SEVEN GUITARS Comes to City Lit Theater Next Month

City Lit Theater will follow its critical and popular hit THE HOUSE OF IDEAS with August Wilson’s SEVEN GUITARS, directed by veteran Chicago director and actor Manny Buckley. SEVEN GUITARS is the 1940s entry in Wilson's “Pittsburgh Cycle,” a decade-by-decade anthology of African American life. Like all but one of the cycle’s ten plays, SEVEN GUITARS is set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. It follows six friends mourning the death of their friend Floyd "Schoolboy" Barton, a rising blues star trapped by his circumstances and cut down in his prime. Wilson later revisited the stories of some of these characters in KING HEDLEY II, set in the 1980s. SEVEN GUITARS will open on Sunday, October 27 at 3 pm, following previews from October 18, and will play through December 1.
 
Buckley’s cast will include a mix of City Lit veterans and newcomers. Jordan Gleaves, who makes his City Lit debut following many credits with Nashville Shakespeare Festival and who has additionally performed with Remy Bumppo and Timeline Theatre, will play Floyd. Maureen Azzun, seen recently in NATIVE SON for Lifeline Theatre, will be his girlfriend Vera. Andrea Conway – Diaz (Barbara Jordan in City Lit’s VOICE OF GOOD HOPE) and Robert Howard (City Lit’s MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL) will appear as neighbors Louise and Hedley. Brian Bradford (City Lit’s THE INNOCENCE OF SEDUCTION, FUENTE OVEJUNA, and THE BLOODHOUND LAW) and Jarvell Williams (RICHARD II with Sandbox Theatre Collective and GOD OF CARNAGE for Milwaukee Rep) have been cast as Floyd’s bandmates Red Carter and Canewell. Tiffany Williams (Luisa in Quest Theatre Ensemble’s THE FANTASTICKS)  will play Louise’s niece Ruby.