Theatre News Wire

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, continues its 2021-2022 season with Fireflies by Donja R. Love, directed by Mikael Burke. Fireflies runs January 20, 2022 - February 20, 2022 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie. 

The Civil Rights Movement has ignited the South, and the charismatic Rev. Charles Grace needs a new speech to galvanize the people. But it is Olivia, his pregnant wife, who writes those fiery speeches, and her tolerance for playing the supporting role to her husband is wearing thin. As the growing weight of secrets threatens her marriage, and a nation's hatred threatens her child's future, Olivia must rediscover the place that love has in her world.

"Fireflies is part of a trilogy of plays that explores deeply and with nuance Blackness and Queerness during key moments of Black American history. In Fireflies, the playwright has focused his gaze on the overlooked role Black women played in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The central character of Olivia is comparable in some ways to Coretta Scott King, who in her way was overshadowed by the remarkable legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., but whose own powerful presence is still resonant today," comments Artistic Director BJ Jones. "Our director Mikael Burke brilliantly directed Love's Sugar in Our Wounds, the first piece in the trilogy, and when he told me his affinity for Fireflies I jumped at the chance to have his work on our stage here at Northlight."

The cast of Fireflies is Chanell Bell (Olivia) and Al'Jaleel McGhee (Charles).

The creative team is Scott Penner (Set Design), Gregory Graham (Costume Design), Eric Watkins (Lighting Design), Christie Chiles Twillie (Sound Design), and Bren Coombs (Props Design). The stage manager is Rita Vreeland.