New Canon Cultivation

At Court, our job isn’t just to reimagine the classics of the past; it’s to create the classics of the future. We’re building a new kind of canon.

We are committed to developing and supporting adaptations, translations, commissions, and original works—and we always have been. Through this initiative, we’ve staged incredible stories like Native Son (2014), Man in the Ring (2016), The Adventures of Augie March (2019), Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution (2024), Berlin (2025), and more.

We create this work in residence at the University of Chicago—where we are embedded in a community of intellectual inquiry, dramaturgical rigor, and world-class research—alongside the artists who entrust us with their stories. Now, we want to invite you into our process and share what we’ve been working on.

Learn more about projects that are currently in development, and check this page for updates, blog posts, photos, and more. If you would like to submit a script to be considered for our New Canon Cultivation initiative, please visit this page.

Current and Ongoing Projects

• Out Here: The first world premiere musical in our history, this production is a celebratory look at a family reconfiguring itself and rediscovering joy. Part of the 2025/26 season.
• blk eurydice: Would we rather get one lifetime to grow old together, or spend eternity apart but never grow old? A musical exploration of the Orepheus and Eurydice myth birthed from the streets, sounds, and people of New Orleans. Featuring music by Gladney, written by Kristiana Rae Colón. 

Playwright Residency

Court Theatre’s New Canon Cultivation Playwright Residency serves as an opportunity to amplify existing work from an important living playwright and to connect them with ongoing conversations happening on the South Side of Chicago and at the University of Chicago.

Our New Canon Cultivation Playwright Residency began with Stacey Rose, whose time with us culminated in a reading of her play Legacy Land. The next residency, in summer 2025, featured Jenny Connell Davis, who developed a new work, ERASERS: A BLOODTHIRSTY OFFICE COMEDY, that continues to grow in development today.

Photo by Joe Mazza.