Public Programs

Complementing the new musical Out Here, we’re presenting a suite of public programs exploring the play, its themes, and its modern relevance. These programs will span the run of this production, providing ample opportunities for engagement.

All events in the series are free and open to the public.

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Film Screening: Female Gays

An Evening of Lesbian Cinema, Presented by Jane Keranen
Friday, April 3, 2026 I 7:00pm

In the screening series Female Gays: Liberation Through Lesbian Misadventure, Jane Keranen curates an evening of lesbian cinema presented in partnership with the University of Chicago Film Studies Center.

Liberation manifests in myriad and often unexpected forms. In the three accompanying confessional lesbian shorts (Sadie Benning’s Me and Rubyfruit, Cheryl Dunye’s Greetings From Africa, and Jenni Olson’s Blue Diary), we witness the ways in which everyday acts of affection, desire, and confrontation renegotiate and redefine methods of queer liberation.

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Agora Series: We Are Still Becoming

Part I: Stories of Family, Change, and Queer Lives
Saturday, April 25, 2026 I 4:30pm

Join Court Theatre for the next installment of the Agora Series, We Are Still Becoming: Stories of Family, Change, and Queer Lives, a two-part conversation series presented in partnership with the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project. The first installment is a post-show panel discussion following a performance of Out Here, in which LGBTQ+ Dialogue Project Alumni Casey Wheeler and Georgia Lacy share lived experiences in response to the production.

Reservations for the post-show panel discussion are not required. Attendance at Out Here is encouraged, but not required.

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Part II: Diana Solís and Patric McCoy in Conversation 
Sunday, May 3, 2026 I 12:00pm

The second installment of the Agora Series, presented in partnership with the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project, will feature photographers Diana Solís and Patric McCoy as they discuss their shared practice of documenting queer life in Chicago. Both artists are currently featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art’s City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago, an intergenerational exhibition highlighting the city’s essential, yet often underacknowledged, role in queer history.

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Community Reads Series

Community Reads Book Club
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 I 5:30pm

Join us and Lead Facilitator Adia Sykes for the next iteration of the Community Reads Book Club, featuring Queer Legacies: Stories from Chicago’s LGBTQ Archives, a selection inspired by Out Here. Join this intimate study group for a guided exploration of the text and facilitated discussion.

Community Reads Conversation
Saturday, May 2, 2026 I 4:30pm

The Community Reads Series will culminate in a post-show conversation exploring the creative journey of Out Here. Lead Facilitator Adia Sykes will be joined by the show’s bookwriter and co-lyricist, Leslie Buxbaum, a director and writer known for her expertise in ensemble-driven and physical theatre. Together, they will discuss the process of adapting a real-life coming-out story into a new musical for the stage.

Reservations for the post-show conversation are not required. Attendance at Out Here is encouraged, but not required.

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Header image credit: zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal, “the traditional salutatory of lovers”, Manonia and Donna. 2min, 13sec. Looped. Appropriated photographic image, digital video. single channel. 2024.