Court Theatre Announces Complete 2008-09 Season

 
 

 
 

Court Theatre proudly announces SITI Company's Radio Macbeth directed by Anne Bogart and Darron L. West, and August Wilson's The Piano Lesson directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson, to complete its 2008/09 season. Both productions will be performed at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue in Hyde Park. Chicago's own E. Faye Butler, recent star of the hit musical Ella and the upcoming Goodman production Ain't Misbehavin', will play the title role in the Midwest Premiere of Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change.
 
"These last additions to our season exemplify what Court Theatre is all about: blending the ancient and the contemporary in ways that reveal new insights into our most basic human quest to better understand ourselves and our place in the world," says Artistic Director Charles Newell. "Both of these plays, a captivating take on Shakespeare's timeless Macbeth by one of the most innovative collaborative ensembles working today, and August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of family legacy are titans of classic theatre that I am eager to discover with Court's audiences."
 
The company's fifty-fourth annual season also includes the Midwest Premiere of Tony-winning Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell; a world premiere translation of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck by Richard Nelson to be performed at The Museum of Contemporary Art as the inaugural production of Court's Barbara E. Franke Commissioning Program for New Classics; and Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson. The Wild Duck will be performed at The Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 East Chicago Avenue.
 
The Complete 2008/09 Court Theatre Season is:
 
The Midwest Premiere of
Caroline, or Change
Book & Lyrics by Tony Kushner
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell
Run Dates: September 11, 2008 – October 19, 2008
 
The coins that 8-year-old Noah carelessly leaves behind in his pockets are more than just spare change to Caroline Thibodeax, an African American housekeeper working in a stifling basement laundry room in Louisiana in 1963. Blending blues, gospel, and traditional Jewish melodies in a breathtaking score, this deeply personal story from Pulitzer Prize-winning Tony Kushner (Angels in America) is drawn from the playwright's own childhood. The vast social change taking place in 1960s America is the perfect backdrop for this powerful story.   
 
Radio Macbeth
Adapted from the play by William Shakespeare
Directed by Anne Bogart & Darron L. West
Run Dates:  November 6, 2008 – December 7, 2008
 
Late at night in the guts of an abandoned theater, a company of actors gathers to rehearse Shakespeare's Macbeth. They soon realize that they're not alone. As they are drawn deeper into the Bard's most magnetic play, the ghosts that have haunted the story since its inception hover and encroach. History, ambition, fortune, fate, free will, hubris, pride, indecision, the eternal male-female conflict, and madness permeate SITI Company's production. This haunted and haunting production should find appreciative audiences.
 
The Wild Duck
By Henrik Ibsen
In a new translation by Richard Nelson
Directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell
In partnership with The Museum of Contemporary Art
Run Dates: January 15, 2009 – February 15, 2009
 
The peaceful lives of the Ekdal family are turned upside down by an idealistic young family friend. Can the truth liberate the lives of two families bound together by a web of secrets? Or will it destroy their delicate hold on happiness? One of the giants of modern theatre, Ibsen created a masterpiece that pairs profound tragedy with irresistible comedy.
 
Wait Until Dark
By Frederick Knott
Directed by Ron OJ Parson
Run Dates: March 5, 2009 – April 5, 2009
 
A cool-as-ice psychopath smooth talks his way into the home of an unsuspecting blind woman. Unbeknownst to Susie, she's harboring a dangerous prize, and he'll use every trick to get it. Spend an evening on the edge of your seat with the genre Hitchcock made classic.  This psychological thriller probes which frightens us more – the evil you can see coming, or the one you can't?
 
The Piano Lesson - Rights Pending
By August Wilson
Directed by Ron OJ Parson
Run Dates: May 7, 2009 – June 7, 2009
 
Master playwright August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play is the 1930s entry in his monumental 20th century play cycle. The Piano Lesson is the story of two siblings' struggle to come to terms with their inheritance and the ghosts of the dead. A bitter family history with origins in slavery is carved into the wood of the piano that could be Boy Willie's ticket to self-sufficiency or Berniece's legacy to her daughter.
 
The Barbara E. Franke Commissioning Program for New Classics was established in 2006 to allow Court Theatre to create new translations and adaptations of classic texts for the stage. Among the projects currently in development is a stage adaptation of Marysé Conde's novel, 'I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem' by the playwright OyamO.
 
Subscription Information
 
Five, four and three play subscriptions to Court's 2008/2009 season range from $90 to $245 and are on sale now. 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 www.CourtTheatre.org. Individual tickets go on sale August 1, 2008. Groups of 10 or more may purchase tickets after May 1, 2008 by calling Milan Penjovich in Court's Group Sales Office at (773) 834-3243.
 
Court Theatre, the professional theatre in residence at the University of Chicago, is located at 5535 S. Ellis Ave. in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. You can reach the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court's website at www.CourtTheatre.org. The remaining shows for the 2007/2008 season is The First Breeze of Summer by Leslie Lee which begins on May 15th.
 
Court Theatre's 53rd Season, under the leadership of Artistic Director Charles Newell and Executive Director Dawn J. Helsing, is generously supported by Richard and Barbara Franke, Hyde Park Bank, The Joyce Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Sara Lee Foundation, Shubert Foundation, the University of Chicago Women's Board, and the University of Chicago. Court Theatre is also funded in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; CityArts Program IV of the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs; a Cultural Outreach Program grant from the City of Chicago; and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
 


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