Displaying items by tag: Tim Rhoze

Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, the Evanston theatre company that has been thrilling audiences with stories of the Black American and African diaspora experience since 1979, today announced its programming for the 2026 season. Tim Rhoze, the company's Producing Artistic Director since 2010, unveiled the slate of three plays, all of which were written by women and premiered in the 21^st Century. 
 
The season will open in May with GEE'S BEND, the 2008 play by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, which follows a family —Alice, her daughters Sadie and Nella, and Sadie's husband, Macon — from 1939 to 2000 as they experience segregation, family strife, and the Civil Rights movement. The play is set in the real-life community of Gee's Bend – an isolated community in central Alabama which has become known for the hand-stitched quilts made by generations of its women. DC Theater Arts said, "GEE'S BEND weaves the essence of the quilt into a theatrical experience that exalts universal themes of family, faith, and overcoming adversity in a deeply moving way. " GEE'S BEND was commissioned and produced by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and has been performed at Denver Center, Cleveland Playhouse, Kansas City Rep, Northlight Theatre, Philadelphia's Arden Theatre, and Hartford Stage, among others. The FJT production will play from May 23 through June 7. 
 
The season will continue in July with the Pulitzer Prize-nominated IN THE CONTINUUM —  a play that tells the parallel stories of two Black women, one in Los Angeles and one in Zimbabwe, who discover they are pregnant and HIV positive. It was written by the playwright and actress Danai Gurira (author of Broadway's ECLIPSED and cast member of HBO's THE WALKING DEAD) and the OBIE Award-winning actress and writer Nikkole Salter. It premiered at New York's Primary Stages in 2005 and was later produced at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Washington D.C.'s Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and in Zimbabwe and South Africa. THE NEW YORK TIMES called it "A moving, smart, spirited and powerfully funny production."  It will be performed by Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre from July 25 through August 9. 
 
The season closer will be THE NICETIES, by Eleanor Burgess. This two-character play follows a 20-year-old Black college student meeting with her white professor to discuss the student's term paper about slavery's effect on the American Revolution. The paper's thesis is that the revolution would not have succeeded without the contributions of black slaves. The professor disagrees, and what begins as a polite clash in perspectives explodes into an urgent debate about race, history, and power. The world premiere of THE NICETIES, directed by Chicago's Kimberly Senior, was co-produced during the 2018-2019 season by the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, Massachusetts; Manhattan Theatre Club in New York, New York; and McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey. THE NEW YORK TIMES said it was "a bristling, provocative debate play about race and privilege in the United States, and it begs to be argued with." DC THEATER ARTS called it "a brilliant and important play." It will be performed by Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre from October 31 through November 15. 
 
Fleetwood–Jourdain Theatre will also produce the third annual Gloria Bond Clunie Playwright's Festival on July 18 and 19. The festival, named for the founder of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre and acclaimed playwright Gloria Bond Clunie, will present professional staged readings of three new plays. Titles and playwrights to be announced.
 
Premium Gold Membership cards, priced at $90.00 and including four reserved seats that can be used in any combination throughout the season, are on sale now at https://app.amilia.com/store/en/cityofevanston/shop/memberships/70643 . The card also includes the added benefit of an automatic bonus seat, along with access to other exclusive specials during the season. Tickets to individual plays will be offered later in the year.
 
LISTING INFORMATION
 
GEE'S BEND
by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder
Directed by Tim Rhoze
May 23 – June 7, 2026
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, Students $10.00. On sale later this year at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
 
GEE'S BEND is the story of the Pettway women, quilters from the isolated community of Gee's Bend, Alabama. Beginning in 1939, the play follows Alice, her daughters Sadie and Nella, and Sadie's husband, Macon, through segregation, family strife, and the Civil Rights movement. Throughout their lives, the women's extraordinary quilts provide a respite from the turmoil around them. In the last act of the play, it is the year 2000; the quilts have been discovered as folk art and have become very valuable. Sadie is pleased with the recognition, but despite the lure of the big city, she returns to Gee's Bend and continues to quilt. Wilder's play explores the resilience of the human spirit, especially as it is expressed in art. 
 
IN THE CONTINUUM 
by Danai Gurira & Nikkole Salter
Directed by Tim Rhoze
July 25 – August 9, 2026
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, Students $10.00. On sale later this year at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
 
IN THE CONTINUUM puts a human face on the devastating impact of AIDS in Africa and America through the lives of two unforgettably courageous women. Living worlds apart, one in South Central LA and the other in Zimbabwe, each experiences a kaleidoscopic weekend of life-changing revelations in this story of parallel denials and self-discoveries.
 
THE NICETIES
by Eleanor Burgess 
Directed by Tim Rhoze
October 31 – November 15, 2026
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St., Evanston
Tickets $32.00, Students $10.00. On sale later this year at www.fjtheatre.com
Phone 847-866-5914
 
Zoe, a Black student at a liberal arts college, is called into her white professor's office to discuss her paper about slavery's effect on the American Revolution. What begins as a polite clash in perspectives explodes into an urgent debate about race, history and power.
 
BIOS

Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder (Writer, GEE'S BEND) has written THE FURNITURE OF HOME, which deals with the Gulf Coast recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and premiered at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in 2009. Her play THE FLAG MAKER OF MARKET STREET followed at ASF in 2011. THE BONE ORCHARD was commissioned by the Denver Center Theatre and workshopped at the Perry Mansfield New Works Festival. Other plays include FRESH KILLS (Royal Court/London), THE FIRST DAY OF HUNTING SEASON (EST), and THE SPIRIT OF ECSTASY. 
 
Danai Gurira (Co-playwright, IN THE CONTINUUM) Is an award-winning playwright and actress. As a playwright, her works include Broadway's ECLIPSED (NAACP Award; Helen Hayes Award: Best New Play; Connecticut Critics Circle Award: Outstanding Production of a Play), IN THE CONTINUUM (OBIE Award, Outer Critics Award, Helen Hayes Award), and THE CONVERT (six Ovation Awards, Los Angeles Outer Critics Award). Danai's play FAMILIAR received its world premiere at Yale Rep in 2015. She is a recipient of the Whiting Award, a Hodder Fellow, and has been commissioned by Yale Rep, Center Theatre Group, Playwrights Horizons, and the Royal Court. She is currently developing a pilot for HBO. As an actor, she has appeared in the films THE VISITOR, and MOTHER OF GEORGE. She also played Isabella in NYSF's MEASURE FOR MEASURE (Equity Callaway Award) and currently plays Michonne on AMC's THE WALKING DEAD. She holds an MFA from Tisch, NYU. She was born in the US to Zimbabwean parents and raised in Zimbabwe. She is the co-founder of Almasi Arts, which works to give access and opportunity to the African Dramatic Artist.
 
Nikkole Salter (co-playwright, IN THE CONTINUUM). This Los Angeles-born, OBIE Award-winning actress and writer arrived on the professional scene with her co-authorship and co-performance (with Danai Gurira) of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, IN THE CONTINUUM. As a dramatist, Ms. Salter has written eight full-length plays, been commissioned for full-length work by six institutions, been produced on three continents in five countries, and has been published in 12 international publications. Her work has appeared in over 20 Off-Broadway, regional, and international theatres. Ms. Salter is also the co-librettist with composer/lyricist Nolan Williams Jr. of the musical GRACE and made her directorial debut opening the 2023/24 season of Baltimore Center Stage with a production of LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR AND GRILL. 
 
Eleanor Burgess (playwright, THE NICETIES). In addition to THE NICETIES, Eleanor Burgess's plays include WIFE OF A SALESMAN, START DOWN, CHILL, SPARKS FLY UPWARD, and GALILEE, 34.  Her work has been produced at theaters across the United States, including Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Rep, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, Huntington Theatre Company, Writers Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, InterAct Theatre, Portland Stage, the Alliance Theatre and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, as well as the Finborough Theatre in London. She has also written for film and television, including work on PERRY MASON for HBO, WE CRASHED for Apple TV+, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE for AMC, and screenplays for Bad Robot, Amblin, and Anonymous Content. Originally from Massachusetts, she studied history at Yale College and Dramatic Writing at NYU/Tisch.
  
Tim Rhoze (Director, Producing Artistic Director) Tim Rhoze has been the Producing Artistic Director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre since 2010. His directing credits include: THE BALDWIN | GIOVANNI EXPERIENCE, PASS OVER, HONEYPOT: BLACK WOMEN WHO LOVE WOMEN, UNTIL THE FLOOD, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/ WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, 1619: THE JOURNEY OF A PEOPLE, THIS BITTER EARTH, THE LIGHT, AMERICAN SON, HOME, TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992, THE MEETING, FIRES IN THE MIRROR, BLACK BALLERINA (co-writer),  NUTCRACKER(ISH), CROWNS, HAVING OUR SAY, FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA, WOZA ALBERT!, GOING TO ST. IVES, SINGLE BLACK FEMALE, A SONG FOR CORETTA, YELLOWMAN, SWEET, LADY DAY AT EMERSON BAR & GRILL, BEAR COUNTRY, NOBODY, FENCES, PIANO LESSON, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, K2, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, and others. Tim is also the writer/director of WHY NOT ME? A SAMMY DAVIS JR. STORY, and MAYA'S LAST POEM, both produced at FJT; and BLACK BALLERINA, produced at FJT and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. He was also co-writer and director of THE BALDWIN | GIOVANNI EXPERIENCE and A HOME ON THE LAKE. His performances in August Wilson's PIANO LESSON (1997) and JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE (2024) at the Goodman Theatre were nominated for Jeff Awards.
 
ABOUT FLEETWOOD-JOURDAIN THEATRE 

Founded in 1979, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is a professional, award-winning theatre company that has been thrilling audiences with over four decades of unique, inspirational, and invigorating Black American and African Diaspora-centered storytelling. The company has been honored by the Black Theatre Alliance/Ira Aldridge Awards and is frequently listed as a top-rated Chicago theatre company. From original plays to the best of Broadway, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre has remained committed to supplying the very best in theatre. "Umoja!! ....Working Together in Unity" is the foundation from which FJT began and continues to thrive!
 
It is our mission to present powerful, thought-provoking, Theater Arts programming with a commitment to diversity and creative excellence. We are dedicated to providing a nurturing and creative environment for directors, playwrights, actors, designers, and stage managers. In this positive environment, they can further develop their creative skills and share their artistic expressions. The Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is funded by the City of Evanston and in part by the Illinois Arts Council, A State Agency.

In 1971, Nicki Giovanni was a young Black poet already risen to prominence when she and the celebrated Black author James Baldwin met for a two hour conversation broadcast from London on PBS. Baldwin, 47, an éminence grise, answered the poet’s questions at length and Giovanni, 28, offered her own commentary as she asked a range of things, from the factual such as, why did he move to Europe, to queries on African-American creatives, writing and about the world at large - all in the context of the Black experience of life.

“The Baldwin | Giovanni Experience” at Evanston’s Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre attempts to capture the essence of that conversation, in a 90-minute world premier of the theatrical work at Evanston’s Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre. Directed by Tim Rhoze who co-authored it with Bria Walker-Rhoze, the work includes music, poetry and dance woven into the discussion, and appropriately so. Especially given that we have Nikki Giovanni (Rachel Blakes) on stage, who is poetry personified.

“To be African-American,” Baldwin tells Giovanni, and the camera, “is to be African without any memory, and American without any of the privileges.” That incisive assessment incredibly forthright for broadcast television in its time. The show was “Soul!” produced by WNET in New York from 1968 to 1973.

Baldwin told Giovanni he felt he had to go to Europe and get away from the U.S. to find his voice, but found he brought many things with him. Away from his home turf Baldwin discovered he carried along the emotional baggage born of systemic racism, one that he realized he had internalized and which imposed on him cultural constraint. “The world is not my only oppressor,” Baldin relates. “I was doing it to myself.” He offers an example of Black internalized limits on behavior. “You don’t eat watermelon or fried chicken in public.”

The conversation goes much deeper in the course of the show, touching on the role of Black churches (“The Church is always in me as a Black man,” Baldwin says), family violence, and laments the loss of Black leaders assassinated.

“What do you say when the chosen few are gone too soon?” Giovanni offers. “Whatever it was, we found a way to love through it,” she says.“We, who were enslaved, found a way to cook, to dance, to laugh”

Both Giovanni and James Baldwin (Sean Blake) talk at length, the poet mostly providing the prompts that lead to lengthy erudite, deeply reflective discourse from Baldwin - as was his wont. With sections drawn directly from the 1971 PBS video (available at YouTube), Sean Blake gives a fully realized performance when he is recounting the words of Baldwin: literary and cultivated, polished and worldly, yet rooted in his origins in Harlem, NY - his utterances salted musically with the vernacular of his birthplace. Blake’s Baldwin is completely convincing.

It is amazing on viewing the original PBS tape how consistently “The Baldwin | Giovanni Experience” represents key points from the original - yet it gives us more. Giovanni speaks up, offering her reflections on life as a Black poet - just like the original.(The show also reminds me of the Baldwin-focused staging earlier this year, “Debate: Baldwin vs. Buckley,” also based on a television encounter, this one at Cambridge in 1965.)

But the stage version also diverges, for good, though also in some ways not so much. Giovanni gives us snippets of poetry, and Baldwin on stage adopts periodically a more poetic version of himself, speaking at times in meter and rhyme - letting us know he is being influenced by Giovanni as they speak. Eventually the two are up from their chairs, and we have song and dance - the playwrights offer an imagined Baldwin, in red framed glasses voicing a hip-hop passage. It all seems natural and true, probably relying more on Giovanni in her later years for styles that arose after Baldwin was gone.

Where I felt some disappointment was in how Giovanni is portrayed as though she is lesser than Baldwin, placing him on a pedestal - where he belongs, for sure - but where she should be too. On the PBS video, she is more expressive, more self-possessed and serious, not just a foil for Baldwin the star. On stage, Giovanni becomes more of a worshipful cheerleader, interjecting “I can dig that” multiple times after an elegant and sharp monologue by Baldwin - making the performance more about him than her. To be sure, Giovanni on stage gets her words out, but on the whole seems to stand in Baldwin’s shadow.  

On opening night, a lovely lagniappe was offered in a warmup before the show, as Isaiah Jones, Jr. soloed at the piano and accompanied vocalist Mardra Thomas. 

“The Baldwin | Giovanni Experience” runs on weekends through November 16, 2025 at Evanston’s Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre.

Director Chuck Smith returns to Goodman with another major August Wilson revival–“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”. This is the second play in Wilson’s 10-play “American Century Cycle”. Goodman produced the first play in the series, “Gem of the Ocean” in 2022 as well as “Two Trains Running” in 2015. Both directed by Chuck Smith. Returning also is A.C. Smith, a staple of any August Wilson production in Chicago.

“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” takes place in 1911, in Pittsburgh, where most of August Wilson’s work is set. Staged in a boarding house respectably kept by Seth (Dexter Zollicoffer) and Betha (TayLar) Holly, where their regular lodgers Bynum Walker (Tim Rhoze) and Jeremy Furlow (Anthony Flemming III) keep them busy. When a mysterious man and his young daughter arrive looking for a room strange things begin happening.

Wilson has a gift for turning vernacular into poetry. His world-weary characters speak with a sort of casual beauty that rivals Tennessee Williams. That much is never clearer than when Molly Cunningham saunters into the boarding house. Krystel V McNeil captivates as Molly, delivering every line with seductive authority. The purpose of her character is somewhat ambiguous but she’s a welcomed presence nonetheless.

The mysterious man, Herald Loomis, is in search of his wife Martha who is also the mother of this daughter. Bynum and Seth are skeptical but when supernatural things begin happening, a revelation is exposed that calls into question how free the nation really was in the early part of last century.

As always, A.C. Smith’s commanding performance showcases not only a true talent for reinvention, but a deep understanding of August Wilson’s intentions. The chemistry between director Chuck Smith and A.C. Smith is palpable in everything they work on together.

Wilson wrote epics. And this production feels epic. Though there are thematic overlaps in his play cycle, each are distinct masterpieces in themselves. “Joe Turner” like all of Wilson’s plays feels like classic theater. It combines so many elements from lore to magical realism, but on a Goodman-scale backdrop. What a treat it is to see these works produced to impeccable, if not gold standards complete with dream casting.

Thanks to a special relationship between Chuck Smith and August Wilson, Chicago is a mecca for August Wilson’s plays. Between the Court Theater in Hyde Park and Goodman, you’re likely to see all of them if you stay in Chicago long enough. While each has been presented on Broadway at one time or another, his plays aren’t produced nearly as often as they should. Thankfully Denzel Washington is committed to getting each of the plays in the cycle adapted into a film–so far, also to impeccable standards. 

Wilson wrote essential plays that speak for more than just the African American experience, but rather the entire American experience and where it might be headed. Though the last century was full of strife, Wilson finds triumph in every era. His plays certainly don’t shy from the truth, but they always offer a road to hope. 

Through May 19 at Goodman Theatre. 170 N Dearborn. 312-443-3800.

THE LIGHT has a cast of two, placing enormous demands on both actors, but Jazzma Pryor as Genesis and Rich Oliver as her partner Rashad rose to the challenge splendidly. Under the direction of Tim Rhoze, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre’s Artistic Director, THE LIGHT is an in-depth examination of heterosexual relationships, particularly those between Black women and men.

THE LIGHT begins on a high and happy note: Rashad has bought an engagement ring to celebrate his and Genesis’ two-year anniversary. The felicitous evening hits a snag, however, when Genesis objects to an event Rashad has arranged for them. In trying to understand Genesis’ demurral, a dark incident from the past is exposed; its toxic influence escalates as details grudgingly emerge. The script is tight and compact, without superfluous elements – unusual for a play that is focused on emotions rather than actions.

Loy Webb’s brilliant script depicts a relationship crumbling before our eyes – and theirs! It’s written from a woman’s point of view, displaying the male animal’s archetypal bewilderment regarding issues of emotion. Women are from Venus, men are from Mars. Everybody knows that.

But THE LIGHT goes far deeper. Webb uses Genesis and Rashad to examine a wide host of emotions: how they arise, how they are perceived, how they are countered – and particularly how they diverge, even contradict, between female and male. Yet despite its gynocentric bias THE LIGHT manages not to browbeat or bully the other half of the species. Men in the audience – the ones I spoke with, any road – did not feel threatened, but acknowledged that Webb’s depiction was authentic and perceptive. Other men may have gone home to stick pins into pictures of their moms. One never knows …

THE LIGHT is also focused particularly on Black couples, emphasizing those flavors of misogyny peculiar to Black men, and the stereotypical images of both women and men in Black culture. Still, I found Webb’s insights to be more broadly applicable – tough to do, but Loy Webb manages in THE LIGHT.

A two-person cast has special challenges for the director as well as the actors, and Tim Rhoze did an exceptional job. THE LIGHT was more than simply a beautiful play; it was contemplative and thought-provoking; even disturbing. It illuminated aspects of my own life and relationships, including some I would rather have left in shadow. This sort of reluctant introspection requires an exceptional script, brilliant actors to bring the words to life, and shrewdly mindful direction to interpret and guide the whole.

The set is, of course, the first thing one notices upon entering the theatre, and I was instantly riveted. Co-Set Designers Tim Rhoze and Shane Rogers used minimal furniture and Costumer Lynn Baber followed his lead with simple clothing. Both measures helped prevent distraction from the stunning background painted by muralist Jess Patterson. Half a dozen abstract women’s faces in shades of blue and crimson set the atmosphere and provided the backdrop for Lighting Designer Hannah Wein to use the lights as almost a third character, particularly during the final moments of the show. Kara Roseborough was Sound Designer, as well as (with Assistant Alexis Harris-Dyer) maintaining global oversight as Stage Manager.

I’ve been consistently impressed by the performances at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theater. FJT has remained committed to its mission: to celebrate Black and African-American experiences through diversity and creative excellence. “Umoja! …. Working Together in Unity” is the foundation upon which FJT has built this exceptional venue. I saw AMERICAN SON in November 2022; my review begins: “You know that breathless moment of silence after the curtain falls and before the applause begins? That moment doesn’t happen often, and it always indicates a truly extraordinary performance.” This magic moment, this ultimate accolade happened again last Sunday at the close of THE LIGHT. Need I say more? HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

THE LIGHT will play at Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre through August 20.