A World Premiere & More Set for Court Theatre's 69th Season

Court Theatre has announced its 69th season. The company's 2023/24 season will feature the riveting and clever family saga, James Goldman's The Lion in Winter, directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson; the Sophocles classic bringing Court's Oedipus Trilogy to a defiant conclusion, Antigone, directed by Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent; one of Tom Stoppard's earliest and best-known works, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, directed by Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell; and Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution, an evocative world premiere by Nambi E. Kelley and directed by Tasia A. Jones.

Court's upcoming season marks a thrilling inflection point in the theatre's history, catalyzed by the 2022 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The season centers timeless themes in strikingly rich interpretations, encouraging audiences to find the fresh in the familiar. Court has compiled a carefully curated blend of beloved texts and new voices to take audiences on this invigorating journey.

The 2023/24 season starts later than previous seasons, as Court will return to the renowned Getty Villa in fall of 2023 to remount their production of The Gospel at Colonus, bringing the sound, history, and vibrancy of this uniquely Chicago production to the West Coast. Due to this opportunity, the 2023/24 season will not officially begin until early November 2023. This is just one of many exciting projects that Court has planned for next year - and the years to come.

Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell shares: "This season, we're staging a number of well-known works in innovative and creative ways, inviting audiences to reconsider their potential, their cultural and theatrical significance, and their essential message. We commissioned a new work that complicates historical narratives and reinvigorates the form of the memory play. And we remain ever curious about what makes a classic and why. This season will be wonderfully satisfying, without question, and - by shaking the foundation of the typical - we can't wait to celebrate the transformational power of possibility with audiences."

Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre comments: "We received the 2022 Regional Theatre Tony Award for our history of excellent productions and for building participation among residents in our surrounding communities on the South Side. This season continues that work as we artistically invest in telling important stories, reimagine stories we think we know, and continue to deepen relationships and be a place of artistic and civic engagement for our neighbors on the South Side of Chicago. These plays all examine issues of who we are and how we act responsibly toward one another."

The 2023/24 Court Theatre Season Up Close:

The Lion in Winter

by James Goldman

Directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson

Performance Dates: November 3, 2023 - December 3, 2023

Press Opening: November 11, 2023 at 7:30pm

It is Christmas in the 12th century, and Henry II's family is in tatters. His once-loving wife and now sworn enemy, Eleanor of Aquitaine, has been released from prison and is seeking vengeance at any cost; his three sons - Richard, Geoffrey, and John - are profoundly incompetent, consumed by petty sibling squabbles and gridlocked in duplicitous scheming; and his mistress (who just happens to be betrothed to his son) is running out of patience, demanding either a wedding or the return of her much-needed dowry. And you thought your holidays were complicated!

The Lion in Winter depicts - with acerbic wit - a family's attempt to persevere in the face of staggering egos, ruthless ambition, and deceit at every turn as the fate of their country hangs in the balance. Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson (Two Trains Running, Arsenic and Old Lace) directs the Tony Award-winning play that inspired the Oscar-winning film, staging this thrillingly clever epic with humor, heart, and renewed relevance.

Antigone

by Sophocles

Directed by Gabrielle Randle-Bent, Associate Artistic Director

Performance Dates: February 2, 2024 - February 25, 2024

Press Opening: February 10, 2024 at 7:30pm

As Antigone mourns her brothers who have murdered each other in a civil war, she must decide if she will sacrifice her life to balance the scales of justice. Her victorious brother is posthumously exalted; her treasonous brother is left unburied by order of King Creon, Antigone's uncle and adversary. Antigone deliberately defies the king's edict and buries her traitorous brother, igniting a devastating chain of events and thrusting urgent questions of justice to the fore.

With Antigone, Sophocles' timely masterwork, Associate Artistic Director Gabrielle Randle-Bent (The Island) brings Court's Oedipus Trilogy - Oedipus Rex, The Gospel at Colonus, and Antigone - to an exhilarating conclusion. Randle-Bent's striking interpretation - featuring Aeriel Williams in the titular role and Timothy Edward Kane as King Creon - not only completes this theatrical odyssey, but renders Sophocles' classic tale electrifyingly alive, inviting audiences to hear his poetry anew. As a result, Randle-Bent frees Antigone from the trap of martyrdom, situates her in our modern conversation about the price of democracy, and asks - crucially - if it's a price we're willing to pay.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

by Tom Stoppard

Directed by Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director

Performance Dates: March 29, 2024 - April 21, 2024

Press Opening: April 6, 2024 at 7:30pm

Everyone dies, but not everyone's death is pre-ordained by Shakespeare. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead puts the spotlight on two of Shakespeare's minor characters as they wrestle with fundamental, pressing questions of identity, loss, fate, friendship, and the absurdity of existence. As they hurtle towards their imminent demise, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern unlock what it means to be truly alive.

After directing The Hard Problem, Arcadia, Travesties, and The Invention of Love at Court and Rock 'n' Roll at Goodman Theatre, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell turns his expert eye to Tom Stoppard once more. His deconstructed interpretation of one of Stoppard's earliest and best-known works propels the story forward with newfound immediacy. And, in so doing, Newell unveils the emotional in the existential, and urges us to reconsider what we know about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet, and perhaps even Tom Stoppard himself.

The World Premiere of

Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution

by Nambi E. Kelley

Directed by Tasia A. Jones

Performance Dates: May 24, 2024 - June 16, 2024

Press Opening: June 1, 2024 at 7:30pm

Civil rights activist Kwame Ture, born Stokely Carmichael, was a towering icon; a man of immense domestic and international importance; a man who refused to back down, step aside, or remain silent. But he was also just that: a man. Blending the historical and the personal with astonishing grace, Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution depicts one man's rise to prominence and the many people who made it possible, begging the question: what does it mean to trust someone with a movement when you can't trust them with your heart?

Tasia A. Jones makes her Court directorial debut with playwright and Prince Prize winner Nambi E. Kelley's (Native Son) evocative world premiere. Tracing the journey from Stokely Carmichael, the man, to Kwame Ture, the legend, Kelley illuminates the power of imperfection to humanize, and the power of that humanity to change the world.

Subscription Information

Three and four-play subscriptions to Court's 2023/24 season range from $111 to $272 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 for all shows will be available in summer 2023.

Court Theatre is the Tony Award-winning classic theatre of the University of Chicago.

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