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J.B. at City Lit

Dates: (10/27/2017 - 12/10/2017 )

Theatre:

City Lit


1020 W. Bryn Mawr
Chicago,IL

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directed by Matthew Scott Campbell

What can a writer do, pondered Archibald MacLeish, “when you are dealing with questions too large for you which, nevertheless, will not leave you alone.” MacLeish, a poet, playwright and former Librarian of Congress, had served as an artillery captain in the First World War and learned the horrors of World War Two as director of the War Department’s Office of Facts and Figures. In 1958 he turned to the Biblical story of Job as the guiding metaphor for this Pulitzer Prize-winning play. God and Satan, actors in a rundown circus, make a petty wager over whether a man can endure the worst suffering and not lose his faith. Like Job, J.B. loses everything but refuses to surrender not so much his trust in God as his love for his fellow human beings: “Blow on the coal of the heart.?/ The candles in churches are out.?/ The lights have gone out in the sky.?/ Blow on the coal of the heart /?And we’ll see by and by. . . .”

February 21 – 23 & February 26 – March 2, 7:30 p.m.
Matinee: February 23, 2:00 p.m.

News About J.B. at City Lit

Cast and Crew Announced For World Premiere Adaptation Of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
Cast and Crew Announced For World Premiere Adaptation Of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER
September 25, 2023

The cast and crew have been announced for the World Premiere adaptation of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, opening on October 29. Brian Pastor will direct Shawna Tucker's original adaptation of the Davis Grubb novel. Get event and ticket information here!

City Lit Names Brian Pastor Executive Artistic Director
City Lit Names Brian Pastor Executive Artistic Director
June 02, 2023

City Lit Board President Daniel Robinson announced that Brian Pastor (they/them), City Lit’s current Resident Director and for nine years its Managing Director, will succeed City Lit’s Producer and Artistic Director Terry McCabe, who will retire on June 30, 2024, following the conclusion of City Lit’s recently announced 43rd season.

Nominations for 2023 Jeff Awards for Non-Equity Theater Announced; See the Full List!
Nominations for 2023 Jeff Awards for Non-Equity Theater Announced; See the Full List!
January 31, 2023

Kicking off the new year, the Joseph Jefferson Awards announced its nominations for theater excellence among Non-Equity theater. See the full list!

12 Days Left To Vote For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards; The Little Theatre On The Square Leads Favorite Local Theatre!
12 Days Left To Vote For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards; The Little Theatre On The Square Leads Favorite Local Theatre!
December 19, 2022

The latest standings as of Monday, December 19th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Latest Stats Released For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards; at The Little Theatre On The Square Leads Best Ensemble Performance!
Latest Stats Released For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards; at The Little Theatre On The Square Leads Best Ensemble Performance!
December 12, 2022

The latest standings as of Monday, December 12th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Latest Standings Released For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards; The Little Theatre On The Square Leads Favorite Local Theatre!
Latest Standings Released For The 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards; The Little Theatre On The Square Leads Favorite Local Theatre!
December 05, 2022

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

First Stats Released For The BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards; Little Theatre On The Square's ALWAYS, PATSY CLINE Leads Best Musical
First Stats Released For The BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards; Little Theatre On The Square's ALWAYS, PATSY CLINE Leads Best Musical
November 21, 2022

The first live standings have been announced for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Chicago Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Writers Theatre to Open 2022/23 Season With TIGER STYLE! by Mike Lew in September
Writers Theatre to Open 2022/23 Season With TIGER STYLE! by Mike Lew in September
August 31, 2022

Writers Theatre will debut its 2022/23 Season with Tiger Style! by Mike Lew, directed by Brian Balcom. The production runs September 29, 2022 – October 30, 2022 in the in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre.

City Lit Re-Announces Four-Show Season, to Begin in January 2022
City Lit Re-Announces Four-Show Season, to Begin in January 2022
June 25, 2021

City Lit Theater has re-announced programming for its 41st year of production, according to Producer and Artistic Director Terry McCabe. The 2021-22 subscription season will open with a world premiere adaptation – THE VIRGINIAN: A HORSEMAN OF THE PLAINS.

Nominations Announced for the 47th Annual Non–Equity Jeff Awards
Nominations Announced for the 47th Annual Non–Equity Jeff Awards
April 28, 2020

With the conclusion of the 2019-2020 Chicago non-Equity theater season, the Jeff Awards announced the nominees for the 47th annual awards for theater excellence that include 120 theater artists across 21 categories.

All-Female Cast to Play the Men of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis in City Lit's THIRTEEN DAYS
All-Female Cast to Play the Men of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis in City Lit's THIRTEEN DAYS
January 23, 2020

The October 1962 days in which the world appeared to be on the brink of nuclear war will be revisited in a world premiere adaptation of Robert F. Kennedy's THIRTEEN DAYS: A MEMOIR OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS. Brian Pastor, the Chicago writer-director-actor who serves as Artistic Director of Promethean Theatre Ensemble and Executive Director of Sideshow Theatre Company, has adapted Kennedy's account of the administration of President John F. Kennedy to the discovery that the Soviet Union was installing missile sites in Cuba, just 90 miles from the U.S.. As with City Lit's acclaimed 2017 production of Archibald MacLeish's J.B., which Pastor also directed, the powerful men of THIRTEEN DAYS will be played by a diverse ensemble of women. All the characters in the book are white males; none of the actors onstage will be. THIRTEEN DAYS will open to the press on March 15 at 3 pm, following previews from March 6, and will play through April 19.

City Lit Theater Announces 40th Season of Productions
City Lit Theater Announces 40th Season of Productions
May 22, 2019

City Lit's 40th Season to explore key moments in American history through fact, fiction and fantasy. Productions will include the Chicago premiere of Peter Parnell's ROMANCE LANGUAGE, a revival of Kristine Thatcher's VOICE OF GOOD HOPE, and world premiere adaptations of Robert F. Kennedy's THIRTEEN DAYS and Owen Lister's THE VIRGINIAN

Midsommer Flight Announces Cast For Free Summer Performances Of THE TEMPEST
Midsommer Flight Announces Cast For Free Summer Performances Of THE TEMPEST
May 09, 2019

Casting announced for Midsommer Flight's 2019 summer production of THE TEMPEST, July 6 - August 25.

Cast Announced For Promethean's GROSS INDECENCY: THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE
Cast Announced For Promethean's GROSS INDECENCY: THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE
December 20, 2018

Promethean's critically-acclaimed production of Moises Kaufman's historical drama GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE, which enjoyed a two-week run in December 2016, will be remounted from February 15 through March 24, 2019 at Strawdog Theatre, 1809 W. Berenice. GROSS INDECENCY, which Promethean Artistic Director Brian Pastor will again direct, will be performed with cross-gender casting in some roles, as it was in the company's earlier production. Promethean Ensemble Member Jamie Bragg will reprise her leading role as Oscar Wilde.

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