Court Theatre Reveals 71st Season Lineup

Court Theatre has announced its 71st season. The 2025/26 season will feature Theodore Ward’s explosive Big White Fog, directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson; The Taming of the Shrew, William Shakespeare’s timeless battle of wits, directed by Marti Lyons; Miss Julie, August Strindberg’s confrontation of class, gender, and desire, directed by Senior Artistic Producer Gabrielle Randle-Bent; and finally, Out Here, a thrilling and joyous world premiere musical, with concept by Leslie Buxbaum, David J. Levin, and Erin McKeown; book and lyrics by Leslie Buxbaum; music and lyrics by Erin McKeown; and dramaturgy by David J. Levin.

Court’s 2025/26 season is a time of truth and transformation, beginning with a blistering condemnation of the American Dream, followed by a beloved Shakespearean face-off. It then continues with a collision of sex, status, and strategy and comes to a jubilant conclusion with a strikingly original world premiere musical about the freedom of relinquishing control.

With an exciting and enriching mix of beloved classics, rarely produced gems, and world premieres, this season invites us to look at each other honestly, with all our flaws, contradictions, beauty, and nuance on glorious display. When we do, we not only see each other. We see ourselves. That moment of recognition, that spark of curiosity and connection – that’s where change is possible. And that’s where the 2025/26 season lives.

Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre remarks, “I am particularly excited about the 2025/26 season, for the plays themselves and the lineup of artists, but also for the ways in which it builds on Court Theatre's past work and the future we envision. The season speaks to what audiences indicate to us that they need and want, and I am eager to share this work with them. We find ourselves in an invigorating moment: we are reaffirming our commitment to reimagining classics and how those stories get told, and we are deepening our relationships with artistic and University collaborators. The energy of the 2025/26 season onstage matches the energy and excitement we feel as an organization.”

“This season is about hard truths – seeing them, hearing them, and acknowledging them honestly,” adds Senior Artistic Producer Gabrielle Randle-Bent. “Our world is rapidly changing and those liminal moments – those moments right in the middle of that transformation – are when we find out what we are really made of. This season explores and embraces those windows of transformation and the incredible multitudes they – and we – contain.”

BIG WHITE FOG

By Theodore Ward

Directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson

September 12 – October 12, 2025

Theodore Ward’s Big White Fog is the big shoulders on which A Raisin in the Sun stands. First completed in 1938, funded by the Federal Theatre Project, and influenced by the South Side Writers Group that cultivated such iconic talents as Richard Wright and Margaret Walker, Big White Fog drove American realism forward by contending with discontent.

The United States is on the cusp of the Great Depression and like many, the Mason family is struggling. Between the precarious economy and racial violence on the segregated South Side, something’s got to give. As different generations strive to secure the Mason family’s future, catastrophic decisions are made, leading to a heartbreaking twist and a blistering condemnation of America’s Big White Fog.

Resident Artist – and the nation’s preeminent director of August Wilson – Ron OJ Parson (East Texas Hot Links) opens the 2025/26 season with this rich portrayal of Black life on Chicago’s South Side.

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Marti Lyons

November 14 – December 14, 2025

Deception, disguise, and desire. What if we want to be tamed?

The richest man in town has two daughters and one big problem: he refuses to marry the youngest, Bianca, until the eldest, Katherine, is married first. Much to her family’s dismay, Katherine repeatedly – and violently – rejects the men interested in her and her wealth, and refuses to sacrifice her independence. When a mysterious gentleman enters the mix, suddenly Kate sees that surrender is no sacrifice. Perhaps there is strength in submission.

Artistic Director of Remy Bumppo Theatre Company Marti Lyons (Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) turns William Shakespeare’s classic inside out, with a fresh interpretation focused on feminine desire. This is not your standard Shrew.

MISS JULIE

By August Strindberg

Directed by Senior Artistic Producer Gabrielle Randle-Bent

February 6 – March 8, 2026

August Strindberg’s Miss Julie is a confrontation of class, gender, and desire at the turn of the twentieth century that’s as relevant today as when it was first written.

Miss Julie wants to abandon her upper-class, aristocratic life and escape the expectations that trap her. Jean, her servant, wants to climb the social ladder and rise through the ranks of society. Over the course of a wine-soaked evening, the two jockey for position, using sex, status, and strategy to collide and combust.

Senior Artistic Producer Gabrielle Randle-Bent (A Raisin in the Sun) directs one of Strindberg’s most celebrated works, interrogating the limitations of politics and position and the tension between who we are and who we want to be.

WORLD PREMIERE

OUT HERE

Concept by Leslie Buxbaum, David J. Levin, and Erin McKeown

Book and Lyrics by Leslie Buxbaum

Music and Lyrics by Erin McKeown

Dramaturgy by David J. Levin

April 10 – May 10, 2026

Life happens outside of your comfort zone. Out Here is a world-premiere musical, a thrilling collaboration between Court Theatre and the University of Chicago, and an intimate look at a family reconfiguring itself and rediscovering joy.

Dawn has a house, a husband, and a family, but she wants more. She wants her ex-girlfriend, Robin. She wants nothing to change and she wants everything to change, and she wants it all on her own terms. As she’s caught between what’s been and what’s next, Dawn must learn to abandon expectations, harmonize with loved ones, and trust the process. If she can do all that, she might just learn a new song.

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