Court Theatre on Monday announced the lineup for its 2015–16 season, the company's 61st year in production in residence on the University of Chicago campus.
The season opens with Gem of the Ocean (September 10–October 11), the penultimate entry in August Wilson's ten-play Century Cycle (though chronologically it's the first, set at the turn of the 20th century). Director Ron OJ Parson stages his seventh Wilson piece at Court; Greta Oglesby, who created the role of Aunt Ester in the play's 2003 premiere at the Goodman Theatre, returns, joined by A.C. Smith, Alfred Wilson, David Alan Anderson and Tyla Abercrumbie.
As previously announced, Court artistic director Charles Newell will helm a new translation by his predecessor, Nicholas Rudall, of Aeschylus' Agamemnon (November 5–December 6), the second entry in a three-year "Greek Cycle." Sandra Marquez and Mark L. Montgomery reprise their roles as Clytemnestra and Agamemnon following last fall's Iphigenia in Aulis.
Newell will also direct the Midwest premiere of Satchmo at the Waldorf (January 7–February 7), a solo piece about Louis Armstrong written by the Wall Street Journal's theater critic, Terry Teachout. A revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night (March 10–April 10) will be directed by the playwright (and University of Chicago alumnus) David Auburn.
The season ends on a decidedly lighter note, with Newell staging the Midwest premiere of One Man, Two Guvnors (May 12–June 12), Richard Bean's acclaimed update of Carlo Goldoni's 18th-century farce Servant of Two Masters. Timothy Edward Kane will play the comic role that won James Corden a Tony and a talk show; Elizabeth Ledo, Hollis Resnik and Chaon Cross are also confirmed for the cast.