Lifeline Theatre continues their 2023-24 season of Big Stories, Up Close with a retelling of Native Son. Spearheaded by Lifeline Artistic Director ILesa Duncan (Middle Passage, Neverwhere,) audiences will experience Chicagoan Nambi E. Kelley's "gutsy, powerful, and relentless" adaptation of Richard Wright's powerful introspection on race and justice like never before.
Set in Chicago's South Side during the 1930's, the play follows 20-year-old Bigger Thomas struggling to realize his dreams in a world that has shut him out. After taking a job in a wealthy white man's house, Bigger unintentionally unleashes a series of events that violently and irrevocably seal his fate. Based on a true murder case, Nambi E. Kelley's adaptation is a powerful and suspenseful re-telling of Richard Wright's novel. Lifeline is producing the play on the 10th anniversary of its original staging and captures the power and suspense of the original work for a whole new generation. Native Son runs at Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood Ave. in Rogers Park, from May 10 – June 30, 2024.
"It's an exciting challenge to delve into Nambi's fiercely passionate, highly theatrical adaptation a decade after its Court/American Blues Theatre debut," says ILesa Duncan. "Kelley deftly crafts a riveting experience of Bigger's journey that is both contemporary and historic."
Native Son
Based on the novel by Richard Wright
Adapted by Nambi E. Kelley
Directed by Lifeline Theatre artistic director Ilesa Duncan
May 10 – June 30, 2024
Regular tickets $45; preview tickets $25
Previews: Fridays, May 10 and May 17 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays, May 11 and May 19 at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, May 12 and May 19 at 2:30 p.m.
Press Preview: Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 2:30 p.m. Opening night: Monday, May 20, 2024 at 7:00pm.
Regular Run: May 24 – June 30, 2024: Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets to Native Son are on sale athttps://lifelinetheatre.com/performances/2023-2024/native-son/ Season memberships for the 2023-2024 are also available now. To purchase season memberships or for more information call the Lifeline Theatre Box Office at 773-761-4477, or visit www.lifelinetheatre.com.
ABOUT LIFELINE THEATRE
Lifeline Theatre is located at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave. in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. Lifeline is easily accessible by CTA (Red Line Morse stop/buses) and free parking is available at Sullivan High School (6631 N Bosworth Ave, lot located on the corner of Albion and Bosworth) with free shuttle service before and after the show. Street parking is also available. Lifeline is accessible to wheelchair users and visitors who need to avoid stairs.
Founded in 1982, Lifeline Theatre is known for staging innovative adaptations of great works of fiction as well as commissioning original work. In 1987, Lifeline Theatre added KidSeries plays for children and families, and has been producing full seasons of programming for both adults and children ever since. Over the course of forty seasons and over two hundred productions, Lifeline Theatre has made not only an indelible mark on the Chicago theater scene, but an invaluable contribution to the theater world at large. Lifeline's dedicated artistic ensemble has developed one hundred and forty-six world premiere literary adaptations and original plays, nearly forty of which have had a life beyond their Lifeline premieres, with over three hundred subsequent productions spread across over forty U.S. states, six Canadian provinces, plus productions in England, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, and Guatemala. Additionally, four scripts developed at Lifeline Theatre have gone on to U.S. national tours, and over a dozen have been published. Lifeline Theatre has garnered a total of fifty-three Jeff Awards (Equity and Non-Equity), including sixteen for New Adaptation, New Musical, or New Work.
