Join us Sunday, April 8 for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner the fourth play in our seven-play Chicago theater trip series. It will be staged in the acclaimed Court Theatre on the University of Chicago Campus.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
By Ted Kreidler
Based upon the screenplay, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Directed by Marti Lyons
With Associate Director Wardell Julius Clark
“. . . [the 1967 film] literally brought the issue of race into the home, both in the storytelling and thematically. Approaching it today I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about and engage in the attitudes of 1967, but in a way that was for the 21st Century.”
-Playwright Todd Kreidler
Matt and Christina Drayton live a modern, white upper-class life in 1960s San Francisco, but their comfortable life is muddled when daughter Joey returns home with John Prentice, a black physician whom she has known for ten days and intends to marry. Suddenly, their longtime progressive values are challenged; Matt and Christina find themselves facing difficult personal questions about the future of their daughter and their family. And unfortunately for the Draytons, Joey and John aren’t their only surprise guests coming to dinner.
Playwright Todd Kreidler has crafted a startlingly relevant look at the thought-provoking classic film that confronted race relations in 1967 America. Acclaimed Chicago director Marti Lyons makes her Court Theatre debut and Wardell Julius Clark joins the artistic team as Associate Director.
Estimated Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes (including 15-minute intermission)
Learn more by visiting the Court Theatre’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner webpage regarding the artists, cast, playwright interview, and all the latest news as opening day (March 15) draws near.
About the Court Theatre
Court Theatre is the professional theatre of the University of Chicago, dedicated to innovation, inquiry, intellectual engagement, and community service. Functioning as the University’s Center for Classic Theatre, Court and its artists mount theatrical productions and audience enrichment programs in collaboration with faculty. These collaborations enable a re-examination of classic texts that pose the enduring and provocative questions that define the human experience.
Court Theatre endeavors to make a lasting contribution to classic American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. Our theatre revives lost masterpieces; illuminates familiar texts; explores the African American theatrical canon; and discovers fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences.
COURT IS THE CENTER FOR CLASSIC THEATRE
Now in its 63rd Season, Court Theatre was founded in 1955 as an amateur outdoor summer theatre at the University of Chicago. In 1971, classics professor Nicholas Rudall assumed the role of director and conceived Court’s tradition of translating and adapting classic texts for contemporary audiences; the theatre was then established as a professional company with Actors’ Equity Association in 1975. In 1981, Court built its current home, the intimate, 251-seat Abelson Auditorium, and in 1983 the theatre incorporated as an independent nonprofit organization. Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, (named “one of the city’s most significant artistic assets” by the Chicago Tribune) have led Court since 1994, and Executive Director Stephen J. Albert joined the theatre in 2010.
In 2013, Court established the Center for Classic Theatre at the University of Chicago to deeply explore what it means for a professional theatre to be in residence at a major university. Court is dedicated to the curation of large-scale, interdisciplinary theatrical
experiences that fully access the amazing intellectual resources that surround the theatre at the University of Chicago.
What does the Center for Classic Theatre mean for Court Theatre audiences? Great productions that are informed by the richness of a great university. More world premiere translations and adaptations like Invisible Man, Native Son, and The Good Book reflect a theatre vigorously embedded in the fabric of the community. And above all, it means ambitious, exciting theatrical events.
Please Note: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner theater trip bus is shared with PLATO members and guests participating in the Pullman Historic District Field Trip. Each trip is allotted 28 seats. (If demand warrants, we may add a second bus.)
Lunch is on Your Own (Two Options)
Nella Pizza e Pasta (Easy Walk to the Smart Museum of Art and Court Theatre)
or
53rd Street Restaurant Cluster (bus drop off and pick up to 14 Restaurants)
Smart Museum of Art 
Itinerary
Bear in mind that our boarding bus route is like Madison Metro or any other municipal bus service. Please arrive early at your boarding stop so you don’t miss the bus. When everyone is aboard and seated, we leave. Arrive early and we will all arrive in Chicago on time to begin our adventure.
– Don’t be late. We can wait just 5 minutes at any one location.
– Pack water bottles and snacks for sustenance on the trip.
Leave Madison
7:30 AM Bus arrives at Oakwood University Woods to begin boarding.
7:55 AM Arrive at Capitol Lakes
8:10 AM Arrive at East Towne Sears
8:20 AM Depart for Chicago (Or, sooner if everyone is aboard)
Chicago Schedule
11:20 AM Arrive 53rd Street Restaurant Cluster
11:35 AM Arrive Nella Pizza e Pasta
12:50 PM Bus pick up at 53rd Street Restaurant Cluster
12:50 PM – 2:00 PM Explore Smart Art Museum and visit Miriam’s Cafe
1:00 PM Bus pick up at Nella Pizza e Pasta and depart for Pullman
2:00 PM Court Theatre doors open
2:30 PM Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner performance begins
5:00 PM Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Performance ends and boarding begins
Madison Return Schedule (Estimated)
8:00 PM East Towne Sears
8:20 PM Capitol Lakes
8:40 PM Oakwood University Woods
Non-Member Policy. Members must register their guests. Each PLATO member is
entitled to bring one non-member guest per bus trip.
Non-member guests pay an additional $15.00 registration fee. PLATO Membership is
$60.00/year.
Members may bring more than one guest if seats are available. Check with trip organizer near the registration deadline date.
Accessibility Policy. On the Badger Bus, you must be able to climb steps to board and exit the bus. If you need assistance, we recommend that you bring a friend to give you a hand.
In the Court Theatre, there is step-down handrail support at each row.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: PLATO Mail-in Registration Form (including instructions)
For further information: Contact Guess Who's Coming to Dinner theater trip organizer, Bob Blitzke,bblitzke@gmail.com and 608-271-7741
