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A Red Orchid Theatre is pleased open its 34^th Season, exploring the theme of "world on fire," with the Chicago premiere of Will Arbery's politically-charged drama Heroes of the Fourth Turning, directed by Ensemble member dado*, playing October 29 – December 6, 2026 at 1531 N. Wells St. in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. Casting to be announced shortly. Single go on sale Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at aredorchidtheatre.org or by calling (312) 943-8722. Season subscriptions are currently available. 

About the Production:

It's nearing midnight in Wyoming, where four recent graduates have gathered to celebrate their beloved mentor and professor Gina, newly inducted as president of their tiny Catholic liberal arts college. The reunion spirals into spiritual chaos, clashing generational politics and a vicious fight to be understood. Offering grace and disarming clarity, this haunting play speaks to the torn heart of a country at war with itself.

*Denotes A Red Orchid Theatre Ensemble Member

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Title: Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Playwright: Will Arbery
Director: Ensemble member dado*
Cast: to be announced shortly

Location: A Red Orchid Theatre, 1531 N. Wells St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, October 29 at 7 pm, Friday, October 30 at 7 pm, Saturday, October 31 at 7 pm, Sunday, November 1 at 3 pm, Thursday, November 5 at 7 pm and Friday, November 6 at 7 pm

Opening: Sunday, November 8 at 6 pm

Regular run: Thursday, November 12 – Sunday, December 6, 2026
Curtain Times: Thursdays and Fridays at 7 pm; Saturdays 3 pm & 7 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving); there will be an added Industry Night performance on Monday, November 23 at 7 pm.

Tickets: Previews: $33 – $44*. Regular run: $55*. Access, student, senior, and group discounts available. Single tickets go on sale Tuesday, September 29, 2026 at aredorchidtheatre.org or by calling (312) 943-8722. Season subscriptions are currently available. *Ticket prices include a processing fee.

About the Artists:

Will Arbery (Playwright, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, he/him) is a playwright and screenwriter from Texas. His play Heroes of the Fourth Turning premiered at Playwrights Horizons in 2019 and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and the winner of an OBIE, Lucille Lortel and New York Drama Critics Circle Award, among other honors. It was named one of the "new canon" plays by American Theatre. Other plays include: You Hateful Things (upcoming London premiere), Spite House (upcoming New York premiere), Corsicana (Playwrights Horizons), Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (The New Group), Plano (Clubbed Thumb) and Wheelchair (3 Hole Press). He was the recipient of a Whiting Award in 2020. Will wrote on the fourth season of Succession, for which he won the WGA Award for Episodic Drama. He is the creator of two upcoming shows with FX: Seven Sisters (starring Elizabeth Olsen) and The Marriage Plot (starring Sadie Sink). Texas Monthly flagged him as one of the most influential cultural figures of the past 50 years out of Texas, and The New Yorker has called him the playwright of the moment.

dado (Director, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, she/her) last directed the world premiere of JoJo Jones' Veal at A Red Orchid, and before that Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin by Dianne Nora. In 2025 dado directed Lobster by Kallan Dana for the Wirtz Center at Northwestern and Dance Nation by Clare Barron for UIC, where she currently serves on the faculty. Other projects dado has directed are Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. by Alice Birch with The Feast Collective, Right Now by Catherine Anne Toupin (Facility Theatre), Anny Ouyang Moench's In Quietness at A Red Orchid and The Lover by Harold Pinter (with Yasen Peyankov at Facility Theatre). She has also directed The Ruse of Medusa by Erik Satie (Facility Theatre) and Killing Game by Eugene Ionesco (A Red Orchid). Next spring she will direct The Cherry Orchard for UIC's mainstage. 

Production sponsor: Terrance and Carol Coleman and Dawn and Jim Kink.

About A Red Orchid Theatre:

A Red Orchid Theatre has served as an artistic focal point in the heart of the Old Town community of Chicago since 1993 and was honored with a 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Over the past 33 years, its Resident Ensemble has welcomed into its fold an impressive array of award-winning actors, playwrights and theatre artists with the firm belief that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit. A Red Orchid is well known and highly acclaimed for its fearless approach to performance and design in the service of unflinchingly intimate stories.

A Red Orchid Theatre is: Karen Aldridge, Lance Baker, Kamal Angelo Bolden, Esteban Andres Cruz, Dado, Mike Durst, Sherman Edwards, Myron Elliott, Jennifer Engstrom, Kirsten Fitzgerald, Joseph Fosco, Steve Haggard, Levi Holloway, Mierka Girten, Larry Grimm, John Judd, Karen Kawa, Karen Kessler, Travis A. Knight, Danny McCarthy, Shade Murray, Brett Neveu, Sadieh Rifai, Grant Sabin, Michael Shannon, Guy Van Swearingen, Doug Vickers and Natalie West.

Sponsor Information:

A Red Orchid Theatre remains grateful for the support of our board, donors and loyal audience who continue to champion our ambitious and powerful storytelling. These sponsors help to create a platform for our talented Ensemble to reach new audiences, and ensure that we remain a source for honest, compassionate, and aesthetically rigorous theatre-making.

A Red Orchid Theatre's 34^th Season is sponsored by The Bayless Family Foundation and Heidi Hoblit Graham. Heroes of the Fourth Turning is sponsored by Terrance and Carol Coleman and Dawn and Jim Kink.

Interested in sponsoring a production? By partnering with us as a sponsor, you will help to take our work to the next level of artistic excellence, while also receiving deeper access to our artists and the creative process. To learn more, please contact Development Director Stephanie Shum at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (312) 943-8722. 

Oil Lamp Theater, presenting I Love You Because, August 14 - September 13, is proud to announce the cast and creative team for its next production, Dial M for Murder, October 2 - November 1, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the original play by Frederick Knott and directed by Daniel King, at Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road. The schedule includes two preview performances Friday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday Oct. 3 at 3 p.m., with an opening performance Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. with additional Wednesday performances Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; Wednesday Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. (Understudy Performance); Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Wednesday Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $30 for previews and $55 for the run at OilLampTheater.org.  

Alfred Hitchcock’s adored, chilling thriller gets a modern twist that no one sees coming. A murderous misstep begins a high-stakes hunt for the real criminal as time is quickly running out. This captivating, heart-racing play leaves audiences on the edge of their seats while the mystery of the year unravels before their eyes. Will the clues unlock the right person, or will an innocent victim pay the price? The suspenseful play is to die for…

The cast of Dial M for Murder includes John Chambers (he/him, Tony Wendice); Charlotte Foster (she/her, Maxine Hadley); Paige Klopfenstein (she/her, Margot Wendice); Robert Austin Love (he/him, Lesgate); James Sparling (he/him, Inspector Hubbard); Cooper Bohn (he/him, Tony Wendice U/S); Ava Pirie (she/her, Maxine Hadley U/S); Daria Koon (she/they, Margot Wendice U/S); Thomas  Ferro (he/him, Lesgate U/S) and Matt Hellyer (he/him Inspector Hubbard U/S).

The production team includes Daniel King (he/him, director); Spencer Donovan (he/him, scenic designer); Taylor Pfenning (she/her, costume designer); Jamie Macpherson (she/her, intimacy choreographer and fight director); Conner Nicoson (they/them, technical director);  Connor Windle (she/her, production manager); Brenden Delcorio (he/him, stage manager); Rick Reid (he/him, sound designer); Gigi Bjork-Nelson (she/her, assistant stage manager) and Rose Leisner (she/her, company manager).

ABOUT DANIEL KING, DIRECTOR

Daniel King is a Queer director who is a company member of Three Crows Theatre and serves on the artistic advisory board for Bump in the Night Theatre (BiTN). Additional upcoming projects include The Mystery Plays (BiTN) and Iolanthe (Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company). Selected credits include The Drowning Girls (Jeff Nomination) and The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me (Three Crows), A Picasso (Elsinore), Gross Indecency and Fun Home (IU). King has a MFA in directing from  IU-Bloomington; a BFA in acting from Chicago College of Performing Arts and is a proud associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

ABOUT OIL LAMP THEATER

Oil Lamp Theater is a professional nonprofit performing arts organization in Glenview, Illinois, welcoming over 10,000 patrons annually from more than 225 communities—41% from Glenview and others from across the North Shore and Chicago. Since establishing its intimate 60-seat home in downtown Glenview in 2012, Oil Lamp has grown into a cultural beacon, earning recognition as “Best Live Theatre in the North Shore” for four consecutive years.

With more than 70 productions to date, Oil Lamp is known for its dynamic Mainstage season, special events and its resilience during the pandemic, when it innovated with drive-in performances and outdoor productions. Today, the theatre continues to foster connection, broaden horizons and illuminate the human condition through professional theater and year-round programming.

In addition to its productions, Oil Lamp Theater operates Oil Lamp Academy, its education branch dedicated to “Training for Life Through the Performing Arts.” In 2025 alone, the program served more than 230 students ages three to 97 years old, offering classes that use theater as a pathway to build confidence, creativity and lifelong skills.

Oil Lamp launched Light The Way in 2025, a transformative fundraising campaign designed to expand arts education, strengthen essential staff and establish a larger performance venue with the goal of staying in downtown Glenview. And in July 2026, Oil Lamp announced its new future home will be at the former Ten Ninety Brewing Co. in Downtown Glenview, 1025 Waukegan Road, next to Oil Lamp Academy. Building on its roots as a scrappy storefront, Oil Lamp is evolving into a more robust organization—without losing the intimacy and warmth that define its theater experience. Oil Lamp Theater hopes this announcement inspires excitement throughout the community. Stay tuned as additional news is shared in the near future. For information or to support the campaign go to OilLampTheater.org/Light-the-Way or reach out to Oil Lamp at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Oil Lamp Theater, presenting I Love You Because, August 14 - September 13, is proud to announce the cast and creative team for its next production, Dial M for Murder, October 2 - November 1, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the original play by Frederick Knott and directed by Daniel King, at Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road. The schedule includes two preview performances Friday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday Oct. 3 at 3 p.m., with an opening performance Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. with additional Wednesday performances Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; Wednesday Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. (Understudy Performance); Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Wednesday Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now for $30 for previews and $55 for the run at OilLampTheater.org.  

 
About Joffrey's The Nutcracker 

Wheeldon's modern masterpiece rings in the holidays. Follow young Marie and the Nutcracker Prince on a whirlwind journey through the 1893 World's Fair—a dazzling spectacle of sights, sounds and enchantment. This annual tradition celebrates the magic of the season and the rich cultural heritage of Chicago like no other. 

Single tickets start at $47 and are available for purchase at Lyric Opera Box Office located at 20 N. Upper Wacker Dr. and by telephone at 312.386.8905 or online at joffrey.org

The Joffrey Ballet holds open auditions for the Children's Cast of Christopher Wheeldon's The Nutcracker at its downtown studios in Joffrey Tower, 10 East Randolph Street, Thursday, September 10 and Sunday, September 13, with a video submission audition for a specific role that closes at 9:00PM on Saturday, September 12. All students in the Chicagoland area with dance experience that meet casting criteria are welcome to audition.  This annual audition is for all young dancers, from any studio or school, interested in auditioning for Christopher Wheeldon's The Nutcracker, whether they have participated in the Joffrey's Nutcracker in the past or not. The audition will be directed by artistic staff from The Joffrey Ballet.  For full audition details visit joffrey.org/nutcracker-childrens-cast/ 

Audition Times Based on Dancer Criteria 

Thursday, September 10 | 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM | General Audition #1 

• Audition for dancers of all genders age 8 or older on audition day 

• Maximum height 4'7" (no minimum height) 

• Dancers may be asked to return to audition on Sunday, September 13 from 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM 

Sunday, September 13 | 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM | General Audition #2 

• Auditions for male-identifying dancers ages 10 - 18 on audition day 

• Minimum height 4'7", maximum height 5'8" 

Sunday, September 13 | 11:00 AM – 4:30 PM | General Audition #3 

• Auditions for female and non-binary-identifying dancers ages 10 - 18 on audition day 

• Minimum height 4'7", maximum height 5'6" 

• Dancers may be released before 4:30 PM 

The age and height parameters are strict and students who do not fall within the parameters will not be admitted into the audition.  

Anytime through Saturday, September 12 at 9:00 PM 

Diverse movers are encouraged to submit a video audition for the role of Worker Child, performed in a non-motorized wheelchair specially crafted for The Nutcracker. Dance training is not required. Dancers should be comfortable waiting for long periods of time and performing silently in a group setting on a stage with bright lights, loud music, and a large audience. 

Video submissions close at 9:00 PM on Saturday, September 12

• Ages 10-18 on audition day. 

• Dancers of all genders. 

• No minimum or maximum height requirements. 

Registration 

Space is limited and pre-registration is required at least one day in advance of your audition. In-person forms will not be available. Registration Form can be found here. If you have questions about pre-registration, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

 
About Joffrey's The Nutcracker 

Wheeldon's modern masterpiece rings in the holidays. Follow young Marie and the Nutcracker Prince on a whirlwind journey through the 1893 World's Fair—a dazzling spectacle of sights, sounds and enchantment. This annual tradition celebrates the magic of the season and the rich cultural heritage of Chicago like no other. 

Single tickets start at $47 and are available for purchase at Lyric Opera Box Office located at 20 N. Upper Wacker Dr. and by telephone at 312.386.8905 or online at joffrey.org

The Sarah Siddons Society is honored to present its 2026 Leading Artist Award to James Moore, Music Director and Conductor of Lincoln Center Theatre's Tony Award-winning revival of Ragtime.

Moore will be honored by the Society on Sunday, September 13, 2026 at The CheckOut, 4116 N. Clark St. in Chicago. Following a 6 pm cocktail reception, attendees will enjoy a musical tribute celebrating Moore's career featuring performances by Alfreda Burke, Jim Corti (original Ragtime cast), Rodrick Dixon (original Ragtime cast), Tom Michael and Zoé Sotores, under the music direction of Beckie Menzie and directed by Joan Curto. Single tickets ($125) and sponsorships are currently available at sarahsiddonssociety.org/events-list/2026/leading-artist-award.

The Leading Artist Award (formerly the Leading Lady Award and Leading Man Award) is given by the Sarah Siddons Society to a theatre artist of accomplishment who has a Chicago connection. Moore grew up in the Chicago area. Past recipients include David Cromer, Michael Greif, Courtney Reed, Dominic Missimi, Jackie Taylor, E. Faye Butler, Heidi Kettenring, Jim Corti and Rondi Reed, among others.

Sarah Siddons Society President Martin Balogh comments "The Sarah Siddons Society is extremely pleased to present its Leading Artist Award to James Moore in recognition of his extraordinary contributions as a musical director and conductor to countless Broadway productions. His exceptional artistry, dedication and influence have enriched the American theater and inspired audiences and performers alike. We are honored to celebrate his remarkable achievements with this well-deserved award."

About James Moore:

James Moore's credits include Lincoln Center Theatre: Ragtime, South Pacific. Broadway: Miss Saigon, Gigi, On the Town, Follies, Ragtime, Steel Pier, Company. Off-Broadway: Ragtime (City Center Gala), Road Show (Encores! Off-Center), The Pirates of Penzance (Public Theatre Gala). Tours: Les Misérables (Music Supervisor), The Producers, Kiss Me, Kate, Crazy for You, And The World Goes 'Round. Regional: Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Gypsy (The Muny), Titanic (Signature Theatre), The Music Man, Mame, (The Kennedy Center) Hello, Dolly! (Ford's Theatre). Guest conductor with The Boston Pops, National Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke's. Education: Master and Bachelor of Music, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

About Sarah Siddons Society

Since its inception, the mission of the Society has been to fund scholarships to promising theater arts students at top Chicago area universities including; The Theater Department, Columbia College; The Theatre School at DePaul University; Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, Northwestern University School of Communications and the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University. For additional information, visit sarahsiddonssociety.org.

Red Clay Dance Company, Chicago's premier Afro-contemporary dance company, proudly announces its exciting Season 18: Spectrum programming, including Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward's powerful evening-length work Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar at Northwestern University's Wirtz Center in Evanston in October 2026, and a spring concert featuring work by Sanders-Ward alongside Rena Butler, Beatrice Capote and Bebe Miller at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago in April 2027.

For more information, concert updates and tickets, visit redclaydance.com/season18. Tickets for performances of Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar, October 1-3, 2026, are now available starting at $42, with discounts for students and seniors.

In its 18th season, Red Clay Dance Company celebrates the theme Spectrum, a reflection of how one bold vision has grown into a vibrant movement. Like light passing through a prism, the Company's founding mission has expanded into a diverse community of artists, students, educators, audiences, partners and supporters—each bringing their own unique brilliance to a shared purpose. Season 18: Spectrum honors the collective power of Artivism and the many voices that shape Red Clay Dance Company's story, celebrating the full spectrum of Artivists whose creativity, resilience and collective action are shaping a more just, vibrant and connected future.

"I am thrilled to welcome audiences to our 18th season, Spectrum. Every season is a milestone worth celebrating, and this one feels especially meaningful because it reflects the extraordinary village that has grown from one vision into a movement fueled by so many voices and spirits," says Red Clay Dance Company's Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward. "As we celebrate where we've been and look toward the future through our 1 Million Artivists Strong initiative, I hope this season reminds us all that our unique gifts shine brightest when they come together to create something greater than ourselves."

Season 18: Spectrum kicks off with a performance from Red Clay Dance Company during the free Chicago Live Festival at Navy Pier on Saturday, September 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Fall 2026 concert Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar

In October, the Company stages a reprisal of Vershawn Sanders-Ward's powerful evening-length work Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar at Northwestern University's Wirtz Center (1949 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL) from October 1–October 3, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. daily. A post-show discussion will be held in partnership with the Black Arts Consortium on opening night, October 1, moderated by Northwestern University Professor Thomas F. DeFrantz.

Freedom Square: The Black Girlhood Altar honors the lives, stories and enduring legacy of missing and murdered Black women and girls. Performed by the award-winning Red Clay Dance Company ensemble, with original music by acclaimed Chicago musician Jamila Woods and costume design by Shaqui Reed and Alyna Michelle, the production blends Afro-contemporary dance, storytelling, digital media and immersive design to create a powerful and deeply resonant experience.

Inspired by The Black Girlhood Altar—the mixed-media installation created by A Long Walk Home artists Scheherazade Tillet and Robert Narcisco—this dance performance incorporates elements of the altar into its scenic and visual design, transforming the stage into a living sanctuary for remembrance, healing and collective action.

Spring 2027 concert at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago

Season 18: Spectrum continues with concerts from the Red Clay Dance Company ensemble at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago (1306 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago) on April 8 and April 9, 2027, at 7:30 p.m. daily. The Company will perform Her Table by Rena Butler, Field: New Ground by Bebe Miller, Written on the Flesh by Vershawn Sanders-Ward, and a new work by Beatrice Capote.

Paint the Town Red fundraiser

Red Clay Dance Company's season concludes with its annual Paint the Town Red Fundraiser on Saturday, April 10 at 7 p.m. at Red Clay Dance Center (808 E. 63rd Street, Chicago). Themed A Spectrum Celebration, this evening of entertainment, community engagement and philanthropy supports Red Clay Dance Company's mission to awaken Glocal Artivism and empowerment through dance, and build the Company's 1 Million Artivists Strong initiative to connect and activate supporters who believe the arts can strengthen communities and move justice forward.

About the Season 18 choreographers

Vershawn Sanders-Ward is a visionary director, choreographer, educator, and Artivist who is transforming the landscape of contemporary dance through her art and activism. As the Founding Artistic Director and CEO of Red Clay Dance Company, she blends African diasporic dance forms with contemporary techniques, creating performances that inspire social change and provoke thought. A lifelong advocate for community empowerment, Vershawn uses dance as a platform to explore themes of identity, race, and justice.

She has earned numerous accolades, including the inaugural Walder Platform Award, a Dance/USA Artist Fellowship, a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Award, and a 3Arts Award. Most recently, she was selected as a 2026 Creation Fund Artist in support of her new interdisciplinary work, WE THE PEOPLE, and as a 2026 BTLI Artist-in-Residence, contributing to the creative development of the Bronzeville Trail through community-engaged artistic practice. She is also commissioned to create a new work for the University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance during the 2026–27 season.

Vershawn's choreography has been presented at prestigious institutions including Northwestern University and Loyola University Chicago, with commissions extending across the United States and internationally. An accomplished educator, she holds an MFA in Dance from NYU. Her influence extends beyond the stage through her service as a Board Trustee for Dance/USA. A Community Impact Fellow for the Harvard Business School Club and a featured guest on PBS's The Expressway with Dulé Hill, Vershawn's commitment to equity and inclusion in the arts continues to shape the future of dance, culture, and civic engagement globally.

Rena Butler hails from Chicago and began her studies at The Chicago Academy for the Arts. She studied overseas at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan, and received her BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. Rena performed with companies including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, AIM by Kyle Abraham, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, David Dorfman Dance, The Kevin Wynn Collection, Pasos Con Sabor Salsa Dance Company, and Gibney Company. Rena is a recipient of the prestigious 2019 Princess Grace Foundation Award for Choreography and San Francisco's 2024 Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography. She has created works for Het Nationale Ballet in The Netherlands, National Ballet of Canada, San Francisco Opera's Orpheus and Euridice, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Norrdans in Sweden, AIM By Kyle Abraham, Gauthier Dance in Stuttgart, Germany, The Lyric Opera of Chicago's Proximity, Cincinnati Ballet, Le Ballet de L'Opéra Grand Avignon and Arles Youth Ballet Company in France, The New Orleans Museum of Modern Art, SALT Dance, a film for Third Coast Percussion x Devonté Hynes/Blood Orange, Oregon Ballet Theater, The Juilliard School, Oklahoma City Ballet, Parsons Dance, TEDxChicago Virtual Salon 3.0: Design Your Life, Charlotte Ballet, BalletX, and more. She was the featured cover story for Dance Magazine's November 2021 issue.

Beatrice Capote is a Cuban American dancer, choreographer, and educator, and the creator of Capotechnique™, a fusion of Afro-Cuban traditions and Contemporary dance. She is an Associate Professor of Contemporary Dance at Indiana University Bloomington and has received critical acclaim for her work, including her role as Yoruba Consultant and Choreographer for The Half God of Rainfall, which earned a 2023 AUDELCO Award nomination. Capote's choreography centers Afro-Cuban narratives and has been presented at major festivals and venues nationwide. She has collaborated with artists such as Angeìlique Kidjo, Paquito D'Rivera, and Wynton Marsalis, and performed with renowned dance companies including Camille A. Brown & Dancers, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, INSPIRT by Christal Brown, and others. Her honors include the 2024–2025 Mellon Foundation Hemisphere Guest Artist in Residence award. 

A native New Yorker, Bebe Miller first performed her choreography at NYC's Dance Theater Workshop in 1978. She formed Bebe Miller Company in 1985 to pursue her interest in finding a physical language for the human condition. Committed to keeping dance available to a wide spectrum of people and to further the conversation about the role of arts and creativity in our culture, Miller is dedicated to providing access to the creative process and expression to diverse communities. She has created more than 50 dance works for the company and has been commissioned and presented by 651 ARTS, BAM Next Wave, DTW, Jacob's Pillow, Joyce Theater, PICA, REDCAT, Walker Art Center, and Wexner Center for the Arts among others. Her choreography has been performed by Kyle Abraham's A.I.M. (Abraham In Motion), Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Oregon Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Philadanco, Salt Lake City's Repertory Dance Theater, the UK's Phoenix Dance Company, PACT Dance Company of Johannesburg, South Africa, and at a host of colleges and universities including the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. Named a Master of African AmericanChoreography by the Kennedy Center in 2005, Bebe has been a Movement Research honoree, has received four New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" awards, the David R. White Award from New York Live Arts, United States Artists and Guggenheim Fellowships, honorary doctorates from Ursinus College and Franklin & Marshall College, and is one of the inaugural class of Doris Duke Artist Award recipients. Bebe is a Distinguished Professor Emerita in The Ohio State University's Department of Dance and lives in Columbus, OH.

About Red Clay Dance Company

Led by Founding Artistic Director and CEO Vershawn Sanders-Ward, Red Clay Dance Company is a Black women-led, Black-benefiting professional dance organization that moves the world through Artivism—the integration of art and activism to inspire social transformation. Rooted in the dances, histories, and movement technologies of the African Diaspora, Red Clay Dance creates, performs, and teaches work that uplifts Black voices, dismantles systemic inequities, and cultivates collective joy and liberation.

At the heart of the organization is our professional touring company, Red Clay Dance, Chicago's premier Afro-Contemporary dance ensemble. Now in its 17th season, this award-winning company serves as the artistic engine of Red Clay Dance Company, touring locally, nationally and internationally to share stories of the African Diaspora that challenge oppression, celebrate identity, and ignite agency. Red Clay Dance has graced renowned stages such as Jacob's Pillow, The Yard, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Harris Theater for Music & Dance, the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, the DuSable Museum of African American History, ODC Theater, Dance Mission Theater, The Painted Bride Art Center, and the National Theatre of Uganda. Through technically rigorous and culturally grounded performance, the company affirms African-rooted forms as powerful and enduring modes of innovation, expression, and resistance. 

The touring company's artistic excellence informs our education and community engagement programs, including Making the Artivist Apprenticeship and School/Community Education Partnerships, reaching more than 2,500 students and 4,000 families annually. From our home—the Red Clay Dance Center in Chicago's historic Woodlawn neighborhood—we provide access to high-quality dance training, mentorship, and professional development for artists and community members through our classes and In the Making Membership. Together, our ecosystem of touring, teaching, and training sustains a vibrant hub for Glocal Artivism—proving that dance is not just performance, but a pathway to equity, empowerment, and lasting change.

House of the Exquisite Corpse, Chicago’s one and only puppet haunted house, returns for its sixth Halloween season with a new, singularly immersive horror experience that’s sure to keep you up at night. 

House of the Exquisite Corpse VI: LULLABIES runs October 8-November 1 at The Merle at Steppenwolf Theatre. Six teams of Chicago artists will bring life to six unique puppet terror experiences, each tuning into the horrors embedded in LULLABIES as the unifying theme.

Enter House of the Exquisite Corpse, if you dare. Guests gather in a make-shift foyer, grabbing a drink for some liquid courage if needed (horrifying specialty cocktail TBA). Then, small groups are ushered inside via timed entries, where they encounter a dark and murky expanse. They proceed to visit six “rooms” -- rooms of true puppet theater horror ---- peering through keyholes, cracks, and hidden doors to witness the carnage and gallows humor inside.

Fans of immersive experiences, haunted houses, literature, puppetry and live theater are the ideal audience for Chicago’s most unique Halloween destination. As the Chicago Reader put it, “if you want to move beyond schlock and shock into an elevated horror experience this October, look no further than House of the Exquisite Corpse.”

Considering this year’s theme, “Who left that baby in a tree? What happens after that cradle falls?” asks director Corey Smith, veteran of House of the Exquisite Corpse and co-director of last year's triumphant BLOOD & PUPPETS. “The lullaby promises motherly comfort, but our explorations uncovered something darker underneath — a plea for control in an uncontrollable world. The truth is that our mothers cannot save us, no matter how deeply we wish they could. We live in a smoke-drenched, waking apocalypse. We have to give our kin a way to process this desperation, this existential terror. What better way than a song at the cusp of a dream?”

Don’t sleep on this opportunity to experience a wildly creative, collaborative installation that blurs the lines between horror, puppetry and theater. House of the Exquisite Corpse VI: LULLABIES runs October 8-November 1: Thursdays through Saturdays, with timed entries starting at 6:50 p.m., continuing every 15 minutes until the last entry at 9:30 p.m. New this year! Sunday matinees, starting at 1:50 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now at roughhousetheater.com/tickets. Sliding scale, Pay What You Can suggested prices are $22 to $47. Note: This production is recommended for ages 13 and over. 

Also new this year is an All-Inclusive Package with ALL the perks: the show, a drink ticket, a giveaway at entry and the coveted backstage tour. These are available Thursdays and Sundays only, October 8-October 25, last entry time. Packages are $75 plus $3 booking fee.

Steppenwolf Theatre’s Merle Reskin Space is located at 1624 N. Halsted in Chicago’s Lincoln Park Neighborhood, just steps away from the CTA Red Line stop at North and Clybourn. 

Meet the Artists: House of the Exquisite Corpse VI: LULLABIES

House of the Exquisite Corpse VI: LULLABIES is directed by Corey Smith. The six artistic teams are:

Room 1: Creators Vim Hile and Tanima, performed by Camille Mitchell and Casey Doe

Room 2: Creators Charlie Malave and Caitlin McLeod, performed by Finn Bradley, Eddy Barber-Rozema, Rachel Hartmann and Emilie Wingate
Room 3: Creators madigan burke, Zhen Heinemann and Andy Slater, performed by Lindsey Ball and Candice Conner

Room 4: Creators Leah Lara and Dionne, performed by Samuel J. Lewis II and Tia Pinson

Room 5: Creators Saskia Bakker and Ruby Que, performed by Khalil Smith and Alexander Ferguson

Room 6: Creators J. Felix and Abby Palen, performed by Mallory Kimbrell and Shannon Twenter

The 2026 production team includes director Corey Smith, with lobby immersion by Jacqueline Wade and Sion Silva, environmental design by Melissa Schlesinger, Jackie Berland, Ken Buckingham and Nina D'Angier, and sound design by Mike Meegan. Associate sound designer is Joey Meland. Production stage manager is Kacey Lindeman. Stage managers are Emi Cruz and Tess Duncan.

More about Rough House Puppet Arts

Rough House Puppet Arts is on a mission to connect individuals and communities through puppetry-arts that celebrate the weird things that make us unique, and the weirder things that bring us together. Through programs designed to enrich the artist, the art form, and the community, Rough House works towards a vision of Chicago as an increasingly robust, diverse, and inclusive epicenter of contemporary puppet theater.

The company’s work collides puppetry with physical theater, music, visual arts, and an insatiable taste for experimentation. In addition to its own productions, Rough House’s work has performed at the National Puppetry Festival and The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, and in punk houses, funeral parlors, a lotion factory, and the woods of Appalachia. 

Each October, Rough House creates an all-new immersive puppet horror production. Beginning with the Harrow House series (2018, 2019), the project is now in its sixth year under the title House of the Exquisite Corpse—a themed anthology of puppetry-performance installations, viewed by audiences through peep-holes in Chicago’s most artful, most haunted pop-up house. 

Chicago’s beloved Nasty, Brutish & Short: A Puppet Cabaret, named “Best late-night adult-content puppet cabaret” by the Chicago Reader in 2024, is also a Rough House Puppet Arts production. Funded in part by the Puppet Slam Network, this quarterly cabaret doubles as an evening of contemporary short-form puppet and object-based theater for adult audiences, and a low-risk environment for artists to perform new and experimental work and foster artistic exchange between puppet artists of different generations and mediums. Nasty, Brutish & Short is presented  at Constellation, 3111 W. Western Ave. in Chicago. The next Nasty, Brutish & Short  is Friday, August 14 at 8 p.m. For tickets and information, visit roughhousetheater.com/nbs.

This year, Rough House Puppet Arts also presents Out With It, a wordless performance of movement, performance, clown and puppetry created and performed by Rough House Executive Artistic Director Claire Saxe. Out With It will have one Chicago performance, Monday, August 24 at iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingery St. in Chicago, before heading out on a national tour. For tickets and information, visit roughhousetheater.com/show/outwithit.

In addition to performances, Rough House is active year round fostering and expanding the art of contemporary puppetry with workshops for puppeteers and anyone interested in the form. Up next is Telling Your Own Story through Puppetry led by Chicago puppet artists Samuel J. Lewis and Lindsay Ball, Saturday, August 22 at 2 p.m. at Agitator Artist Collective, 3851
W. Fullerton Ave. in Logan Square. Go to roughhousetheater.com/tickets.

Rough House Puppet Arts’ Board of Directors includes Kacie Smith (President), Jason Estremera (Treasurer), Savannah Rouse (Secretary), Antonio Luna, Karlyn Meyer, Mike Wydrzynski and Mike Oleon, Rough House’s co-founder and former co-artistic director.

The Rough House administrative team includes Claire Saxe, Executive Artistic Director; Marcey Abramovitz, Managing Director; Kimzyn Campbell, Marketing and Communications Director; Samuel J. Lewis II, Manager of Artist Advancement; Kevin Michael Wesson, Community Programs Manager; and Cailtin McLeod and Myra Su, Cabaret Curators.

For more information, visit RoughHousePuppets.org and follow the company on Instagram and Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to continue its 51st Season with the world premiere of Chicago playwright Stephanie Alison Walker's biting satire Adirondack Chair Circle, directed by Tony Award winner Pam MacKinnon (Downstate, Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), playing October 22 — December 6, 2026 in Steppenwolf's Ensemble Theater, 1646 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Single tickets are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. 

Adirondack Chair Circle will feature ensemble member Caroline Neff (Mr. Wolf, Fool for Love, POTUS, Another Marriage), with additional casting to be announced shortly.

About the Production:

A gaggle of suburban moms, armed with pickleball paddles and hard kombucha, are ready to take on the school board in the fight of their lives: attempting to ban the controversial books available to their kids in the school library. But is this trusted inner circle all on the same page? A piercing world premiere from a Chicago playwright, Stephanie Alison Walker's Adirondack Chair Circle exposes the hilarious hypocrisy of the causes we claim and the company we keep. And has a damn good time doing it.

The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design), Izumi Inaba (Costume Design), Barbara Samuels (Lighting Design), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design), Nicholas Hussong (Projection Design), Kate DeVore (Vocal Coach), Bryar Barborka (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Elise Hausken (Production Manager), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Michelle Medvin (Production Stage Manager) and Kathleen Barrett (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Title: Adirondack Chair Circle
Playwright: Stephanie Alison Walker
Director: Pam MacKinnon
Cast: ensemble member Caroline Neff (Evelyn Grace). Additional casting to be announced.

Location: Steppenwolf's Ensemble Theater, 1646 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, October 22 – Saturday, October 31, 2026
Opening: Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 6 pm
Regular run: Tuesday, November 3 – Sunday, December 6, 2026
Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be 7:30 pm performances on Tuesday, October 27, Thursday, November 5, Tuesday, November 10, Wednesday, November 18, Wednesday, November 25, Thursday, November 26 and Tuesday, December 1; there will be an added 2 pm matinees on Wednesday, November 25 and Wednesday, December 2.

Tickets: Classic Memberships starting as low as $165 are now on sale for Steppenwolf's 2026/27 season at steppenwolf.org/myseason. Single tickets for Adirondack Chair Circle ($20 – $149*) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30. *Pricing includes an $8.50 handling fee

Steppenwolf offers 20 tickets for $20 (no added fees) for each performance of every membership series production. Use promo code 20FOR20 to redeem this offer online, available in advance until they're sold out for every main series show. Limit 2 tickets per person. You can also purchase by phone at (312) 335-1650 on the day-of show at 12 pm for main series performances. Limit 2 tickets per person.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-Described and Touch Tour: Sunday, November 22 at 3 pm (1:30 pm Touch Tour)
Open-Captioned: Saturday, November 7 at 3 pm, Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, November 28 at 3 pm
ASL-Interpreted: Friday, December 4 at 7:30 pm

Education and Engagement:

Throughout the 2026/27 season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to the next generation of theatre learners, makers and appreciators with robust education and engagement programming. Programming includes dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions including Topdog/Underdog, Adirondack Chair Circle, The Comeuppance and Ellen B., in-school residencies in partnership with Chicago Public schools, workshops, panels and events specifically geared towards teens, as well as professional development trainings and resources for educators. For additional information about Steppenwolf's Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip visit steppenwolf.org/education-community/school-teacher-programs/field-trips.

Artist Biographies:

Stephanie Alison Walker (Playwright) is an internationally-produced, award-winning playwright whose work is known for the personalization of the political, humor in darkness and the dramatization of the resilience of women. She is a native Chicagoburbian who has lived all over including London, Buenos Aires, San Juan Island and fifteen years in Los Angeles. She received her Bachelors in English/Creative Writing and Spanish from the University of Colorado and her Master of Professional Writing from the University of California. She began writing plays while working for Fox Theatricals in Chicago. Her play about the housing crisis, American Home, was the inaugural winner of American Blues Theatre's Blue Ink Award. Her play about the mothers of the disappeared in Argentina, The Madres, received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at Teatro Vista in Chicago, Skylight Theatre Company in L.A., Moxie Theatre in San Diego and Shrewd Theatre Company in Austin. It was the 2019 Winner of the Francesca Primus Prize, winner of the Ashland New Plays Festival, the Generations Prize and semi-finalist for the CTG/ Humanitas Prize for playwriting. Her follow-up play The Abuelas, premiered at Teatro Vista and was recently adapted into a short film titled The Birthday Gift. The Art of Disappearing was a finalist for the Primus Prize and enjoyed critical praise for the world premiere in Chicago by 16th Street Theater in 2015. Friends with Guns, her play about liberals and gun ownership was an O'Neill Finalist, winner of Best New Play at the 2019 Valley Theatre Awards, and had its Chicago premiere by A Short Leap Theatre Company in 2025. Sophia Hayden Deserves Better tells the story of the architect of the Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and was recently a part of Gglassfest by Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago. The Ordeal of Water, inspired by the first women to work as Longshoremen at the Port of Los Angeles, was most recently a part of Bay Street Theater's New Works Festival. Adirondack Chair Circle, her play that tackles suburban book-banning moms, was developed at The Inkwell Theater Company and A Red Orchid's Studio at A Red Orchid. Her short plays have been anthologized by Smith & Kraus. Her full-lengths are published by Broadway Publishing, Inc. In addition to writing plays, she is currently adapting Friends with Guns and The Abuelas as features while raising two spirited boys and selling real estate in the suburbs of Chicago. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Honor Roll Playwrights, NNPN Affiliated Artist, and a proud alumni of the Playwrights Union. stephaniealisonwalker.com

Pam MacKinnon (Director) is a Tony, Drama Desk and multi-Obie Award winning director. She is the artistic director of American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She has directed more than eighty productions. Her Tony Award-winning production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? originated at Steppenwolf. Her production of Bruce Norris's Downstate (Steppenwolf, National Theatre and Playwrights Horizons) was celebrated with several Jeff Awards and won Pam her second Obie. She served as president of SDC, the national Union of choreographers and directors.

Caroline Neff (Evelyn Grace) is a Steppenwolf ensemble member. At Steppenwolf, she was last seen in Mr. Wolf, Fool for Love, POTUS, Another Marriage, Describe the Night, Seagull, Dance Nation, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, You Got Older, Linda Vista (also Taper Forum and Broadway), The Fundamentals, The Flick, Airline Highway (also Broadway), The Way West, Three Sisters, Annie Bosh is Missing and Where We're Born. Select theatre credits include: Lettie (Jeff Award Best Actor; Victory Gardens Theater); Uncle Vanya (Goodman Theatre); A Brief History of Helen of Troy (Jeff Award for Best Actress), The Knowledge, Harper Regan, In Arabia We'd All Be Kings (Steep Theatre); The Downpour (Route 66 Theatre); Port (Griffin Theatre); 4000 Miles (Northlight Theatre); Moonshiner (Jackalope Theatre). Regional credits include: Peerless (Yale Repertory Theatre). Film and television credits include: FBI, Three Women, Let the Right One In, The Red Line, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Open Tables and Older Children, and heard in multiple Audible Projects such as: Song of the Northwoods, Crowded Hours, Denali and Boar's Nest. She is a proud company member of Steep Theatre and holds her BA from Columbia College.

Accessibility:

As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production. Assistive listening devices (ALDs), large-print programs and Braille programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/access or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sponsor Information:

United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Julius Frankel Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Rich and Margery Feitler, FROST CHICAGO, Jessica and Dominic Green Family Fund, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Orlebeke Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Sacks Family Foundation, Gary Sinise Foundation, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Thoma Bravo, and Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.            

About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier Ensemble Theater with 51 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions have made this theatre legendary. From the early phenomenon of Balm in Gilead, to The Grapes of Wrath, August: Osage County, Downstate, The Brother/Sister Plays, and more recently, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Purpose, Steppenwolf Theatre has had a long-running and undeniable impact on American Theatre and Chicago's cultural landscape. Founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry and Gary Sinise, Steppenwolf started as a group of friends in their teens and early 20s performing in the basement of a school in Highland Park, Illinois. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 14 Tony Awards, two Pulitzer Prize-winning commissions and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the boundaries of live theater and pushes the limits of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

Nearly fifty years after its groundbreaking premiere, Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf remains one of the most important works ever written for the American stage. Neither conventional play nor musical, Shange called her work a "choreopoem," a seamless fusion of poetry, dance, music, and theatrical ritual that forever changed the landscape of Black theatre.

When the work premiered in 1976 it shattered theatrical conventions. The original production gave Black women something rarely afforded on the American stage: the authority to tell their own stories without apology, through language that was lyrical, raw, sensual, political, and deeply personal. At a time when Black women were often relegated to supporting roles in theatre, Shange centered their voices, their pain, their joy, and ultimately, their survival. The production earned multiple Tony Award nominations and cemented itself as a cornerstone of the American theatrical canon.

Its relevance today is perhaps even more striking. In an era shaped by conversations surrounding gender-based violence, mental health, reproductive autonomy, identity, and the ongoing struggle for Black women to be fully seen and heard, Shange's words continue to resonate with astonishing clarity. The emotional truths embedded in her poetry refuse to age.

ETA Creative Arts Foundation's production, directed by Donn Carl Harper, wisely understands that the strength of for colored girls lies in trusting Shange's language. Harper resists the temptation to over-direct or impose unnecessary concepts upon the material. His direction is careful, respectful, and largely unobtrusive, allowing the poetry to remain the undeniable centerpiece.

The production, however, begins on an unfortunate note. Opening night started approximately thirty minutes late, a delay that inevitably affected the audience's energy. Compounding that issue was the decision to open with Nina Simone's haunting "Four Women." While Simone's anthem is unquestionably a masterpiece and shares thematic kinship with Shange's work, its placement here felt somewhat gratuitous. After already waiting half an hour, the audience was asked to spend another five minutes listening to a recorded song while nothing occurred onstage. Rather than heightening anticipation, the extended prelude tested the audience's patience before the choreopoem had the opportunity to speak for itself.

Once the production settles into Shange's text, however, it finds its rhythm.

Levi Wilkins' abstract scenic design provides an uncluttered visual landscape that allows the performers to inhabit both literal and emotional spaces. His lighting effectively supports the shifting moods of the evening, although both scenic and lighting concepts occasionally seem content to complement the material rather than challenge it. Given the limitless theatrical possibilities inherent in a choreopoem, I wish he would have made bolder visual choices that embrace the work's dreamlike qualities.

Markene Peavy's costume designs honor the play's iconic color symbolism, a safe choice, but it doesn't distinguish each woman as individuals, a missed opportunity.  Peavy's choreography becomes the production's most compelling storytelling device. Rather than serving as decorative movement between monologues, the choreography extends Shange's language into the body, allowing emotion to continue flowing.

Among the ensemble, Madison Savannah (Lady in Purple) emerges as an exceptional physical storyteller. Her dancing possesses remarkable precision, grace, and emotional transparency, making every movement feel deeply connected to the poetry. She consistently commands attention without disrupting the ensemble's collective balance.

The performances throughout demonstrate a clear understanding that these women are not individual characters so much as facets of a shared experience.

Tina Marie (Lady in Red) delivers her poetry with commanding authority and emotional maturity. Margo Harper (Lady in Blue) brings quiet dignity and introspection, while Deborah Ross (Lady in Green) grounds her moments with warmth and humanity. Tracey Renee (Lady in Orange) finds welcome humor amid the heartbreak, providing necessary moments of emotional release. L.A. Holts (Lady in Yellow) infuses her work with youthful vitality and infectious spirit. Kennedi Coleman (Lady in Brown) offers moments of thoughtful restraint that contribute beautifully to the ensemble's collective voice.

Opening night also presented an increasingly familiar frustration that falls outside the production itself but nonetheless affected the theatrical experience. The persistent glow of cell phones and repeated audience distractions proved difficult to ignore. Theatre remains one of the few art forms built upon a shared agreement between artists and audience to be fully present in the moment. When that agreement is repeatedly broken, everyone in the room loses something.

Even with its uneven opening and a few missed opportunities for greater theatrical imagination,

ETA's production succeeds where it matters most: it trusts Shange.

That trust is ultimately enough.

Nearly fifty years after its premiere, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow Is enuf continues to remind audiences that Black women's stories are not peripheral to the American experience - they are central to it. Their pain, laughter, sensuality, vulnerability, resilience, and joy remain as urgent today as they were in 1976.

Shange did more than write a play. She created a language for survival.

ETA Creative Arts Foundation honors that legacy with sincerity, sensitivity, and respect, reminding us that some masterpieces require no reinvention- only artists willing to listen deeply enough to let them speak.

Recommended

When:   thru August 31
Where: 7558 South Chicago Ave Chicago
Tickets: $30 - $50 general admission

Info: www.etacreativearts.org

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company is pleased to announce the cast, creative and production teams for the first production in its 2026 - 2027 season, Mud Row, written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Malkia Stampley, October 15 - November 15, in Theater One at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Previews are Thursday, Oct. 15 through Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 18 at 2:30 p.m. Regular performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Subscriptions for the 2026 - 2027 season and single tickets are on sale now at RemyBumppo.org. Groups of 10 or more may call the Theater Wit Box Office at 773.975.8150 to receive group discounts and make reservations. 

Set in the historically Black neighborhood of Mud Row in West Chester, Pennsylvania, two generations of sisters protect and defy the legacy of their foremothers in this surprisingly funny, thrilling and ultimately hopeful play from Tony Nominee and MacArthur “Genius” Grant Recipient Dominique Morisseau. Mud Row deftly shifts between past and present exploring themes of identity, belonging and the complexities of heritage through the lives of several Black women and men, each with their own struggles and aspirations. 

“Mud Row invites such a timely conversation about home, identity, family obligations and the reminder that the choices we make and the narratives we hold onto can last for generations,” said Director Malkia Stampley. “There’s always something to pass on to the next generation, including the choice to heal. I am thrilled to make my Remy Bumppo Theatre Company debut and to work with some of Chicago’s finest artists. I am grateful to the Remy Bumppo family for trusting me with Dominique Morisseau’s beautiful work.”

The cast of Mud Row includes Ayanna Bria Bakari* (she/her, Regine); Toccara Castleman (she/her, Frances); Alexis Janae (she/her, Elsie); Tiffany Renee Johnson+* (she/her, Toshi); Jabari Khaliq (he/him, Tyriek); Jamaque Thomas (he/him, Davin); Maureen Azzun (she/her, Toshi U/S); Quenna Barrett (she/her, Regine U/S); Emefa Dzodzomenyo (she/her, Elsie U/S); Reginald Hemphill (he/him, Davin U/S) and Solomon Langley (he/him, Tyriek U/S).

The creative and production team for Mud Row includes Malkia Stampley (she/her, director); Lo Williams (she/her, associate director); Jean E. Compton* (she/her, stage manager); Matthew R. Chase (he/him, production manager); Jyreika Guest (she/her, violence & intimacy designer); Abhi Shrestha (they/them, dramaturg); Shadana Patterson (she/her, voice & text coach); Sydney Lynne (she/her, scenic designer); Amanda Herrmann (they/them, properties designer); Levi Wilkins (he/him, lighting designer); Christopher Kriz (he/him, composer & sound designer); Evelyn Danner (she/her, costume designer); Aubrey Pierce (she/her, scenic supervisor); Nicholas Chamernik (he/him, lighting supervisor); Gabriela Carrillo (she/her, wardrobe supervisor); Adelina Feldman-Schultz, Tertulia Creative Solutions (she/her, casting director); Marti Lyons (she/her, artistic director); Margaret McCloskey (she/her, executive director); Christina Casano (she/her, creative producer); Missy Preston (they/the, development manager) and John Craig (they/he, operation manager).

~ denotes member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

+ denotes Core Ensemble Member

^ denotes Associate Artist 

* denotes member of Actors Equity Association 

Cast and creative team members are subject to change. 

ABOUT DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU, playwright, Mud Row

​​Dominique Morisseau is the author of The Detroit Project (A 3-Play Cycle): Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company/Broadway, Tony Award nomination for Best Play), Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre) and Detroit ’67 (Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and NBT). Additional plays include: Bad Kreyòl (Signature Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club), Confederates (Signature Theatre), Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theatre), Sunset Baby (LAByrinth Theatre), Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre) and Follow Me To Nellie’s (Premiere Stages). She is the Tony Award-nominated bookwriter on the Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations (Imperial Theatre) and is currently working on her latest, Hippest Trip – The Soul Train Musical (ACT). TV/Film: co-producer on “Shameless” (Showtime), the film adaptation of the documentary “STEP” (Fox Searchlight) and consultant on the Netflix animated feature, “Tunga.” Awards include: PoNY Fellowship, TEER Trailblazer Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Audelco Awards, NBTF August Wilson Playwriting Award, Wyndham Campbell Prize, Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, OBIE Award (two), Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, one of Variety’s Women of Impact for 2018 and a MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow. In 2022, Dominique was awarded the key to the city by the Mayor of Detroit.

ABOUT MALKIA STAMPLEY, director, Mud Row

Malkia Stampley makes her Remy Bumppo Theatre Company debut directing Mud Row. Currently, she leads producing at Goodman Theatre as the BOLD Artistic Producer since 2021. Stampley is also a facilitator with Court Theatre’s Civic Actors Studio and teaching artist. She co-founded Bronzeville Arts Ensemble in 2013 and the Milwaukee Black Theater Festival in 2020. She is a Black Excellence Award Recipient for Directing (Primary Trust at the Goodman), twice Jeff nominated and a BOLD Artist with the BOLD Women’s Leadership Circle. Theater directing credits include Goodman Theatre, Rivendell, Kansas City Rep, Northern Sky Theater, TimeLine, Shattered Globe, Raven Theatre, Black Arts MKE, First Stage, Skylight Music Theater, American Players Theater, Milwaukee Rep, Chicago Shakes, Milwaukee Black Theater Festival, Farmers Alley Theatre and Milwaukee Fringe Festival. She is a member of SDC and a LORT Mentorship Committee member.

ABOUT REMY BUMPPO THEATRE COMPANY

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company expands and enriches their community’s view of the world, and their own, by producing both the great plays of the past and the important plays of today. As an ensemble-driven theater company, Remy Bumppo authors a more humane culture that listens to, and seeks to understand, the voices, the ideas and the stories of one another. 

Since its inception in 1996, Remy Bumppo has produced a blend of modern classics and complex contemporary works, presented in an intimate setting with clarity, wit and passion. We invite audiences to engage directly with the art through conversation with the artists.

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

Mud Row

October 15 - November 15 

Written by: Dominique Morisseau 

Directed by: Malkia Stampley 

Website link: RemyBumppo.org

Location: Theater One, Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago, IL 60657

Previews: Thursday, Oct. 15 - Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 18 at 2:30 p.m.

Estimated Total Run Time: 90 minutes with no intermission

Regular Run: Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

BLACKOUT Night: Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. 

Remy Bumppo hosts a performance specifically dedicated to serving Black-identifying theatergoers and the Black community at large. Patrons may use the code BLACKOUT for $30 tickets when purchasing online, by phone or in person.

Open Caption Performance: Saturday, Oct. 31 at 2:30 p.m. 

At the Open-Captioned performance, a TV monitor will present dialogue and sounds in text that is in sync with the performance. 

Patrons may use the code RBTCACCESS for $5 off tickets when purchasing online, by phone or in person.

Remy Bumppo’s Between the Lines: Sunday, Nov.1 at 2:30 p.m. 

Remy Bumppo’s Between the Lines performances include a pre-show lecture led by a Chicago luminary who will discuss the themes of the play, the performance, and a post show talkback with the artists.

ACCESS PERFORMANCES:

Audio Description/Touch Tour Performance: Thursday, Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m., Touch Tour at 1 p.m. 

Listeners will hear a description of actions, body language, lights, costumes, scenery and other aspects of the production not conveyed by voices and sounds from the stage.This service allows blind and visually- impaired patrons to hear a description of the visual elements taking place on stage. 

Touch Tours are 45-minute artistic conversations and tactile explorations of costumes, props and set pieces for patrons who are blind or low-vision

Patrons may use the code RBTCACCESS for $5 off tickets when purchasing online, by phone or in person.

Previews: $34.00 - $38.00

Regular Run: $38.00 - $58.00

Industry Tickets: $20.00, available for Thursday and Friday performances using

code INDUSTRY

Student Tickets: $15.00, available for all performances using code STU15

Group Discounts: For groups of 10 or more, call the Theater Wit Box Office at

773-975-8150.

Victory Gardens Theater (2433 N. Lincoln Avenue), an historic incubator for new play development, proudly announces the World Premiere staging of The Humanities, a contemporary new work by acclaimed playwright Zayd Ayers Dohrn, directed by veteran Chicago talent Eddie Torres. The Humanities is a provocative, ripped-from-the-headlines story that explores the events after a controversial speaker is invited to lecture at an elite American university. Performances of The Humanities begin Thursday, September 10, and continue through Sunday, October 4, 2026; the official Opening is Sunday, September 13, at 6 p.m.

The all-Chicago cast of The Humanities includes Nora Dunn, Al’Jaleel McGhee, Steve Pickering, Isa Arciniegas, Daniil Krimer, Devaughn Asante Loman, Piper Murphy, William Anthony Sebastia Rose II, and Sabine Wan with understudies Alexander Chance, Naomi Evans, Avery-Slade Fountain, and Clara Imon Pedtke, while the creative team includes Edward D. Richardson (Stage Management), Jayce Lewis (Assistant Stage Management), David Woolley (Fight Choreography), Julie Granata-Hunicutt (Intimacy Direction), Maren Rosenberg (Production Management), Brian Sydney Bembridge (Lighting/Scenic Design), Myron Elliott (Costume Design), and Johnny Johnathan (Sound/Production Design).

“I wrote The Humanities years ago, thinking about the forces that seemed to be tearing America apart and leaving the country vulnerable to an authoritarian takeover,” said Ayers Dohrn. “If anything, the themes of the play – identity, race, protests on college campuses, and political violence – have only become more relevant, and this feels like the perfect moment to premiere a new play about the impulses that divide us and about our collective search for a more perfect union.”

“For over 50 years, Victory Gardens Theater has nurtured and produced relevant, new work that reflects the diverse stories of the community and contributes to the vitality of American theater.  Hiring an all-Chicago cast to perform The Humanities further reinforces Victory Gardens’ commitment to investing in the city’s exceptional artistic talent and elevating Chicago voices,” added Torres, also Victory Gardens Interim Artistic Director.

Zayd Ayers Dohrn is the author of the acclaimed national bestselling memoir Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young and creator of the hit podcast Mother Country Radicals. His plays include Revolution(s) (the Goodman), The Profane (Playwrights Horizons), Outside People (The Vineyard), and Reborning (The Public/SPF). Ayers Dohrn is the Daniel Hale Williams Professor and Director of the MFA in Writing for Screen + Stage at Northwestern University. The Humanities was developed by Ayers Dohrn during a residency at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference in 2019, under Preston Whiteway, Executive Director, and Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director, and in partnership with the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, in the 2019 New Stages Festival, under Robert Falls, Artistic Director, and Roche Schulfer, Executive Director. 

Eddie Torres is an acclaimed director & performer. He has won five Jeff Awards, notably for Best Director for the premiere of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, a Latin ACE Award, and an ATI Award. He is a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, the Artistic Director Emeritus of Teatro Vista Productions, and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Performance schedule & ticket pricing

The Humanities will be performed in a limited engagement Thursday, September 10, through Sunday, October 4, 2026, with its official Opening on Sunday, September 13, at 6 p.m. Performances take place on Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. (with the exception of September 13). Please note, this work contains mature themes including sexual content, strong language, and partial nudity, and is not suitable for children under 17 without parental guidance. Tickets, which start at $55, are now on sale by visiting eventbrite.com. Use promo code PREVIEW to receive 25% off all Adult and Senior tickets for performances on September 10, 11, and 12. For information about group rates and discounted ticket packages, please contact the Victory Gardens Theater Box Office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About Victory Gardens Theater

Victory Gardens Theater serves as a sanctuary for fearless artistic exchange, producing new work that ignites the imagination and challenges the mind. Since its founding in 1974, the nonprofit theater company Victory Gardens Theater has produced more world and Chicago premieres, worked with more living playwrights, and exported more new plays for production elsewhere than any other theater in the region. Victory Gardens Theater strives to be a national leader in bringing stories to the stage that ignite social change and strengthen community, creating a more just and compassionate world. Victory Gardens Theater is currently under the direction of Interim Executive Director Archana Vaidya and Interim Artistic Director Eddie Torres. For more information, please visit victorygardens.org.