Goodman Theatre continues its 2021/2022 Homecoming Season into the new year with several scheduling updates. Tony Award-winner Robert Falls marks 35 years as Goodman Artistic Director—a position from which he will step down at season’s end—by directing the world premiere of Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State, his sixth play by his longtime collaborator, in the Owen Theatre.
In addition, the Goodman will produce the Chicago premiere of composer/lyricist Britta Johnson’s new musical Life After—"luminous…lush, poetic and surprisingly funny” (San Diego Union-Tribune)—directed by Annie Tippe in the Albert Theatre. NOTE: Life After replaces the previously announced musical adaptation of The Outsiders, based on S.E. Hinton’s novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s film, which has been postponed to a future date to be announced.
Northern Trust is the Lead Corporate Sponsor and Shure is the Technical Sponsor of Life After and The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation has also provided support for Swing State. Membership options for the 2021/2022 Season start at $50; to purchase, call 312.443.3800 or visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Homecoming. Individual tickets for the newly announced plays will go on sale soon.
Six plays (including one to be announced) are still to come in the 2021/2022 Season (through July 2022): Gem of the Ocean by August Wilson, directed by Chuck Smith (January 22 – February 27); The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman (February 11 – March 20); Good Night, Oscar by Doug Wright, directed by Lisa Peterson (March 12 – April 17); Swing State by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Robert Falls (April 1 – May 1); and Life After by Britta Johnson, directed by Annie Tippe (June 11 – July 17).
The season began in August 2021 when live-in-person performances could safely resume—starting with School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh, directed by Lili-Anne Brown. The season continued with American Mariachi by José Cruz González, directed by Henry Godinez; Fannie (The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer) by Cheryl L. West, directed by Henry Godinez; the 17th annual New Stages Festival including six plays—Nightwatch by Max Yu, directed by Chay Yew; Layalina by Martin Yousif Zebari directed by Sivan Battat; along with staged readings of Fires, Ohio by Beth Hyland, directed by Marti Lyons; Your Name Means Dream by José Rivera, directed y Audrey Francis; and Watching the Watcher by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Neel Keller; as well as the virtual reality experience Hummingbird by Jo Cattell, created by Daria Tsoupikova, Sai Priya Jyothula, Andrew Johnson, Arthur Nishimoto and Lance Long at the Electronic Visualization Laboratory in the University of Illinois as Chicago); and the 44th annual production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, directed by Jessica Thebus.
ABOUT THE PLAYS
Swing State
By Rebecca Gilman
Directed by Robert Falls
April 1 – May 1, 2022 in the Owen Theatre
Feuds erupt between once-friendly neighbors when an out-of-state power company starts a land grab in a rural Wisconsin community. Peg, a retired teacher, fights to save the land she loves – but it's hard to know who your friends are in a world where politics are more polarized than ever. In her 10th Goodman production, Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman draws a contemporary portrait of America’s heartland in a time when it seems like everyone has a different idea of what it means to be an American. Robert Falls marks his 35th anniversary season—and his final year as Goodman Theatre Artistic Director—directing a world premiere from his longtime collaborator, “one of Chicago’s hottest playwrights” (Chicago Tribune). Previous Falls/Gilman collaborations include Blue Surge (2001), Dollhouse (2005), A True History of the Johnstown Flood (2010), Luna Gale (2014) and Soups, Stews and Casseroles: (2016).
Life After
By Britta Johnson
Directed by Annie Tippe
June 11 – July 17, 2022 in the Albert Theatre
Frank Carter famously authored self-help books. But Alice, his 16-year-old daughter, finds cold comfort in his positivity platitudes when he tragically never comes home one night. As she puzzles out the events of the day that changed her family forever, Alice’s relentless search for the facts reveals a more complicated truth. With big humor and bittersweet wit, this “luminous new musical…lush, poetic and surprisingly funny” (The San Diego Union-Tribune) explores how we move through and live with loss. Life After is “musical theater perfection…exquisite from start to finish” (BroadwayWorld) from “a startlingly talented emerging voice” (Toronto Star).
ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE
Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement.
Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.
Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.
As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Goodman Theatre’s Action Plan for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism and Access (IDEAA) was born out of the belief that progress means action, which includes building on the decades-long commitment to using art, assets and resources to contribute to a more just, equitable and anti-racist society.
Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.
Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Rebecca Gilman, Dael Orlandersmith, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Megan McCarthy Hayes is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.