Full cast and production team have been announced for City Lit’s production of August Wilson’s KING HEDLEY II, to play from Friday, October 16 through Sunday, November 29. KING HEDLEY II is set in the same backyard in Pittsburgh’s Hill District seen in August Wilson’s SEVEN GUITARS (for which the company won the 2024 Jeff Award for Best Production of a Play). One of Wilson’s “Century Cycle” of ten plays, each set in a different decade of the 20th Century, KING HEDLEY II takes place in 1985, 37 years after the action of SEVEN GUITARS. KING HEDLEY II explores the lives of the children and neighbors of the characters introduced in the earlier play. It will be directed by City Lit Artistic Associate Manny Buckley, who earned a Jeff Award nomination for his direction of City Lit’s SEVEN GUITARS. KING HEDLEY II will open to the press on Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 pm, following previews from October 16. It will play through Sunday, November 29.
Cast in the title role of King Hedley, recently released from prison and determined to rebuild his life on his own terms, is James Lewis, seen most recently in Chicago in A DOG’S HOUSE with Sandbox Theatre Collective. Lewis earned raves in 2025 as the brilliant and arrogant Ben Jonson in Promethean Theatre Ensemble’s THE BOOK OF WILL. Andrea Conway-Diaz, remembered for her City Lit roles as Barbara Jordan in VOICE OF GOOD HOPE and Louise in SEVEN GUITARS; will play Ruby, King’s mother, a former blues singer whose past reaches back to Wilson’s SEVEN GUITARS. Isis Elizabeth, returning to the work of August Wilson after understudying the role of Dussie Mae in the Goodman Theatre’s recent production of MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM, will be King’s wife Tonya.
Brandon Boler, who is currently playing Ernie in City Lit’s World Premiere adaptation of SHANE, is set to play Stool Pigeon, a neighborhood elder and witness figure whose prophetic language links everyday life to spiritual and historical forces. Ernest Henton, an ensemble member of The Artistic Home whose many credits with that company include the Chicago and New York productions of MALAPERT LOVE, will play Mister, King’s longtime friend and partner.
Jelani Julyus, who had the only male role in HONEYPOT: BLACK SOUTHERN WOMEN WHO LOVE WOMEN in Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre’s world premiere co-production with Northwestern University, plays Elmore. Elmore is Ruby’s former lover, whose return stirs old desires, unresolved history, and a devastating revelation. Understudies are Fred Cavair Robinson (u/s Elmore and Stool Pigeon), Yahdina U-Deen (u/s Ruby), LaTorious Givens (u/s Tonya), and Dairyon Bolden (u/s King and Mister).
Top Row L-R: Brandon Boler, Andrea Conway-Diaz, Isis Elizabeth, Ernest Henton, Jelani Julyus
Bottom Row L-R: James Lewis, Dairyon Bolden, Frad Cavair Robinson, LaTorious Givens, Yahdina U-Deen
The KING HEDLEY II designers include Jeremiah Barr (Scenic Designer), Mike McShane (Lighting and Sound Designer), Greg Geffrard (Intimacy/Violence Director), and Melanie Thompson (Props Designer). The production team also includes Michael Lesko (Stage Manager), Jeremiah Barr (Technical Director), Bruce Bennett (Scenic Charge), and Devi Angel (Assistant Stage Manager and crew).
All performances will be at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago, on the second floor of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church. Tickets are priced at $32 for previews and $40 for regular performances and are on sale now. Senior prices are $5 off the applicable ticket prices. Students and active military are $22.00 for all performances.
KING HEDLEY II
by August Wilson
Directed by Artistic Associate Manny Buckley
25th Anniversary of the Broadway Production
October 16 - November 29, 2026
Previews October 16 - 23
Press Opening Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 pm
Regular run October 24 - November 29, 2026
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm, Monday, November 16 at 7:30 pm
Tickets $32 for previews and $40 for regular performances. Seniors $5.00 off all prices. Students and active military are $22.00 for all performances. Groups are $30 per person Prices include all fees and taxes.
Tickets available online at www.citylit.org or by phone at 773-293-3682.
All performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, on the second floor (accessible via elevator) of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church.
Revisiting characters established in August Wilson’s SEVEN GUITARS, this play returns to Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1985. King Hedley, a man recently released from prison, attempts to rebuild his life by selling stolen refrigerators so he can buy a video store. Despite decades of generational trauma, can King break free from the crippling socio-economic struggles that have held him down? Amid the realities of rampant crime and drug use in the neighborhood community, he tries to carve out his own destiny.
August Wilson (Playwright) was a renowned American playwright whose works are celebrated for their exploration of the African American experience throughout the 20th Century. Born Frederick August Kittel Jr. on April 27, 1945, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wilson grew up in the Hill District, a predominantly Black neighborhood that would later serve as the backdrop for nine of the ten plays referred to as the "Pittsburgh Cycle" or the "Century Cycle," each set in a different decade of the 20th century and exploring various aspects of the African American experience.
Wilson's first major play, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, premiered at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference in 1978 and was the only play of the “Pittsburgh Cycle” not to be set in Pittsburgh. Some of Wilson's most notable works include FENCES (1985), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play, and THE PIANO LESSON (1987), which also received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His plays are celebrated for their richly drawn characters, poetic language, and profound exploration of themes such as family, identity, and the legacy of slavery.
Manny Buckley (he/him) is a Chicago based director, actor and writer. Manny last directed August Wilson’s SEVEN GUITARS at City Lit, which won the Jeff Award for Best Production – Play. Earlier, he directed DRIVING MISS DAISY at Jedlicka Performing Arts Center, where he also directed THE BAD SEED. Other directing credits include KINGDOM, an audio play (Broken Nose Theatre); UHURU, CANE, ORIGIN STORY, MOTHER OF PEARL, and THE REAPERS ON WOODBROOK AVENUE (BLUE INK FESTIVAL), multiple short plays in Playground Chicago's MONDAY NIGHT PLAYGROUND, RIPPED: THE LIVING NEWSPAPER, #ENOUGH (PLAYS TO END GUN VIOLENCE) and THE ONE MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL. As an actor, he appeared in City Lit's world premiere COMRADES MINE; his other acting credits include work with Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, Goodman, Court, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatists, Next Theater, House Theatre, Shattered Globe Theater, Cincinnati Children's Theatre and Studio Theatre. Manny has numerous credits with American Blues Theater, where he is an ensemble member and turned in his critically acclaimed, award-winning solo performance in LOOKING OVER THE PRESIDENT’S SHOULDER. Film and TV credits: PROVEN INNOCENT, CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO PD, and commercials and industrial films for the US Navy, Northwestern University and THE ONION. He has received nominations for the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Helen Hayes Award and the 3Arts Award; he is the recipient of both a Black Theater Alliance Award and Black Excellence Award. Mr Buckley was last seen in THE RECLAMATION OF MADISON HEMINGS at American Blues Theater.
Brian Pastor (they/them, Executive Artistic Director) is a trans/non-binary director, actor, playwright, and Jeff Award-winning producer (August Wilson’s SEVEN GUITARS), and the Executive Artistic Director of City Lit Theater. They were featured in Newcity Magazine’s Players 50 for 2026 in the category of “Rising Stars and Storefront Stalwarts.” Brian previously spent ten and a half years on staff at City Lit, including nine as Managing Director. From 2019 to 2024, Brian served as City Lit’s Resident Director, where they directed THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, ARMS AND THE MAN, J.B., and their own acclaimed adaptation of Robert Kennedy’s THIRTEEN DAYS. Most recently, Brian directed the World Premieres of SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CHIRSTMAS CLOWNS, Bo List’s R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) and the Chicago Premiere of Reina Hardy's GLASSHEART. Brian is a founder and Emeritus Artistic Director of Chicago’s Promethean Theatre Ensemble, where they directed THE LION IN WINTER, THE WINTER’S TALE, GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE, HENRY V and THE DARK SIDE OF THE BARD. Brian also directed the world premiere of THE BLACK KNIGHT by Angeli Primlani, the inaugural show for Lifeboat Productions. As an actor, Brian has worked with Strawdog, Raven, WildClaw, Promethean, Accomplice, and City Lit, among others. Brian is the former Executive Director of both Sideshow Theatre and Raven Theatre. They also served as a board and company member of The Mime Company and as a founding company member of Chicago dell’Arte. A Pittsburgh native, Brian has called Chicago home since their graduation from Northwestern University in 2003.
ABOUT CITY LIT THEATER COMPANY:
City Lit is the eighth oldest continuously operating theatre company in Chicago, behind only Goodman, Court, Northlight, Oak Park Festival, Black Ensemble Theatre, Steppenwolf, and Pegasus theatres. It was founded in 1979 with $210 pooled by Arnold Aprill, David Dillon, and Lorell Wyatt. For its current season, its 46th, it operates with a budget slightly over $250,000. It was the first theatre in the nation devoted to stage adaptations of literary material. There were so few theatres in Chicago at the time of its founding that at City Lit’s launch event, the founders were able to read a congratulatory letter they had received from Tennessee Williams.
For four decades and counting, City Lit has explored fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoirs, songs, essays and drama in performance. A theatre that specializes in literary work communicates a commitment to certain civilizing influences—tradition imaginatively explored, a life of the mind, trust in an audience’s intelligence—that not every cultural outlet shares.
City Lit is located in the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church building at 1020 West Bryn Mawr Avenue. Its work is supported in part by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events CityArts program. An Illinois not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt organization, City Lit keeps ticket prices below the actual cost of producing plays and depends on the support of those who share its belief in the beauty and power of the spoken written word.