Meet the Cast of Big White Fog
Say hello to the Mason family! Meet the amazing cast bringing Theodore Ward’s South Side epic, Big White Fog, to life.
From top to bottom, left to right: Amir Abdullah, Ayanna Bria Bakari, Saran Bakari, Ronald L. Conner, Brandon Dahlquist, Lionel Gentle, Nathan Daniel Goldberg, Joshua L. Green, Sharriese Hamilton, Anthony Irons, Jada Jackson, Artem Kreimer, Alanna Lovely, John McBeth III, Patrick Newson Jr., Greta Oglesby, and Michael B. Woods.
Theodore Ward’s Big White Fog is the big shoulders on which A Raisin in the Sun stands. First completed in 1938, funded by the Federal Theatre Project, and influenced by the South Side Writers Group that cultivated such iconic talents as Richard Wright and Margaret Walker, Big White Fog drove American realism forward by contending with discontent.
The United States is on the cusp of the Great Depression and, like many, the Mason family is struggling. Between the precarious economy and racial violence on Chicago’s segregated South Side, something’s got to give. As different generations strive to secure the Mason family’s future, catastrophic decisions are made, leading to a heartbreaking twist and a blistering condemnation of America’s Big White Fog.
Resident Artist and the nation’s preeminent director of August Wilson Ron OJ Parson (East Texas Hot Links) opens the 2025/26 season with this rich portrayal of Black life on Chicago’s South Side.
“Big White Fog is a distinctly American story, and it’s a story I can’t wait to tell,” shares Parson. “Set just over one hundred years ago on the South Side of Chicago, just a few blocks from Court Theatre, this play shines a light on a past that has made us who we are today. To do this play about the South Side, on the South Side feels like a full-circle moment. These are the kinds of plays that fulfill you as an artist, and I have no doubt this will be part of Court’s lasting legacy.”
Big White Fog runs from September 12 – October 12. Tickets are available now, and can be purchased online or by calling the Box Office at (773) 753-4472.
Can’t wait to see this production which in my mind is a prequel, of sorts era wise, to ” A Raisin in the Sun.