Check out these events and shows happening at member theatres around the city for Black History Month this February 2023!
Goodman Theatre Presents: the ripple, the wave that carried me home, a Co-Production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. A family responds to injustice and a daughter reckons with her political inheritance in this new play by “a poet, a playwright to pay attention to”. Runs Jan 13 – Feb 12, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/the-ripple-the-wave-that-carried-me-home/
Redtwist Theatre Presents: The Great Khan, a revolutionary, multicultural play about the effects of systemic racism on two Black American teens. The Great Khan is a National New Play Network rolling world premiere. Runs Jan 19 – Feb 26, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/the-great-khan/
MPAACT Presents: Ezekiel’s Wheel. In the not too distant future two brothers, Drew and Zeke, search for their kidnapped father as they try to navigate depleting resources, their strained sense of loyalty and a prophecy they are beholden to but refuse to embraced. Addae Moon’s Ezekiel’s Wheel is grounded in, and inspired by, the rich tradition of Black Speculative Fiction by Octavia Butler, Samuel Delaney, Frances Harper and Martin Delaney. Runs Jan 20 – Feb 26, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/ezekiels-wheel/
Mercury Theater Presents: Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill. Turn back the clock to 1956 for an intimate cabaret performance with the greatest jazz vocalist of all time, Billie Holiday. Runs Jan 27 – Mar 26, 2023. The Mercury Theater will have one Industry Night for Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Saturday February 18 at 3pm. Industry members may buy one industry ticket at the box office (day-of performance only) for the price of $20 by providing proof that you work in the theater industry. The performance will take place in the Venus Cabaret Theater. https://chicagoplays.com/event/lady-day-at-emersons-bar-and-grill/
Goodman Theatre Presents: Toni Stone. Toni Stone is an encyclopedia of baseball stats. She’s got a great arm. And she doesn’t understand why she can’t play with the boys. Rejected by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League because of her race, Toni sets out to become the first woman to play in baseball’s Negro Leagues. Runs Jan 28 – Feb 26, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/toni-stone/
Timeline Theatre Company Presents: Boulevard of Bold Dreams. Set on the night in 1940 that Hattie McDaniel made history at the Oscars, a story of dreamers striving to overcome considerable obstacles and fighting for recognition amidst the racism and inequity of Hollywood. Runs Feb 01 – Mar 19, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/boulevard-of-bold-dreams/
Lyric Opera Chicago Presents: The Factotum. Updating the action to a Black barbershop on Chicago’s South Side, this gifted duo has created an irresistibly upbeat work that celebrates the strength of community. Runs Feb 03 – Feb 12, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/the-factotum/
Definition Theatre Presents the world premiere of Alaiyo by Micah Ariel Watson, directed by McKenzie Chinn. Performances are February 03 – 26 at The Revival in Hyde Park. Industry Members may purchase discounted tickets using code INDUSTRY at https://www.definitiontheatre.org/shows/alaiyo. Code is valid for all performances. Tickets are limited per performances.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Presents: Mavis Staples. Civil rights icon and living legend Mavis Staples returns to Symphony Center for one night only. February 04, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/mavis-staples-with-special-guest-celisse/
Columbia College Chicago Presents: Detroit ‘67. The music of Motown brings family and friends together. The politics and rage of 1967 Detroit threatens to shatter the life they are building. Runs Feb 08 – Feb 18, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/detroit-67/
Beverly Arts Center Presents: A Raisin in the Sun. Set on Chicago’s South Side, A Raisin in the Sun explores the divergent dreams and conflicts within three generations of the Younger family. Runs Feb 09 – Feb 19, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/a-raisin-in-the-sun/
Collaboraction Presents, Trial In the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till. The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955 brought national attention to the racial violence and injustice prevalent in the deep south. Runs Feb 10 – Feb 19, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/trial-in-the-delta-the-murder-of-emmett-till/
Invictus Theatre Company Presents: The Mountaintop, Katori Hall’s drama imagining the last night of Martin Luther King’s life. Runs Feb 16 – Mar 19, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/the-mountaintop/
PrideArts Presents the Chicago premiere of one in two – an autobiographical drama in which the audience each performance will choose which of three actors will play the lead. The title is taken from the statistic that one in two Black men who have sex with men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime. Runs Feb 16 – Mar 19, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/one-in-two/
Harold Washington Cultural Center: Queens of the Policy returns during Black History Month highlighting the role women played in the numbers game. Runs Feb 17 – Feb 19, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/queens-of-the-policy/
The Mercury Theater will be hosting Signed, Sealed, Delivered: A Stevie Wonder Experience with John-Mark McGaha (presented by Artists Lounge Live) from February 23 – March 12. They will have a special promotion through Black History Month to purchase one ticket to Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill and one ticket to Signed, Sealed, Delivered… for the price of $99! You can only redeem this offer through the Mercury box office. You can call the box office Mondays through Fridays from 12pm to 5pm at (773) 360-7365. https://chicagoplays.com/event/signed-sealed-delivered-a-stevie-wonder-experience/
The Jedlicka Performing Arts Center Presents: Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy, a searing, funny, and hopeful meditation on race relations in America, told through the complex relationship between two of popular culture’s most enduring characters. Daisy Werthan is a widowed, 72-year-old Jewish woman living in midcentury Atlanta, and Hoke Colburn is an African American man who works as her chauffeur. Runs February 24 – March 11, 2023. https://chicagoplays.com/event/driving-miss-daisy/
The Harold Washington Cultural Center Presents: “Feeling Good: A M.A.D.D Rhythms Tribute to Nina Simone and Fireside Chat with Bril Barrett” at the Harold Washington Cultural Center Sunday Feb 26, 2023 4:00 PM. This story is told through Tap, song and video production. Complimentary tickets available to members of the League of Chicago Theaters and their staff by emailing events@hwccchicago.com. Patrons enter code CIVLFEST on Eventbrite for a community discount. https://chicagoplays.com/event/feeling-good-a-m-a-d-d-rhythms-tribute-to-nina-simone/