Theatre News Wire

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, announced the 2025-2026 season. The season opens with James Sherman's new play The First Lady of Television, which was presented by Northlight as a public reading after workshops and rehearsals at the prestigious Colorado Springs New Play Festival. The season continues with the return of Kate Fry and Timothy Edward Kane together on the Northlight stage for the classic mystery Gaslight by Steven Dietz, based on the original play by Patrick Hamilton, directed by Jessica Thebus, who also directed Fry and Kane in the 2023 acclaimed hit production of Birthday Candles. Georgette Verdin will then direct Amy Herzog's play Mary Jane, which was named one of Broadway's Top Ten Plays of 2024 by both USA Today and Chicago Tribune. The final play in Northlight's current home will be The Angel Next Door by Paul Slade Smith and directed by Linda Fortunato in her first production at Northlight.

Northlight celebrates 50 years during the 2025-2026 season. Northlight's first season was produced in 1975-76, performed under the company's original name, Evanston Theatre Company. Productions were staged in the then-decommissioned Kingsley Elementary School Theater on Green Bay Road in Evanston, less than 2 miles from Northlight's future home at 1012 Church Street.

"Fifty years of making plays is a profound achievement for a theatre to celebrate. My first play here at Northlight was in 1977, at the beginning of the Chicago theatre movement. It was an electric time to start a theatre," comments Artistic Director BJ Jones. "As we launch our 50th season, we welcome the work of two local playwrights: a world premiere by James Sherman and a refreshed classic by Paul Slade Smith, as well as the return of Amy Herzog and her achingly beautiful work, and another of Steven Dietz's thoroughly entertaining mysteries. Not to mention the many gifted artists who will join us to celebrate our anniversary."

The 2025-2026 season includes:

The First Lady of Television

By James Sherman
Directed by BJ Jones
Featuring Cindy Gold as Gertrude Berg
September 4 - October 5, 2025

In 1950, Gertrude Berg was the popular creator and star of America's first family sit-com, The Goldbergs. When co-star Philip Loeb is accused of communism, Gertrude must make an enormous decision: fire him to keep the sponsors at bay or defend him and risk the show being canceled. In this new play based on the true story of a pioneering American entertainer, onstage comedy balances with the offstage intersection of art, religion, and politics that is shockingly relevant for today.

Gaslight

By Steven Dietz
based on the original play by Patrick Hamilton
Directed by Jessica Thebus
Featuring Kate Fry and Timothy Edward Kane
November 28 - December 28, 2025

In this turn-of-the-century Victorian mystery, strange things start to happen as the seemingly perfect marriage of Jack and Bella devolves into something sinister. Why is the attic door locked? Whose footsteps wander the halls at night? And is that light really flickering... or not? Bella's reality is twisted into an indistinguishable tangle of truth, manipulation, and her husband's intentions, where certainty is uncertain for characters and audience alike.

Mary Jane

by Amy Herzog
Directed by Georgette Verdin
January 22 - February 22, 2026

Mary Jane is a resilient young mother caring for her chronically sick child. Despite the mundane and sometimes unthinkable reality of his illness, she finds herself building a community of women from all walks of life. This intimate drama of profound ideas is a powerful and compassionate portrait of caregiving and the importance of ordinary human kindness.

The Angel Next Door

by Paul Slade Smith
Directed by Linda Fortunato
April 9 - May 10, 2026

Young author Oliver Adams is on the brink of success, with his novel set to be published and soon to be adapted for the Broadway stage! When he, the famed (and married) playwrights, and his longed-for leading lady all converge for a weekend at a Newport mansion, the housekeeper that would rather they all leave isn't the only thing that goes awry. In a romantic screwball comedy that hearkens back to days gone by, only the power of theatre can save the play, Oliver's novel, and his heart.