HYDE PARK — The Court Theatre is a little more than a week away from opening its 60th season with the world premiere of “Native Son.”
The adaptation of the classic Richard Wright novel by Nambi Kelly will premiere Sept. 11 at the theater at 5535 S. Ellis Ave.
The opening will mark the first time the story of Bigger Thomas is adapted for the stage.
The theater was founded in 1955 by Marvin Phillips as an amateur company staging Moliere plays outdoors. Classics professor Nicholas Rudall set the theater on its current course when he took over as artistic director in 1971 and started the tradition of adapting classic texts for contemporary audiences.
“From our origins as an outdoor summer festival on the University of Chicago quad to a leading center for classic theater, the ambition and scope of this landmark anniversary season celebrates the audiences and artists who have defined, sustained, and inspired Court Theatre's community for 60 years," Newell said.
The tradition continues under current artistic director Charles Newell with a Nov. 6 premiere of Euripides’ “Iphigenia in Aulis,” the first in a three-year cycle of Greek plays.
Samuel Beckett’s more contemporary classic, “Waiting for Godot,” will follow with a Jan. 15 opening.
On March 19, playwrights Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare will premiere “The Good Book,” their new play about the origins of the Bible and faith. Court Theatre commissioned the duo in 2011 to write the play after the success of their adaptation of Homer with “An Iliad.”
The anniversary season closes with “The Secret Garden,” which opens on May 21.
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