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Artistic Team

Director
Scenic Design
Costume Design
Lighting Design
Music Consultant
Dramaturg
Movement Consultant
Production Stage Manager
Stage Manager
Assistant Director

Photo of Ron OJ Parson

RON OJ PARSON is the cofounder and former Artistic Director of the Onyx Theatre Ensemble of Chicago, and he is currently the Resident Artist at Court Theatre. He has worked with such Chicago theatres as Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Northlight Theatre, Black Ensemble Theatre, eta Creative Arts Foundation, Chicago Theatre Company, Eclipse Theatre Company, Congo Square Theatre Company, City Lit Theater Company, Urban Theater Company, Writers’ Theatre, and a variety of arts in education programs. Regionally, Ron has directed at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Portland Stage Company, Virginia Stage Company, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Madison Repertory Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Signature Theatre Company in New York City, Centerstage in Baltimore, and the world premiere of Palmer Park at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, Canada. Most recently, he directed August Wilson’s Two Trains Running at Geva Theatre in Rochester, New York. For Court Theatre, Ron has directed Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson and Fences, The First Breeze of Summer, Wait Until Dark, Flyin’ West, and last year’s season finale Sizwe Banzi is Dead.  Ron also recently directed The Old Settler at Writers’ Theatre. Ron will be remounting his production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Actors Theatre of Louisville and Milwaukee Rep this season. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and SDC, the stage directors’ union.

 

JACK MAGAW lives in Chicago and teaches design at both DePaul and Northwestern Universities. He most recently designed Sizwe Banzi is Dead for Court Theatre. Other recent Chicago and regional theatre credits include A Life and Lowdown Dirty Blues (Northlight Theatre), Heroes (Peninsula Players Theatre), The Mystery of Irma Vep (Court Theatre), Funny Girl (Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre), Mauritius (TheatreSquared), She Loves Me, The Old Settler, and Picnic (Writers’ Theatre), All My Sons (TimeLine Theatre), Evie’s Waltz (Geva Theatre), This Wonderful Life (Indiana Repertory Theatre), Radio Golf (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Winesburg, Ohio and A Flea in Her Ear (Kansas City Repertory), Four Places (Victory Gardens Theater), and Love’s Labour’s Lost (Clarence Brown Theatre). He received Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for Picnic and Bus Stop (Writers’ Theatre), Fences (Court Theatre), and Seven Guitars (Congo Square Theatre). Upcoming projects include Madagascar (Next Theatre) and Eclipsed (Northlight Theatre).

RACHEL LARITZ is honored to be joining Court for her second time, after designing Wait Until Dark. Regional credits: Milwaukee Rep, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Northlight Theatre, Pearl Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre, Peninsula Players Theatre, Route 66, TimeLine Theatre, Next Act, Renaissance Theatreworks, Chamber Theatre, Skylight Opera, and the University of Michigan. Other professional credits: NBC’s Law & Order, American Players Theatre, Chicago Opera Theatre, Garsington Opera (London), and Spoleto Festival USA. Rachel is a recipient of a 2009 Joseph Jefferson Award.

HEATHER GILBERT previously designed The Comedy of Errors, The Mystery of Irma Vep, and What the Butler Saw for Sean Graney at Court Theatre. Recent designs include A Streetcar Named Desire and The Old Settler at Writers’ Theatre, Our Town at the Barrow Street Theatre in New York and with the Hypocrites in Chicago, and The Hundred Dresses with Chicago Children’s Theatre. Her work as a lighting designer has been seen on many other Chicago stages including Steppenwolf Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre, Timeline Theatre, About Face Theatre, and countless storefronts all over the city. Heather was a recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Grant. Heather serves as the Head of Lighting Design at Columbia College Chicago, and received her MFA at the Theatre School at DePaul.

KATHRYN BOSTIC has composed music for numerous plays, films, and concerts. She is a recipient of a Sundance Fellowship for Filmscoring and a Project Involve Fellowship from Film Independent. She collaborated with award-winning playwright August Wilson, composing the music for productions of Radio Golf and for the Broadway production of Gem of the Ocean. Her recent work with award-winning director Moises Kaufman and Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph on the critically acclaimed Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo received rave reviews at the Mark Taper Forum. Other theater credits include Eclipsed (The Kirk Douglas Theatre), Death and the Kings Horseman (Syracuse Stage), Harlem (Kennedy Center), Little Women (Cornell University’s Schwartz Theatre), The Ballad of Emmett Till (Goodman Theatre), Emergency (Geffen Playhouse), Of Equal Measure (Kirk Douglas Theatre), Home (Signature Theatre), and In the Continuum (Santa Barbara Ensemble Theatre). As a vocalist and pianist Kathryn has performed in various clubs and festivals including London’s Ronnie Scott’s, The Blue Note (Tokyo and Osaka), The Hague, The Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Birdland (New York), and Catalina’s (Los Angeles). She has also toured and/or recorded with a variety of artists including k.d. Lang, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and John Hiatt. She is currently working on her own CD.

 

MARTINE KEI GREEN is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Theatre and Drama at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her BA in Theatre from Virginia Wesleyan College and her MA in Theatre History and Criticism from The Catholic University of America. Her recent dramaturgical credits include: the Classical Theatre Company’s productions of Ghosts, Tartuffe, and Antigone, CATCO’s The Clean House, Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Fences, and Madison Repertory Theatre’s New Play Festival’s productions of 10 Perfect and The Curious Walk of the Salamander.

 

Photo of Cristin Carole

 

CRISTIN CAROLE, a native Chicagoan and classically trained dancer, has performed professionally at Mo Ming, Links Hall, the Athenaeum Theatre, Mandel Hall, the Auditorium Theatre and with Lyric Opera. She has also choreographed for various organizations and venues in Chicago and the Bahamas including their National Dance Company. After several years working as a Dance Educator, in both public and private schools, Cristin became interested in the possibilities of arts integration in education and earned a Master of Arts degree in Teaching from Columbia College. As an Arts Integration Specialist, Cristin has been a faculty member of the City Colleges of Chicago, The College of the Bahamas, and is presently faculty of Columbia College Chicago’s Graduate Program in Arts Education. In 2005, Cristin joined the Education and Community Engagement staff of the Joffrey Ballet as a Teaching Artist and Curriculum Development Consultant. In addition to her work with the Joffrey, Cristin recently founded A.S.H.E. (Art Supports Holistic Education) which provides consulting services for granting institutions, schools, and teaching artists interested in Arts Education. In her spare time, Cristin shares her love of theater arts with children through productions at the Dusable Museum by The People’s Jazz Theatre and The Children’s Theatre Center of Milwaukee.


 

Photo of Sara Gammage

SARA GAMMAGE is delighted to return to Court Theatre. Previous Court Theatre credits include Flyin’ West, What the Butler Saw, The First Breeze of Summer, Wait Until Dark, The Mystery of Irma Vep, The Illusion, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, Home, Orlando, Porgy and Bess, Spunk, and An Iliad. Other Chicago credits include productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Greenhouse Theater, Theatre at the Center, Marriot Theatre, Apple Tree Theatre, and Redmoon Theater. She spent several seasons at Peninsula Players Theatre in Door Country, WI; credits there include A Little Night Music, Comic Potential, Wait Until Dark, Is He Dead?, Rumors, and The Lady’s Not for Burning. Sara is a proud graduate of Northwestern University.

Photo of William Collins

WILLIAM COLLINS is in his seventh season at Court Theatre.  Past shows include: An Iliad, Three Tall Women, The Comedy of Errors, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Illusion, Thyestes, Arcadia, Uncle Vanya, Carousel, and most recently, Porgy and Bess.  William has also worked with Redmoon Theater (Sink. Sank. Sunk …, The Cabinet), Peninsula Players Theatre, About Face Theatre, The Neofuturists, Goodman Theatre, and Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre.

CRYSTAL BARNES is delighted to be working with Ron OJ Parson on this production of Home. Crystal is a 15-year veteran as director, producer, and actor of both stage and film. Credits include The Missing Smile, Elevate, and The Dark. Crystal would like to thank her family and friends for their continued support.