J Nicole Brooks News

Lookingglass Theatre Company, in collaboration with WBEZ 91.5 Chicago, presents a World Premiere audio play of Her Honor Jane Byrne, written and directed by Ensemble Member and Mellon Playwright in Residence J. Nicole Brooks. Her Honor Jane Byrne will air on Chicago's NPR news station WBEZ 91.5 FM and wbez,org on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26 from 11am-1pm CT and Saturday, November 28 from 2pm-4pm CT.

Join Collaboraction, Chicago's theater for social change, on Thursday, November 19 from 8 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. CT for Crucial Connections, the company's free, highly interactive, live online show that's all about 'hyper-local, thinking global.'

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces the new digital membership: The Secret Passage, which includes exclusive programming of enthralling stories, virtual delights and artist engagement opportunities. 

Lookingglass Theatre Company has announced that Ensemble Member and playwright J. Nicole Brooks (Her Honor Jane Byrne) has been awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation grant to support a three-year residency at Lookingglass Theatre Company through the National Playwright Residency Program (NPRP).

HowlRound Theatre Commons has announced it has been awarded a three-year, $1,336,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support HowlRound's core programs and the continuation of the National Playwright Residency Program (NPRP), funding thirteen new playwright residencies in nine states.

In collaboration with The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, HowlRound Theatre Commons established the National Playwright Residency Program (NPRP) in 2013.

Today we're checking in with Lookingglass Theatre Company. We chatted with Heidi Stillman, Artistic Director of the theatre.

Lookingglass Theatre Company presents new episodes of Keeping Curious, a new lineup of programming free to all audiences. While Coronavirus keeps theaters closed and audiences apart, Lookingglass Theatre has developed a whole host of free digital offerings presented by Lookingglass Ensemble Members and Artistic Associates.

Lookingglass Theatre Company presents Keeping Curious, a new lineup of programming free to all audiences.

While Coronavirus keeps theaters closed and audiences apart, Lookingglass Theatre has developed a whole host of free digital offerings presented Lookingglass Ensemble Members and Artistic Associates, including a new weekly podcast, a virtual yoga class, and exclusive performances.

J. Nicole Brooks's HER HONOR JANE BYRNE, now in a world premiere production at Lookingglass, is a play deeply rooted in Chicago's not-too-distant history. Inspired by former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne (the first woman to serve as mayor here) and her decision to move into Cabrini-Green as a display of her desire to revitalize the city's housing projects, the play introduces a cast of characters representing different perspectives in the city. Brooks (who also directs) has assembled an intriguing array of characters in HER HONOR JANE BYRNE, and she makes the pivotal choice to prominently feature residents of Cabrini-Green as much as Byrne and some of her fellow Chicago politicians. Yet the play becomes too cluttered in its various storylines and ideas.

Lookingglass Theatre Company presents the World Premiere of Her Honor Jane Byrne, written and directed by Ensemble Member J. Nicole Brooks. Her Honor Jane Byrne runs February 26–April 12, 2020 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Performance will be held Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Lookingglass Theatre Company will present the World Premiere of Her Honor Jane Byrne, written and directed by Ensemble Member J. Nicole Brooks. Her Honor Jane Byrne runs February 26-April 12, 2020 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. The Press Performance will be held Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Collaboraction Theatre Company will launch its 2019-20 mainstage season at Kennedy-King College (KKC) at 63rd and Halsted in the college's 292-seat, state-of-the-art mainstage theater, with its fourth annual Peacebook Festival, Thursday through Saturday, August 15-17.

Collaboraction Theatre Company will launch its 2019-20 mainstage season at Kennedy-King College (KKC) at 63rd and Halsted in the college's 292-seat, state-of-the-art mainstage theater, with its fourth annual Peacebook Festival, Thursday through Saturday, August 15-17.

Collaboraction Theatre Company announces its 2019-20 season, themed We Are Each Other's Business, which will be staged at Kennedy-King College in Englewood at 63rd and Halsted in the college's state-of-the-art, 292-seat mainstage and black box theaters.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, announces the recipients of the first round of the 2019 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards. The awards, totaling $509,000, allow 13 productions extra time for the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, hoping to extend the life of the world premiere play after its first run.

It seems only fitting that Ike Holter would conclude his seven-play "Rightlynd Saga," set in the fictional 51st Ward of Chicago, by literally sending it off with a party. And this is no ordinary celebration. A cast of characters from previous installments in the "Rightlynd Saga" gathers in Mallory's backyard; she's the neighborhood's maternal figure, and she's poised to give away a sizable sum of money to one lucky winner.

"Not everyone will go home a winner" in Goodman Theatre's world-premiere production of Lottery Day by Ike Holter, which appears through April 28 in the Owen Theatre. Holter concludes his seven-play "Rightlynd Saga"-the first play of which premiered five years ago, and has been hailed as "one of the most significant literary achievements in modern-day Chicago" (Chicago Tribune)-with a raucous theatrical bash, directed by Chicago native Lili-Anne Brown. Commissioned by the Goodman and developed through its New Stages Festival of new plays, Lottery Day takes place in a Rightlynd backyard where new characters and returning characters from the saga come together to create a work about the cost of belonging and the gift of community. Lottery Day appears through April 28 in the Owen Theatre.

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces its complete 2019-2020 season lineup, with three shows created by Lookingglass Ensemble Members.