Victory Gardens Theater announced casting for its November production of John Logan's Never the Sinner this afternoon. Logan's 1988 drama about Leopold and Loeb, two University of Chicago students who murdered a 14-year-old boy in 1924 seemingly for kicks, will be directed by Gary Griffin, with Japhet Balaban (Griffin Theatre Company's Balm in Gilead) as Leopold and Jordan Brodess (currently in previews for Feathers and Teeth at the Goodman) as Loeb.
Keith Kupferer will play defense attorney Clarence Darrow, with Derek Hasenstab as prosecutor Robert E. Crowe. The cast is rounded out by Bill Bannon, Celeste Cooper and Demetrios Troy. Never the Sinner runs November 6–December 6.
In other November casting news today, Jackalope Theatre announced casting for its world premiere of The Raid, Idris Goodwin's new play about white abolitionist John Brown's failed attempt to start a slave revolt in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. It includes Ron Wells as Brown, Warren Feagins as Frederick Douglass and Toya Turner as Harriet Tubman, with other roles filled by Daniel Desmarais, Jared Bellot, Stephanie Monday, Anthony Conway, Alex Hand and Scot West. Kaiser Ahmed directs. The Raid runs November 4–December 12 at Broadway Armory Park.