All-Chicago Cast Leads Thomas Bradshaw's CARLYLE World Premiere, Beginning Tonight at Goodman

The Goodman commissioned world premiere of CARLYLE by Thomas Bradshaw, directed by Benjamin Kamine, features an all-Chicago cast with James Earl Jones II in the titular role, joined by Patrick Clear (Janice's Father), Maureen Gallagher (Janice's Mother), Tim Rhoze (CARLYLE's Father), Levenix Riddle (Omar/Tyrone), Tiffany Scott (Janice/Sarah), Charlette Speigner (Anita Hill/Shaniqua) and Nate Whelden (Mark).

CARLYLE appears in the Goodman's 350 flexible-seat Owen Theatre, tonight, April 2, through May 1, 2016. Tickets ($10-$40, as well as special $10 student tickets) are on sale now; visit GoodmanTheatre.org, call 312.443.3800 or purchase in person at the Box Office at 170 N. Dearborn. Tickets ($65; subject to change) for "Politics and Pinot" are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/pinot.

"I have been working on CARLYLE for a few years now-including its developmental production as part of the Goodman's 2014 New Stages festival-and as each year passed, its importance and timeliness became more apparent. I'm very pleased that it's making its world premiere during an election year, at the theater that commissioned it, with an all-Chicago cast," said playwright Thomas Bradshaw.

Carlyle Meyers is an ambitious lawyer facing one potentially major barrier in his burgeoning career: He is an African American in the Republican Party. Recruited by the higher-ups to show off the party's changing demographic, CARLYLE takes the stage to present an autobiographical play that recounts how and why he became a member of the GOP, resulting in an uncensored dissection of the effects of affirmative action, party alliance and the state of race in America.

Thomas Bradshaw returns to the Goodman, where his play Mary made its 2010/2011 world premiere. His other plays include Fulfillment (American Theater Company and The Flea Theater); Intimacy and Burning (The New Group); Job and Dawn (The Flea Theater); The Bereaved (Crowded Fire, Partial Comfort and the State Theater of Bielefeld in Germany); Southern Promises (PS122) and more. He has received fellowships from the Lark Play Development Center, Soho Rep (Streslin Fellow) and New York Theater Workshop, and he was the recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2010 Prince Prize, and the 2012 Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Bradshaw was the Playwright-in-Residence at The Soho Theatre in London in February 2009. His plays are published by TCG, Samuel French and Dramatic Publishing. Bradshaw received his MFA from Mac Wellman's playwriting program at Brooklyn College and is an associate professor at Northwestern University.

Benjamin Kamine returns to Goodman Theatre, where he directed the 2014 New Stages festival production of CARLYLE. Recent credits include the New York premiere of Washer/Dryer by Nandita Shenoy (Ma-Yi Theater Company) and world premieres of Thomas Bradshaw's Job and christopher oscar peña's a cautionary tail (The Flea Theater); The Dum Dums by Joshua Conkel (Glass Mind Theatre); Pied! by Julia Meinwald and Gordon Leary (Polyphone Festival, University of the Arts); and Samsara by Lauren Yee (Chance Theater). Kamine is Associate Artist at The Flea Theater and a Resident Director at the Jewish Plays Project. He has developed new plays with Ars Nova, Brooklyn College, Cape Cod Theatre Project, EST/Youngblood, The New Group, and PlayPenn, among many others. He is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, was a member of the 2014/2015 Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and was a 2014/2015 LABA Fellow. He is a member of the 2015/2016 Civilians R&D Group.

Tickets ($10-$40) - Goodmantheatre.org/CARLYLE; 312.443.3800; Fax: 312.443.3825; TTY/TDD: 312.443.3829. Subscriptions - Four-play Albert Theatre subscriptions start at $100 ( GoodmanTheatre.org/Brilliant). MezzTix - Half-price day-of-performance mezzanine tickets available at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX). $10Tix - Student $10 advance performance tickets; limit four, with valid student ID (promo code 10TIX). Group Sales - Discounted tickets for parties of 10+ - 312.443.3820. Gift Certificates - Available in any amount (GoodmanTheatre.org/GiftCertificates). Box Office Hours -12noon - 5pm; on performance days, the office remains open until 30 minutes past curtain).

Goodman Theatre has won international recognition for its artists, productions and programs, and is a major cultural, educational and economic pillar in Chicago. Founded in 1925 by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth (an important figure in Chicago's cultural renaissance in the early 1900s), Goodman Theatre has garnered hundreds of awards for artistic achievement and community engagement, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards (including "Outstanding Regional Theatre" in 1992), nearly 160 Joseph Jefferson Awards and more. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the Goodman's artistic priorities include new plays (more than 150 world or American premieres in the past 30 years), reimagined classics (including Falls' nationally and internationally celebrated productions of Death of a Salesman, Long's Day's Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy), culturally specific work, musical theater (26 major productions in 20 years, including 10 world premieres) and international collaborations. Diversity and inclusion have been primary cornerstones of the Goodman's mission for 30 years; over the past decade, 68% of the Goodman's 35 world premieres were authored by women and/or playwrights of color, and the Goodman was the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson's "American Century Cycle." Each year the Goodman's numerous education and community engagement programs-including the innovative Student Subscription Series, now in its 30th year-serve thousands of students, teachers, life-long learners and special constituencies. In addition, for nearly four decades the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has led to the creation of a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago.

Goodman Theatre's leadership includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Joan Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre's Board of Trustees, Swati Mehta is Women's Board President and Gordon C.C. Liao is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

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