Complete Casts Set for INHERIT THE WIND and PRIMARY TRUST at Goodman Theatre

This fall, Goodman Theatre will draw nationally acclaimed actors and local rising stars to its 2024/2025 Season opening productions—a major new reivival of a three-time Tony Award-winning masterwork and the Chicago-premiere production of a newly minted Pulitzer Prize-winner. The 99th year of Chicago’s flagship not-for-profit producing theater kicks off with a new production of Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, directed by Resident Director Henry Godinez, in the 856-seat Albert Theatre, while Goodman BOLD Artistic Producer Malkia Stampley makes her Goodman directing debut with Primary Trust, Eboni Booth’s 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Complete casting for these productions, plus the opening night dates for each play in the upcoming season, follows. Goodman Theatre is led by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and John Collins, who becomes Executive Director on September 1.

In the Albert Theatre, science and religion go head-to-head in Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s iconic courtroom showdown where a small-town educator’s trial for teaching the theory of evolution becomes a battle royal of wits, wisdom and will for two of the country’s most powerful lawyers. Joining the previously announced Harry Lennix (attorney Henry Drummond) and Alexander Gemignani (prosecuting attorney Matthew Harrison Brady) are Charín Álvarez (2666), Terry Bell (A Christmas Carol), Hamid Dehghani (English), William Dick (A Christmas Carol), Meighan Gerachis (Roe), Lawrence Grimm (2666), Kevin Gudahl (King Lear), Presley Rose Jones (The Who’s Tommy), Christopher Kale Jones (The Music Man), Mi Kang (The Chinese Lady), Ryan Kitley (Roe), Tyler Meredith (The Penelopiad), Thomas Murphy Molony (Highway Patrol), Christopher Llewyn Ramirez (LUCHA TEOTL), Robert Schleifer (A Christmas Carol), Eric Slater (The Cherry Orchard) and Penelope Walker (A Christmas Carol). Inherit the Wind appears September 14 — October 13 (opening night is Monday, September 23 at 7pm. Tickets ($25 - $95; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Inherit or by phone at 312-443-3800. Goodman Theatre is grateful for the support of JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Winston & Strawn.

“Inherit The Wind is a deeply meaningful play for me, not only because it was the first professional play that I saw as a freshman in high school, but also because of the remarkable timeliness of its powerful themes and their uncanny reflection of this current moment in our nation’s history,” said director Henry Godinez. “It is a great American play that I’m honored to help bring to life with some of the greatest actors in Chicago, led by my old friend, the always amazing Harry Lennix.  I am beyond excited to share this thought provoking and incredibly moving play with Chicago audiences!”

In the Owen Theatre, Eboni Booth’s 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning production Primary Trust, directed by Goodman BOLD Artistic Producer Malkia Stampley makes its Chicago debut with an all-Chicago cast—starring the previously announced Namir Smallwood as the reclusive Kenneth, whose job loss prompts him to step out of his comfort zone in a journey of self-discovery. Smallwood is joined by Christiana Clark (the ripple, the wave that carried me home), Charles Andrew Gardner (Objects in the Mirror), Mike Przygoda (Rust) and Fred Zimmerman (Bounce). Primary Trust appears October 5 — November 3 (opening night is Monday, October 14 at 7pm. Tickets ($20 - $65; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Primary or by phone at 312-443-3800. 

“I'm always drawn to plays that push the boundaries of empathy, that interrogate love and grief, friendship and longing, and do so in subtle and profound ways,” said Malkia Stampley, who makes her Goodman directing debut with this production. “Primary Trust is the kind of play that sticks with you, that days later you find has allowed you to look at the world differently, even if just for a moment. I am truly honored to be able to direct the Chicago premiere with our city’s finest!"   

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