spider Noir in 2026 alongside Nicolas Cage and Brendan Gleeson. Ms. Rodriguez joined the Steppenwolf ensemble in 2018. On the Steppenwolf main stage, she has appeared in POTUS, The Seagull, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Dance Nation, La Ruta, The Doppelgänger (an international farce) and The Rembrandt. Select theatre credits include I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Seattle Rep), The Way She Spoke (Greenhouse Theater Center), Breach (Victory Gardens Theater), The Displaced (Haven Theatre), Hookman (Steep Theatre) and Blue Skies Process (Goodman Theatre). Television credits include Acapulco (Apple TV) with Eugenio Derbez, SWARM (Amazon Prime) created by Janine Nabers and Donald Glover, The Big Leap (FOX), Shining Girls (Apple TV) with Elisabeth Moss and Jamie Bell, season 2 and 3 of Power Book IV: Force (STARZ), Chicago Fire and Chicago Justice. She's thrilled to be back on the Steppenwolf stage. Instagram: xkarenxrodriguez.

Namir Smallwood​ (Cast) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2017. Steppenwolf: Mr. Wolf, You Will Get Sick, The Book of Grace, The Seagull, Bug, True West, BLKS, Monster, Man In Love, The Hot L Baltimore, Last Night and the Night Before. Broadway: Bug, Pass Over. Off-Broadway: Pipeline, Pass Over (Lincoln Center). Chicago: Primary Trust (Goodman); Charm (Northlight Theatre); The Grapes of Wrath (The Gift Theatre); East Texas Hot Links (Writers Theatre). Regional: Marin Theatre Company, Pillsbury House Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Guthrie Theater. International: True West (Galway International Arts Festival). Television: Chicago Fire, Betrayal, Elementary, American Rust (Showtime/FreeVee), Power Book IV: Force (STARZ). Film: Rounding, About Time, Bailey's Blues.

Ellen B.

Marius von Mayenburg (Playwright) is a playwright, director and translator. Born in Munich, he studied playwriting at the Academy of the Arts, Berlin and was dramaturg and writer in residence at the Schaubühne Berlin. His plays (such as The Ugly One, Fireface, A Piece of Plastic) are translated into more than 30 languages, have been successfully produced worldwide at the Schaubühne Berlin, The Royal Court Theatre/London, the Young Vic, London, the National Theatre Oslo, Théâtre national de la Colline, Paris, La Scala, Paris among many others and have won several awards. As a translator he has translated works by William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, as well as contemporary plays by writers such as Martin Crimp, Alan Ayckbourn and Sarah Kane into German. His most recent trilogy consists of the plays Ex, Ellen Babić and Egal, which have all been premiered internationally at theaters such as Rikstheatre in Stockholm, Sweden, the National Theater of Reykjavik, the Burgtheater Vienna. As a director, Marius von Mayenburg has worked at the Schaubühne Berlin, Residenztheater in Munich, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Riksteater Stockholm, Nationaltheater Oslo and others.

Daniel Brunet (Translator) is a director, performer, producer and translator. He was born in Syracuse, New York, studied theater and film at Boston College and moved to Berlin in 2001 with the support of a Fulbright Scholarship. Brunet became Producing Artistic Director of English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center in 2012. He has received multiple awards for his over thirty play translations, including the Literary Fellowship in Translation from the U.S. National Endowment of the Arts. His translation of Wolfram Lotz's The Ridiculous Darkness was published by Oberon Books in 2019. In addition to Ellen Babić, Brunet has also translated Ex and Egal (Whatever) by Marius von Mayenburg.

Whitney White (Director) is a Tony Award nominee, Obie Award and Lily Award-winning director, writer and performer. Broadway: Liberation, Jaja's African Hair Braiding, The Last Five Years. Other: All Is But Fantasy (Royal Shakespeare Company), Walden (Second Stage), Jordan's (The Public), Saturday Church (NYTW), The Secret Life of Bees (The Almeida, UK), The Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Steppenwolf), Soft (MCC), On Sugarland (New York Theatre Workshop, Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations, Outstanding Direction), Semblance (NYTW), The Amen Corner (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theater, Second Stage), What to Send Up When It Goes Down (The Movement Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth, A.R.T., The Public Theater). Staff writer: I'm a Virgo (Amazon Studios). Writer/performer of Macbeth in Stride (A.R.T., Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Musical Performance by an Actress). Recipient of the Herb Alpert Award, Jerome Fellowship, Susan Stroman Directing Award. Part of the Rolex Protegé and Mentorship Arts Initiative. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA: Northwestern University. Whitney-White.com

The Night Fawn

Adam Rapp (Playwright) is the author of numerous plays, which include Nocturne (New York Theatre Workshop), Finer Noble Gases (2006 Edinburgh Fringe First Award, 26th Humana Festival), The Metal Children (The Vineyard) and Red Light Winter (Steppenwolf, Barrow Street Theatre), for which he won Chicago's Jeff Award for Best New Work, an Obie and was named a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize. The Sound Inside received its world premiere at the 2018 Williamstown Theatre festival and was named one of the New York Times best plays of 2019. It premiered on Broadway at Studio 54 in the fall of 2019 and went on to be nominated for 6 Tony Awards, including Best Play. He received a Tony nomination for writing the book for the musical The Outsiders, which is currently running on Broadway. The Outsiders went on to win Best Musical at the 2024 Tony Awards. His playwriting honors include Boston's Elliot Norton Award, The Helen Merrill Prize, The 2006 Princess Grace Statue, A Lucille Lotrel Playwright's fellowship, The Benjamin H. Danks Award, the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Award, a 2021 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Best Theatre Newcomer prize from List Magazine and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. Adam served as executive producer and showrunner for American Rust: Broken Justice and recently published a new novel, Wolf at the Table.

Terry Kinney (Director) is a co-founder and ensemble member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company. His Steppenwolf acting work includes Balm in Gilead, Orphans, Tracers, The Grapes of Wrath (Tony Award nomination), and Buried Child on Broadway. Steppenwolf (directing): Another Marriage, And a Nightingale Sang..., A Clockwork Orange, A Streetcar Named Desire, Of Mice and Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (also Broadway, winner Tony Award, Best Revival), and The Violet Hour. Other work: reasons to be pretty (Tony Award nomination, Best Play), The Price (Broadway), The Babylon Line (LCT), and Curse of the Starving Class. Film: Fly Away Home, Sleepers, The Firm, Last of the Mohicans, The Little Things, among others. Television: Oz, Good Behavior, Fargo, Billions, Inventing Anna, and The Watcher.

Cliff Chamberlain​ (Cast) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2018. Steppenwolf Theatre Company: The Dance of Death, You Will Get Sick, Fool For Love, The Minutes, Belleville, Clybourne Park, Theatrical Essays, Superior Donuts. Chicago: The Seagull (Goodman Theatre); The Sparrow (The House Theatre of Chicago). Broadway: The Minutes, Superior Donuts. Television: Homeland, Altered Carbon, The Act, Easy, State of Affairs, Chicago P.D., Paper Girls, The Chair. Film: The Rip, Moses the Black, The Wise Kids. Cliff trained at UCSB and The School at Steppenwolf.

ADDITIONAL 2026/27 SEASON INFORMATION

Accessibility:

As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each Subscription Series production. Assistive listening devices (ALDs), large-print programs and braille programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/access or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sponsor Information:

United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Julius Frankel Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Conagra Brands Foundation, Rich and Margery Feitler, FROST CHICAGO, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Orlebeke Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Sacks Family Foundation, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Thoma Bravo, Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker, and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier Ensemble Theater with 50 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions have made this theatre legendary. From the 1980 phenomenon of Balm in Gilead, to The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County, Downstate, The Brother/Sister Plays, and now, the 2025 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Purpose, Steppenwolf Theatre has had a long-running and undeniable impact on American Theatre and Chicago's cultural landscape. Founded in 1975 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise, Steppenwolf started as a group of young people in their teens and early 20s performing in the basement of a church. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 14 Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prize-winning commissions and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the boundaries of live theater and pushes the limits of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

Ashley Wheater MBE, The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director of The Joffrey Ballet, today announces the Joffrey's 2026-2027 season at Lyric Opera House, featuring the North American premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's The Sleeping Beauty, set to Tchaikovsky's greatest score, and the Chicago premiere of John Neumeier's landmark narrative ballet Liliom. The Joffrey will be the first American company to bring both ambitious, larger-than-life productions to life.

The Joffrey Ballet begins its 2026-2027 season with the Chicago premiere of John Neumeier's Liliom, September 17–27, 2026. Inspired by Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play and later the basis for the musical adaptation Carousel, Liliom traces a haunting story of love and redemption set against the faded glamour of a Depression-era amusement park, featuring an evocative score by multi-Academy Award®-winning composer Michel Legrand. Soon after, two-time Tony Award®-winner Christopher Wheeldon's The Nutcracker returns with its unmistakable sense of magic, December 4–27, 2026, followed by Notes on Love, February 4–14, 2027, a program exploring love through four distinct lenses—with favored works by Liam Scarlett and Nicolas Blanc, alongside a world premiere by Winning Works alum Houston Thomas. Closing the season in glorious fashion is the North American premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's The Sleeping Beauty, a timeless fairy tale transformed into a theatrical spectacle, featuring Jerome Kaplan's lavish costume and set design and Tchaikovsky's greatest score. The beloved classic is a magical celebration for audiences of all ages, May 13–23, 2027.

"The 2026–2027 season places the Joffrey at the forefront of dance, with works of rare theatrical scale," says The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE. "We are proud to be the first American company to present the Chicago premiere of Liliom, John Neumeier's masterful, heartbreakingly beautiful narrative ballet rarely seen in the United States, as well as the North American premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's The Sleeping Beauty. Set to Tchaikovsky's greatest score, this magnificent season finale reminds us that light always prevails over darkness. Alongside these landmark productions is our winter program, which welcomes the return of Liam Scarlett's breathtaking Hummingbird, and a world premiere by Winning Works alum Houston Thomas—speaking to the Grainger Academy's lasting impact on artistic futures." Wheater continues, "This season brings the full breadth of the art form on one stage, performed by a Company dancing at the highest level."

"Following the Joffrey's 70th Anniversary, the 2026–2027 season sets the tone for the next 70 years," says President and CEO Greg Cameron. "With a Chicago premiere, a North American premiere, and a world premiere, The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE has curated a season that reflects an organization operating at scale—investing in artists, pairing artistic ambition with structural strength, and asserting Chicago's role as a center for creative leadership. This season expresses the confidence and continuity of the Joffrey, with audiences at the center of it all."

All season performances take place at the Lyric Opera House in downtown Chicago at 20 North Upper Wacker Drive. All programs throughout the season feature live music performed by members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra, conducted by Scott Speck, Music Director of The Joffrey Ballet.   

About the 2026–2027 Season 

Liliom | September 17–27, 2026 

Choreographer: John Neumeier | Music: Michel Legrand

Chicago Premiere 

One of the most influential artists of our time, Neumeier brings his landmark narrative ballet, Liliom, to the Joffrey for its Chicago premiere. Inspired by Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play and later the basis for the musical adaptation Carousel, Neumeier's adaptation follows Liliom, the charismatic but self-destructive carnival barker whose fierce love for Julie is unraveled by pride, poverty, and rage. Set amid the dreamlike, faded glamour of an American amusement park during the Great Depression, passion turns toward crime—and ultimately, tragedy.

Granted a chance to return to Earth after death, Liliom confronts the consequences of his choices and attempts one final act of grace. What remains is a stark reckoning with guilt and the fragile possibility of redemption. Rarely presented in the United States, Liliom is among Neumeier's most profound artistic endeavors. Distinguished by his signature emotional depth and theatrical nuance, Liliom takes shape through multi-Academy Award®-winning composer Michel Legrand's evocative score, blending classical and jazz influences that echo a restless America.

From the choreographer of The Little Mermaid and other celebrated works, including Sylvia and the Lyric Opera's first collaboration with the Joffrey, Orphee, Neumeier's masterpiece Liliom makes its Chicago premiere with the Joffrey, the first American ballet company to bring the production to life. Learn more about John Neumeier here.

With gratitude to Liliom Presenting Sponsor Mr. and Mrs. Joel V. Williamson, Major Sponsor Pamela Crutchfield, and Production Sponsor Holly Palmer Foundation. 

The Nutcracker | December 4–27, 2026 

Choreographer: ©Christopher Wheeldon | Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky  

This holiday season, step into the spellbinding world where history and dreams intertwine. Join Marie and her Nutcracker prince on a fantastical adventure in Christopher Wheeldon's kaleidoscopic reimagining of The Nutcracker, set amid the wonder of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. On a magical Christmas Eve, after awakening to an epic battle between Toy Soldiers and the Rat King, a flurry of snowflakes sweeps Marie away on a whirlwind journey to the dreamlike fairgrounds of the World's Columbian Exposition. Set to Tchaikovsky's classic score, experience sprawling attractions from around the globe: the radiant Golden Statue, the mystique of an Arabian enchantress, vibrant Venetian masked dancers, Chinese dragons, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Learn more about Christopher Wheeldon here.  

With gratitude to The Nutcracker Presenting Sponsor Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company.

Notes on Love | February 4–14, 2027

Notes on Love explores a word that refuses a single definition. Winning Works alum Houston Thomas, alongside choreographers Liam Scarlett and Nicolas Blanc, consider the feeling through four distinct lenses: love as place, as longing, as memory, and as nostalgia—each revealing love in all its depth and beauty.

The full program is as follows: 

Dear Chicago: A Love Letter

World Premiere

Choreographer: Houston Thomas | Music: Jonathan Bingham

This world premiere from 2024 Winning Works choreographer Houston Thomas places Chicago front and center. Conceived as a love letter to the city that shaped him, the work translates its rhythm and creative drive into movement. An original score by Jonathan Bingham with layered poetry adds emotional depth to this ensemble piece, capturing the scale, energy, and pulse of Chicago itself. Learn more about Houston Thomas here.

With gratitude to Houston Thomas's World Premiere Commissioned Score Sponsor Zell Family Foundation.

All that Remains

Chicago Premiere 

Choreographer: Nicolas Blanc | Music: Ezio Bosso  

Beneath an imagined sky of clouds and rain, three dancers move through cycles of attachment and separation, love, and the memories that linger between them. Set to music by Ezio Bosso, whose compositions have long inspired Blanc and are celebrated for their beauty, sensitivity, and emotional power, All that Remains extends a deep artistic bond, allowing Bosso's resonance to live on through dance. Learn more about Nicolas Blanc here.  

Hummingbird

Choreographer: Liam Scarlett | Music: Philip Glass 

Scarlett's Hummingbird is a breathtaking exploration of human connection, blending classical form with emotional immediacy. Set to Philip Glass's Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, the work articulates love and longing through a progression of three pas de deux. Sweeping ensemble patterns give way to a searing second movement that pushes the dancers to visible exhaustion, revealing the strenuous demands of intimacy. Framed by John Macfarlane's hand-painted stage designs, Hummingbird feels both expansive and intimate—a precise, powerful meditation on what it means to connect. Learn more about Liam Scarlett here.  

Les Boeufoons

Choreographer: Nicolas Blanc | Music: Darius Milhaud

In 1920s Paris, no place captured the city's flourishing, eclectic spirit more vividly than the cabaret bar Le Boeuf sur le Toit. A cultural crossroads, it drew artistic luminaries from Cole Porter to Igor Stravinsky and took its name from Darius Milhaud's theatrical, Brazilian-inflected composition. Les Boeufoons draws inspiration from the surreal, uninhibited world of Jean Cocteau's original choreography and from the famed Fratellini brothers, the circus clowns who first brought the work to life.

Les Boeufoons is a co-commission with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

The Sleeping Beauty | May 13–23, 2027  

Choreographer: ©Christopher Wheeldon | Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

North American Premiere 

A timeless fairy tale transformed into a theatrical spectacle, The Sleeping Beauty conjures a world of grandeur and enchantment. The beloved classic frames the enduring struggle between good and evil, as Princess Aurora falls under a spell that threatens to still an entire kingdom—only to be awakened by true love's kiss. Upon her return, the realm is restored, and light prevails over darkness. Choreographed by two-time Tony Award®-winner Christopher Wheeldon, The Sleeping Beauty blends classical elegance with vivid, cinematic storytelling. With dazzling choreography, Jerome Kaplan's lavish costume and set design, and Tchaikovsky's unforgettable score, Joffrey's season finale blossoms into a magical celebration for audiences of all ages.  From the choreographer of the critically acclaimed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker.

With gratitude to The Sleeping Beauty Presenting Sponsors Lorna Ferguson and Terry Clark, and Mr. and Mrs. Joel V. Williamson, Major Sponsor Mary Jo and Doug Basler, and Production Sponsor Holly Palmer Foundation.  

Other Engagements 

Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet: Fall Program | November 2026  

ART on THE MART | December 2026 

ART on THE MART celebrates Christopher Wheeldon's The Nutcracker. Figures of the re-imagined Chicago World's Fair-themed production will dance across the imposing facade of THE MART.   

Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet: Winning Works | March 2027 

The Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet celebrates the Seventeenth Annual Winning Works Choreographic Competition. The culminating performances follow a national call for emerging choreographers whose unique perspectives inspire creativity in the form of original works of dance.

With gratitude to Winning Works Sponsors Pritzker Foundation and Rita Spitz.

Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet: Spring Program | May 2027 

The Joffrey Ballet's touring dates are to be announced.

Tickets and Subscriptions for the Joffrey's 2026–2027 Season Performances  

Three-program subscriptions for the fall, winter, and spring season productions, which do not include The Nutcracker, start at $138. Subscriptions are available for purchase online at joffrey.org, by mail (Joffrey Ballet Subscriptions, The Joffrey Ballet, Joffrey Tower, 10 East Randolph Street, Chicago, IL 60601), by telephone at 312.386.8905, by fax at 312.739.0119 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Single tickets for the September, February, and May performances, as well as The Nutcracker, will be available starting this summer. Single tickets are available by telephone at 312.386.8905 or online at joffrey.org. Please visit joffrey.org for updates.  

All performances are subject to change.  

About The Joffrey Ballet  

The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance companies in the world today, with a reputation for boundary-breaking performances for 71 years. The Joffrey repertoire is an extensive collection of all-time classics, modern masterpieces, and original works. Founded in 1956 by pioneers Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, the Joffrey remains dedicated to artistic expression, innovation, and first-rate education and engagement programming. The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director Ashley Wheater MBE and President and CEO Greg Cameron.

The Joffrey Ballet is grateful for the support of its 2026–2027 Season Sponsors: The Abbott Fund, Alphawood Foundation Chicago, Daniel and Pamella DeVos Foundation, Gallagher, The Florian Fund, and Anne L. Kaplan. Live Music Sponsors: Sandy and Roger Deromedi, Sage Foundation, and The Marina and Arnold Tatar Fund for Live Music. The Joffrey also acknowledges our Season Partners: ATHLETICO and Chicago Athletic Clubs.

For more information on The Joffrey Ballet and its programs, visit joffrey.org. Connect with the Joffrey on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.  

The Gift Theatre, led by Artistic Directors Brittany Burch and Jennifer Glasse, announces its 25^th Anniversary "Homecoming" Season. The landmark 2026 season features the return of the company's signature short play festival, a major Chicago premiere, and a new work by ensemble member Netta Walker, staged at iconic venues across the city including A Red Orchid Theatre, Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, and a return to Jefferson Park at the Copernicus Center.

The 25^th Season includes the annual short play festival TEN 25^th, March 25-April 4, 2026, to take place at A Red Orchid Theatre. The Chicago Premiere of Marble by Marina Carr, August 2-30, 2026, will mark a return to the company's home neighborhood. Hayward, a world premiere by new ensemble member Netta Walker, October 14-November 22, will be presented at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater. The season will close with a one-night event in December, the 25th Anniversary Benefête Performance at Jefferson Park's Copernicus Center.

Artistic Directors Brittany Burch and Jennifer Glasse comment, "As we look ahead, we're recommitting to our origins in Jefferson Park and actively exploring pathways to bring The Gift home again. Our 25th Anniversary 'Homecoming' season reflects that spirit—beginning with a winter gala and continuing this spring with TEN 25th at A Red Orchid Theatre and continuing with Marina Carr's captivating drama Marble, and Hayward, a new play by one of The Gift's newest ensemble members Netta Walker. We celebrate 25 years of intimate, ensemble-driven work by coming home—to our artists, audiences, and the neighborhoods that shaped the company."

Subscription packages are now on sale at thegifttheatre.org or by calling 773-283-7071. The Homecoming Subscription Package, $105, includes TEN 25^th, Marble and Hayward. The Homecoming Subscription Package+ Subscription Package, $170, includes TEN 25^th, Marble, Hayward and the 25th Anniversary Benefête Performance.  Subscribers save up to 15% off regular ticket prices, priority seating, free ticket exchanges and guaranteed seating to limited-run productions.

The 25^th Anniversary Homecoming Season is:

TEN 25^th

The Gift's Ten-Minute Play Festival of New Work

at A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N Wells St. in Chicago

March 25 – April 4, 2026

Tickets, $25, thegifttheatre.org and (773) 283-7071

TEN 25th features the work of Gift ensemble members Cyd Blakewell, Erica Weiss, Gregory Fenner, Jennifer Glasse, Jennifer Rumberger, John Gawlik, Kenny Mihlfried, Pat Weber, Paul D'Addario and Shanésia Davis.

TEN 25th features 10-minute world premiere plays from Chicago playwrights John Gawlik, Jennifer Rumberger, Gregory Fenner, Kimberly Dixon-Mays, Dolores Diaz, Stephanie Alison Walker, Emilio Williams, Jermaine Jenkins, and Brett Neveu.

MARBLE
Chicago Premiere by Marina Carr

at Copernicus Center – Kings Hall, 5216 W Lawrence Ave in Chicago

August 2 – August 30, 2026

Tickets, $45-$50, thegifttheatre.org and (773) 283-7071

individual tickets will be on sale this spring

Marble follows two married couples, Ben and Catherine, and their friends Art and Anne, whose comfortable lives begin to splinter after a shared dream triggers suspicion and desire.

A surreal and haunting exploration of two couples whose lives collide through shared dreams, this production anchors the company's homecoming to the neighborhood where it was founded.

HAYWARD

World Premiere by ensemble member Netta Walker

Directed by AmBer Montgomery

featuring ensemble members Shanesia Davis and Gregory Fenner

at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater, 1700 N. Halsted St in Chicago

October 14 – November 22

Tickets, $45-$50, will be available this summer through the Steppenwolf box office.

A reimagining of the classics Hamlet and Electra. The play follows the main character Luna, who on the day of her father's funeral, confesses to her siblings that she has seen her father's ghost. Staged in Steppenwolf's intimate 1700 Theater, this production continues The Gift's commitment to ensemble talent and bold new narratives.

25th ANNIVERSARY BENEFÊTE PERFORMANCE

at Copernicus Center — Gateway Theatre 5216 W. Lawrence, Chicago, IL

December 7th 2026

Tickets $75, thegifttheatre.org and (773) 283-7071 tickets will be available this spring

The season will close out with a spectacular, one-night-only celebration honoring a quarter century of The Gift Theatre. This 25th Anniversary Benefête Performance, will be a night featuring our favorite scenes from over the years performed by ensemble members —the artists who have shaped this theatre across generations.

About The Gift Theatre
The Gift Theatre is a storefront nonprofit founded in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood, committed to creating accessible, inclusive, and impactful theatrical experiences. Our identity is defined by intimacy, collaboration, and a belief that live storytelling can inspire and transform both artist and audience. Our programming isn't bound by genre but guided by character-driven, emotionally rich storytelling rooted in truth. Whether surreal or starkly naturalistic, each play we share reflects our commitment to creating spaces of deep connection—among artists, between artist and audience, and within our community.

The Gift Theatre ensemble includes its newest members Jennifer Aparicio, Shanésia Davis, Angela Morris, Jennifer Rumberger, Netta Walker and Patrick Weber. They join fellow ensemble members Daniel Ahlfeld, Cyd Blakewell, Brittany Burch, Hillary Clemens Harbor, Jenny Connell Davis, John Kelly Connolly (in memoriam), Paul D'Addario, Brendan Donaldson, Will Eno,

James D. Farruggio, Gregory Fenner, Ed Flynn, Gabriel Franken, John Gawlik, Maggie Andersen Gawlik, Emjoy Gavino, Jennifer Glasse, Andrew Hinderaker, Chika Ike, Evan Michael Lee, Sarah Luse, Marti Lyons, Alexandra Main, Martel Manning, Laura Marks,Kenny Mihlfried, Benjamin Montague, William Nedved, Darci Nalepa, Keith Neagle, Lynda Newton, Sheldon Patinkin (in memoriam), Maureen Payne-Hahner, David Preis, David  Rabe, Mary Ann Thebus (in memoriam), Michael Patrick Thornton, Hannah Toriumi, Erica Weiss, Jay Worthington, and Kyle Zornes.

Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, the Evanston theatre company that has been thrilling audiences with stories of the Black American and African diaspora experience since 1979, today announced its programming for the 2026 season. Tim Rhoze, the company's Producing Artistic Director since 2010, unveiled the slate of three plays, all of which were written by women and premiered in the 21^st Century. 
 
The season will open in May with GEE'S BEND, the 2008 play by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, which follows a family —Alice, her daughters Sadie and Nella, and Sadie's husband, Macon — from 1939 to 2000 as they experience segregation, family strife, and the Civil Rights movement. The play is set in the real-life community of Gee's Bend – an isolated community in central Alabama which has become known for the hand-stitched quilts made by generations of its women. DC Theater Arts said, "GEE'S BEND weaves the essence of the quilt into a theatrical experience that exalts universal themes of family, faith, and overcoming adversity in a deeply moving way. " GEE'S BEND was commissioned and produced by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and has been performed at Denver Center, Cleveland Playhouse, Kansas City Rep, Northlight Theatre, Philadelphia's Arden Theatre, and Hartford Stage, among others. The FJT production will play from May 23 through June 7. 
 
The season will continue in July with the Pulitzer Prize-nominated IN THE CONTINUUM —  a play that tells the parallel stories of two Black women, one in Los Angeles and one in Zimbabwe, who discover they are pregnant and HIV positive. It was written by the playwright and actress Danai Gurira (author of Broadway's ECLIPSED and cast member of HBO's THE WALKING DEAD) and the OBIE Award-winning actress and writer Nikkole Salter. It premiered at New York's Primary Stages in 2005 and was later produced at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Washington D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and in Zimbabwe and South Africa. THE NEW YORK TIMES called it "A moving, smart, spirited and powerfully funny production."  It will be performed by Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre from July 25 through August 9. 
 
The season closer will be THE NICETIES, by Eleanor Burgess. This two-character play follows a 20-year-old Black college student meeting with her white professor to discuss the student's term paper about slavery's effect on the American Revolution. The paper's thesis is that the revolution would not have succeeded without the contributions of black slaves. The professor disagrees, and what begins as a polite clash in perspectives explodes into an urgent debate about race, history, and power. The world premiere of THE NICETIES, directed by Chicago's Kimberly Senior, was co-produced during the 2018-2019 season by the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, Massachusetts; Manhattan Theatre Club in New York, New York; and McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey. THE NEW YORK TIMES said it was "a bristling, provocative debate play about race and privilege in the United States, and it begs to be argued with." DC THEATER ARTS called it "a brilliant and important play." It will be performed by Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre from October 31 through November 15. 
 
Fleetwood–Jourdain Theatre will also produce the third annual Gloria Bond Clunie Playwright's Festival on July 18 and 19. The festival, named for the founder of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre and acclaimed playwright Gloria Bond Clunie, will present professional staged readings of three new plays. Titles and playwrights to be announced.
 
Premium Gold Membership cards, priced at $90.00 and including four reserved seats that can be used in any combination throughout the season, are on sale now at https://app.amilia.com/store/en/cityofevanston/shop/memberships/70643 . The card also includes the added benefit of an automatic bonus seat, along with access to other exclusive specials during the season. Tickets to individual plays will be offered later in the year.
 
LISTING INFORMATION
 
GEE'S BEND
by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder
Directed by Tim Rhoze
May 23 – June 7, 2026
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, Students $10.00. On sale later this year at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
 
GEE'S BEND is the story of the Pettway women, quilters from the isolated community of Gee's Bend, Alabama. Beginning in 1939, the play follows Alice, her daughters Sadie and Nella, and Sadie's husband, Macon, through segregation, family strife, and the Civil Rights movement. Throughout their lives, the women's extraordinary quilts provide a respite from the turmoil around them. In the last act of the play, it is the year 2000; the quilts have been discovered as folk art and have become very valuable. Sadie is pleased with the recognition, but despite the lure of the big city, she returns to Gee's Bend and continues to quilt. Wilder's play explores the resilience of the human spirit, especially as it is expressed in art. 
 
IN THE CONTINUUM 
by Danai Gurira & Nikkole Salter
Directed by Tim Rhoze
July 25 – August 9, 2026
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, Students $10.00. On sale later this year at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
 
IN THE CONTINUUM puts a human face on the devastating impact of AIDS in Africa and America through the lives of two unforgettably courageous women. Living worlds apart, one in South Central LA and the other in Zimbabwe, each experiences a kaleidoscopic weekend of life-changing revelations in this story of parallel denials and self-discoveries.
 
THE NICETIES
by Eleanor Burgess 
Directed by Tim Rhoze
October 31 – November 15, 2026
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, Students $10.00. On sale later this year at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
 
Zoe, a Black student at a liberal arts college, is called into her white professor's office to discuss her paper about slavery's effect on the American Revolution. What begins as a polite clash in perspectives explodes into an urgent debate about race, history and power.
 
BIOS

Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder (Writer, GEE'S BEND) has written THE FURNITURE OF HOME, which deals with the Gulf Coast recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and premiered at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in 2009. Her play THE FLAG MAKER OF MARKET STREET followed at ASF in 2011. THE BONE ORCHARD was commissioned by the Denver Center Theatre and workshopped at the Perry Mansfield New Works Festival. Other plays include FRESH KILLS (Royal Court/London), THE FIRST DAY OF HUNTING SEASON (EST), and THE SPIRIT OF ECSTASY. 
 
Danai Gurira (Co-playwright, IN THE CONTINUUM) Is an award-winning playwright and actress. As a playwright, her works include Broadway's ECLIPSED (NAACP Award; Helen Hayes Award: Best New Play; Connecticut Critics Circle Award: Outstanding Production of a Play), IN THE CONTINUUM (OBIE Award, Outer Critics Award, Helen Hayes Award), and THE CONVERT (six Ovation Awards, Los Angeles Outer Critics Award). Danai's play FAMILIAR received its world premiere at Yale Rep in 2015. She is a recipient of the Whiting Award, a Hodder Fellow, and has been commissioned by Yale Rep, Center Theatre Group, Playwrights Horizons, and the Royal Court. She is currently developing a pilot for HBO. As an actor, she has appeared in the films THE VISITOR, and MOTHER OF GEORGE. She also played Isabella in NYSF's MEASURE FOR MEASURE (Equity Callaway Award) and currently plays Michonne on AMC's THE WALKING DEAD. She holds an MFA from Tisch, NYU. She was born in the US to Zimbabwean parents and raised in Zimbabwe. She is the co-founder of Almasi Arts, which works to give access and opportunity to the African Dramatic Artist.
 
Nikkole Salter (co-playwright, IN THE CONTINUUM). This Los Angeles-born, OBIE Award-winning actress and writer arrived on the professional scene with her co-authorship and co-performance (with Danai Gurira) of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, IN THE CONTINUUM. As a dramatist, Ms. Salter has written eight full-length plays, been commissioned for full-length work by six institutions, been produced on three continents in five countries, and has been published in 12 international publications. Her work has appeared in over 20 Off-Broadway, regional, and international theatres. Ms. Salter is also the co-librettist with composer/lyricist Nolan Williams Jr. of the musical GRACE and made her directorial debut opening the 2023/24 season of Baltimore Center Stage with a production of LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL. 
 
Eleanor Burgess (playwright, THE NICETIES). In addition to THE NICETIES, Eleanor Burgess's plays include WIFE OF A SALESMAN, START DOWN, CHILL, SPARKS FLY UPWARD, and GALILEE, 34.  Her work has been produced at theaters across the United States, including Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Rep, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, Huntington Theatre Company, Writers Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, InterAct Theatre, Portland Stage, the Alliance Theatre and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, as well as the Finborough Theatre in London. She has also written for film and television, including work on PERRY MASON for HBO, WE CRASHED for Apple TV+, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE for AMC, and screenplays for Bad Robot, Amblin, and Anonymous Content. Originally from Massachusetts, she studied history at Yale College and Dramatic Writing at NYU/Tisch.
  
Tim Rhoze (Director, Producing Artistic Director) Tim Rhoze has been the Producing Artistic Director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre since 2010. His directing credits include: THE BALDWIN | GIOVANNI EXPERIENCE, PASS OVER, HONEYPOT: BLACK WOMEN WHO LOVE WOMEN, UNTIL THE FLOOD, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/ WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, 1619: THE JOURNEY OF A PEOPLE, THIS BITTER EARTH, THE LIGHT, AMERICAN SON, HOME, TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992, THE MEETING, FIRES IN THE MIRROR, BLACK BALLERINA (co-writer),  NUTCRACKER(ISH), CROWNS, HAVING OUR SAY, FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA, WOZA ALBERT!, GOING TO ST. IVES, SINGLE BLACK FEMALE, A SONG FOR CORETTA, YELLOWMAN, SWEET, LADY DAY AT EMERSON BAR & GRILL, BEAR COUNTRY, NOBODY, FENCES, PIANO LESSON, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, K2, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, and others. Tim is also the writer/director of WHY NOT ME? A SAMMY DAVIS JR. STORY, and MAYA'S LAST POEM, both produced at FJT; and BLACK BALLERINA, produced at FJT and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. He was also co-writer and director of THE BALDWIN | GIOVANNI EXPERIENCE and A HOME ON THE LAKE. His performances in August Wilson's PIANO LESSON (1997) and JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE (2024) at the Goodman Theatre were nominated for Jeff Awards.
 
ABOUT FLEETWOOD-JOURDAIN THEATRE 

Founded in 1979, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is a professional, award-winning theatre company that has been thrilling audiences with over four decades of unique, inspirational, and invigorating Black American and African Diaspora-centered storytelling. The company has been honored by the Black Theatre Alliance/Ira Aldridge Awards and is frequently listed as a top-rated Chicago theatre company. From original plays to the best of Broadway, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre has remained committed to supplying the very best in theatre. "Umoja!! ....Working Together in Unity" is the foundation from which FJT began and continues to thrive!
 
It is our mission to present powerful, thought-provoking, Theater Arts programming with a commitment to diversity and creative excellence. We are dedicated to providing a nurturing and creative environment for directors, playwrights, actors, designers, and stage managers. In this positive environment, they can further develop their creative skills and share their artistic expressions. The Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is funded by the City of Evanston and in part by the Illinois Arts Council, A State Agency.

Paramount Theatre’s long-running smash hit musical Million Dollar Quartet has wrapped its winter break, and is rebooting to rock downtown Aurora’s Stolp Island Theatre for three more months, March 4-May 31, 2026.

Repeat audiences know, and newcomers really should experience, this new, limited engagement of Paramount’s critically acclaimed, immersive Million Dollar Quartet. Both the theater and the show were custom built to create an intimate, jukebox musical experience like none before, inventively staged inside a replica of the original Sun Records studio in Memphis.

It was there, on December 4, 1956, where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins famously came together to record one of the most historic jam sessions in rock ‘n’ roll history. In Paramount’s Sun Records, the musical delivers incredible, up-close live performances of some of the best songs in rock ‘n’ roll history, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” “Hound Dog” and “Great Balls of Fire.”

Paramount’s production returns with its original Jerry Lee Lewis, Garrett Forrestal, still leaping off his piano since MDQ inaugurated Stolp Island Theatre in June 2024. Veteran rockabilly player Matt McClure returns as Carl Perkins. Also back are Corey McKinney as Elvis Presley and Michael Potter as Johnny Cash, breaking hearts and walking the line respectively since last summer. Connor Green is new to the cast, stepping in as Sun Studios founder Sam Phillips. Paramount’s original Dyanne, show stopper Madison Palmer, and Maeghan Looney as Marion, are both returning for the extension, along with Brandon Pollard as Fluke, and Roy James Brown as Brother Jay, through Mar 22, when Jake Saleh returns as Brother Jay. 

Don’t miss Paramount’s radically unique restaging of one of the most popular jukebox musicals of all time. Dean Richards, WGN-TV/AM, said it was “like stepping into Sun Records where one special night took place." Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, called it “another example of how much the success of the nonprofit, audience-focused Paramount has transformed the center of Aurora into a live entertainment destination.”

Paramount’s Stolp Island Theatre is located at 5 E. Downer Place, Suite G, in downtown Aurora, with several restaurants and easy, affordable parking just a short walk away.

Paramount’s new, limited engagement of Million Dollar Quartet reopens March 4 and runs through May 31. Performance times are Wednesday at
1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

All seats are $76 when purchased in person. Additional fees apply for phone and online orders. For tickets and information, visitParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount Theatre box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until show time on show days. 

Million Dollar Quartet inaugurated Paramount’s new Stolp Island Theatre with much fanfare in July 2024. The production was extended three times due to popular demand, running for more than a year and a half prior to this spring 2026 extension.

Chalk this success up to being a production that delivers on all fronts. As soon as audiences step into the lobby, they find themselves outside the legendary Sun Records recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where they can step up to the Taylor’s Good Food concession stand for affordable snacks and beverages, view displays about the history of the play and take selfies astride a vintage-style motorcycle.

Paramount’s directors Jim Corti and Creg Sclavi worked with a “million dollar” production team to create a truly a one-of-a-kind live musical experience, stocked with amazing talent, an incredibly detailed, environmental set, and the amazing production values audiences expect from Paramount.

The production team includes Kory Danielson, music director; Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Matt Guthier, costume designer; Greg Hofmann, lighting designer; Adam Rosenthal, sound designer; Mike Tutaj, projections designer; Katie Cordts, wig, hair and makeup designer; and Jonathan Berg-Einhorn, properties designer. Rebecca J. Lister is stage manager and Emily Hanlon is assistant stage manager. Understudies are Roy James Brown (principal Brother Jay to start, understudy when Jake Saleh returns in late March), Brian Grey (Johnny Cash, Sam Phillips), Michael Kurowski (Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley), Drew Mitchell (Fluke), Ben Smallwood (Carl Perkins) and Kyle Wells (Brother Jay). The book is by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux. Original concept and direction by Floyd Mutrix.

Verano, a leading cannabis company that operates Zen Leaf dispensaries in Aurora and across Chicagoland, is Venue Sponsor for Stolp Island Theatre. Old National Bank is Marquee Sponsor for Million Dollar Quartet.

A special guest star, a new block of tickets, and more magic comes to The Magic Parlour this summer. Acclaimed third-generation Magician Dennis Watkins announces a new block of tickets for performances through end of year, December 2026. In addition, "Chicago's premiere resident magician" (Chicago Tribune) welcomes Eric Jones—a fan favorite and semi-finalist on NBC's America's Got Talent who stunned the famed magicians on Penn & Teller: Fool Us—for a limited three-week residency this summer. Now in its third year, The Magic Parlour is a custom magic theater in the heart of the Loop that has welcomed more than 28,000 Chicagoans to 700+ performances and bespoke private events—including hosting some of the nation's greatest magicians as guest artists-in-residence and special performances.

"The city of Chicago is absolutely bursting at the seams with magic at the forefront of entertainment. I am so happy and honored to accept Dennis' invitation to visit the city and share my unique brand of prestidigitation with audiences at The Magic Parlor," said Eric Jones, one of the most decorated names in modern magic who has appeared on television in 19 countries spanning five continents. "It's such a magical time to be alive!"

The Magic Parlour, now on sale through December 31, 2026, appears Thursday through Sunday. Tickets range from $96 - $148; tickets for Guest Artist Eric Jones' performances range from $76 - $106. All tickets include a complimentary beverage. Jones appears July 10-26; to view performance times and to purchase tickets, call the Goodman Theatre Box Office at 312.443.3800 (12 Noon – 5pm) or visit TheMagicParlourChicago.com. The Magic Parlour is recommended for audiences ages 12+. For complimentary press passes, email credentials to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

A co-founder of The House Theatre of Chicago, Dennis Watkins has collaborated as an actor, writer, director and/or designer on 30+ world-premiere plays with companies including Lookingglass, Steppenwolf and Goodman Theatre. After studying theater at Meadows School of the Arts and the British American Drama Academy in London, he launched The House Theatre with Artistic Director Nathan Allen and cohorts from school on Halloween of 2001. His appearance in the title role of Death and Harry Houdini—including performing Houdini's infamous Water Torture Cell escape in every show—earned him a Joseph Jefferson Award. 

ABOUT THE MAGIC PARLOUR

Hailed as a "star attraction dazzling audiences in an elegant underground Loop parlor" (WBEZ), The Magic Parlour is "90 minutes of mind-boggling fun that would make Houdini proud, offer(ing) warmth, intimacy and a great close-up view of the magic being performed right before your eyes" (WGN Radio). In a first-of-its-kind creative collaboration, Watkins teamed up with Goodman Theatre and Petterino's restaurant to establish a permanent home for Chicago's longest-running magic show—an intimate evening of classic magic and mind-reading previously hosted for more than a decade at the Palmer House (opened on New Year's Eve, 2011). The audience participates in much of the performance as Watkins delivers his signature blend of sharp sleight-of-hand, sophisticated mind-reading, and personal storytelling to rekindle your sense of wonder.

The space at 50 W. Randolph, situated adjacent to the Goodman in Petterino's transformed lower-level area, continues Watkins' famed tradition of the VIP experience in The Encore Room, an upgraded ticket option for guests seeking an exclusive 25-minute interaction following the performance. Immediately following the performance, up to 24 guests are escorted to a private space where Watkins performs up-close magic.

ABOUT THE PARTNERS

Petterino's has been a beloved downtown icon in the Chicago community for 20+ years, continuing to offer the same spirit and tradition that diners know and love. Enjoy timeless flavors, authentic Italian fare, comfortable interiors and warm hospitality. Our passion for creating memorable dining experiences aligns perfectly with the mystique of magic. The synergy between the culinary artistry of our chefs and the magical prowess of Dennis Watkins promises an evening of unparalleled wonder and flavor. We've joined forces with the Goodman and this talented magician to bring you a dining experience like no other. Blend the flavors of Italy with the wonder of magic, by dining at Petterino's before or after the show. You may also consider booking a private or corporate event in conjunction with a show. Whether you're celebrating a special occasion, a romantic evening, or simply seeking an escape from the ordinary, our magical collaboration guarantees an enchanting escape into a world where delectable cuisine dances with spellbinding illusions.

Since 1925, The Goodman has been more than a stage. A theatrical home for artists and a gathering space for community, it's where stories come to life—bold in artistry and rich in history, deeply rooted in the city it serves. Led by Walter Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director John Collins, The Goodman sparks conversation, connection and change through new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musicals. With distinctions including nearly 200 world or American premieres, two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and nearly 200 Joseph Jefferson Awards, The Goodman is proud to be the first theater to produce all 10 plays of August Wilson's "American Century Cycle." In addition, the theater frequently serves as a production partner—with national and international companies to Chicago's Off-Loop theaters—to help amplify theatrical voices.