CHICAGO: Court Theatre has announced its 2018-19 season, featuring five productions.
“Court Theatre is thrilled to announce a season of classics that builds upon our history of artistic innovation and collaboration,”said artistic director Charles Newell in a statement. “This ambitious collection of new and beloved plays is steeped in a rich storytelling history: a world premiere adaptation of a quintessential American novel, a celebration of a brilliant yet often overlooked female scientist, and the 10th installment of August Wilson’s seminal Pittsburgh Cycle are just some of the powerful stories that we’re excited to share with our audiences.”
The season will start with August Wilson’s Radio Golf (Aug. 30-Sept. 20), about a real estate developer determined to become the first black mayor of Pittsburgh. The cast will feature Tyla Abercrumbie, Allen Gilmore, James Vincent Meredith, and Alfred H. Wilson. Ron OJ Parson, who has helmed seven of Wilson’s plays at Court Theatre, will direct.
Next up will be the world premiere of Manual Cinema’s Frankenstein (Nov. 1-Dec. 2), adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley, devised by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, and Julia Miller with original music by Kyle Vegter and Ben Kauffman. The show will feature shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, and innovative sound and music to tell the classic tale about the horror of creation.
Following will be Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51 (Jan. 17-Feb. 17, 2019), about the British chemist Rosalind Franklin, who provided the key to the double helix DNA discovery. Chaon Cross will star.
Next will be Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf (March 14-April 14, 2019), in which a sisterhood of seven women share their stories through prose poetry, music, and movement. Seret Scott will direct.
The season will conclude with the world premiere of David Auburn’s The Adventures of Augie March (May 9-June 9, 2019). Based on the novel by Saul Bellow, the play follows a young man brought up in the Great Depression who exploes what it takes to succeed in the world as an individual.
Founded in 1955, the Court Theatre aims to expand the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts.
