Skip to main content
Shop Merch Add a Show Listing
My Shows
News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

SPOTLIGHT READING SERIES to be Presented at Court Theatre

Events include It’s Nation Time: An Evening of Black Cinema; Kuumba Theatre Archive Unfurling and more.

By:
SPOTLIGHT READING SERIES to be Presented at Court Theatre

Court Theatre will present the Spotlight Reading Series. The Spotlight Reading Series will run from Friday, August 7, through Saturday, August 22, at venues throughout Chicago. Curated by Director of Engagement Kamilah Rashied, this is the tenth anniversary of the program created by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson in 2016

Featuring the most ambitious programming to date, this year’s landmark Spotlight Reading Series is organized around the theme “A Century of Black Progress.” The tenth-anniversary celebration arrives on the heels of the centennial of Black History Month, which began in 1926 as Negro History Week, and looks ahead to the conclusion of August Wilson’s American Century Cycle with Court Theatre’s 2027 production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone.

By weaving together the past, present, and future of Black storytelling through a series of immersive events, the Spotlight Reading Series celebrates the soul of Chicago’s cultural ecosystem and pays tribute to one hundred years of cultural excellence and resilience.

This year's Spotlight Reading Series is comprised of the following events:

Friday, August 7: It’s Nation Time: An Evening of Black Cinema
Sunday, August 9: Kuumba Theatre Archive Unfurling
Wednesday, August 12: Staged Reading of August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned, featuring Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson
Thursday, August 13: A Womanist Trilogy: Hurston, Richards, and Kennedy
Friday, August 14: are you ready to smash white things? by Ireon Roach, a collaboration with Definition Theatre
Saturday, August 15: Praise and Protest Exhibition Tour
Saturday, August 15: Harsh Readers Circle
Wednesday, August 19: Blackstone Book Club
Saturday, August 22: The Chicago Critics Circles
 

All events are free and open to the public, and reservations are required. Reservations can be made online at CourtTheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at (773) 753-4472.

More on Court Theatre
Recent Articles
Court Theatre to Present 10th Anniversary SPOTLIGHT READING SERIES
Court Theatre to Present 10th Anniversary SPOTLIGHT READING SERIES
6/2/2026
Need more Chicago Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...


BroadwayWorld TV


Fleetwood Max in Chicago Fleetwood Max
Raue Center For The Arts (10/03-10/03)
Love Story: A Tribute to Taylor Swift in Chicago Love Story: A Tribute to Taylor Swift
Raue Center For The Arts (11/07-11/07)
Rotary Rocks The Raue: James Garner's Tribute to Johnny Cash in Chicago Rotary Rocks The Raue: James Garner's Tribute to Johnny Cash
Raue Center For The Arts (10/24-10/24)
The Dave Matthews Tribute Band in Chicago The Dave Matthews Tribute Band
Raue Center For The Arts (9/25-9/25)
Blond Ambition: A Tribute to Madonna in Chicago Blond Ambition: A Tribute to Madonna
Raue Center For The Arts (11/07-11/07)
Memphis The Musical in Chicago Memphis The Musical
Studebaker Theater at the Fine Arts Building (10/24-10/25)
The Beautiful Game In Concert in Chicago The Beautiful Game In Concert
Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture (8/31-8/31)
for colored girls who considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf in Chicago for colored girls who considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf
eta Creative Arts Foundation (8/01-8/30) PHOTOS VIDEOS
O.A.R., Gavin DeGraw & KT Tunstall in Chicago O.A.R., Gavin DeGraw & KT Tunstall
Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island (9/06-9/06)
The Apiary  in Chicago The Apiary
Bramble Arts Loft (11/06-11/22)