Court Theatre’s Spotlight Reading series celebrates its 10th anniversary from August 7–22, 2026, with A Century of Black Progress, a festival exploring the past, present, and future of Black storytelling through the lens of Chicago's cultural ecosystem.
Get an up-close look at the inspiration, process, and creators behind one of Court's most popular programs in the Spotlight Reading Series companion podcast, Spotlight Turns Ten.
In the series finale, Court’s executive leadership, Avery Willis Hoffman (Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director) and Angel Ysaguirre (Executive Director), discuss the upcoming 2026/27 season and hopes for the future with Kamilah Rashied (Director of Engagement, Court Theatre).
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
28 Sept 2026
Planting Seeds: A Funders Round Table
A high-level discussion between Kamilah Rashied (Director of Engagement, Court Theatre) and Angelique Power (President and CEO, The Skillman Foundation) about sustainability and what’s required to keep the Spotlight Reading Series thriving.
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
21 Sept 2026
Chicago Critics Circle II: Claiming Space and Being in Public
In response to the Spotlight festival’s 2026 theme, A Century of Black Life, Arts + Public Life (APL) co-presents two Chicago Critics Circles, a series of live, facilitated roundtable conversations that are an extension of APL’s ongoing Chicago Critics Table project. In this discussion, panelists who create and sustain Black placemaking in Chicago explore the politics of taking up space. Featuring jada-amina, Tara Betts, Tempestt Hazel, Adam McMath, and Regina Victor.
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
14 Sept 2026
Chicago Critics Circle I: Black Authorship: Writing Our Worlds
In response to the Spotlight festival’s 2026 theme, A Century of Black Progress, the University of Chicago's Arts + Public Life (APL) program co-presents two Chicago Critics Circles, a series of live, facilitated roundtable conversations that are an extension of APL’s ongoing Chicago Critics Table project. In this discussion, panelists from across Chicago’s Black publishing landscape discuss Black authorship. Featuring Candace Hunter, Adrienne Brown, Camille Bacon, Britt Julious, and Donna Rose Weems.
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
7 Sept 2026
Black Futures: Placemaking and Keeping
A conversation between Tyrone Phillips (founding Artistic Director, Definition Theatre), Tina Fakhrid-Deen (playwright), Jarrett King (Director of Education, Court Theatre), Kamilah Rashied (Director of Engagement, Court Theatre) about Definition’s Amplify New Play Festival and their upcoming collaboration with Court Theatre as part of the Spotlight 2026 festivities.
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
31 Aug 2026
Passing the Mantle
Aaron Mays (playwright, director, Spotlight co-founder, and former Court Theatre Community Programs Manager) and Kamilah Rashied (creative producer of the Spotlight Reading Series and Director of Engagement at Court Theatre) discuss the Spotlight Reading Series's evolution.
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
24 Aug 2026
Sankofa as Praxis
A dialogue between Richard Wesley (playwright) and Pemon Rami (director) on the evolution of Black drama and the Chicago cultural ecosystem from the Black Arts Movement to the present moment, moderated by Aaron Mays (playwright and director).
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
17 Aug 2026
Speak the Speech: An Actor Prepares
In this episode, actor Shariba Rivers and actor and director Michael Aaron Pogue, both previous contributors to the Spotlight Reading Series in leading and supporting roles, speak with Aaron Mays (playwright and director) about actors' contributions to the Spotlight Reading Series.
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
10 Aug 2026
Stewarding the Text: A Director's Round Table
Ron OJ Parson (Resident Artist, Court Theatre) discusses the unique craft of the "staged reading" and the responsibility inherent in directing Black classics with four Chicago directors—Aaron Mays, Malkia Stampley, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, and Charles Andrew Gardner.
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
3 Aug 2026
In the Beginning: Spotlight's Origin
A deep dive into how the Spotlight Reading Series began. Featuring Aaron Mays (playwright, director, and Spotlight co-founder) and Kamilah Rashied (Director of Engagement, Court Theatre).
Spotlight Turns 10 is a production of Court Theatre
Hosts: Aaron Mays and Kamilah Rashied
Producer: Tribble, Ask Tribble Inc.
Creative Consultants: Damon A. Williams and Daniel Kisslinger, Respair Media
Line Producer: Kelcie Beene
Sound Engineer: Jimmy Bonks Buonforte
Music: Roy Kinsey - BLACK ft. Ifeanyi Elswith, from the album Dandelions: Gods Don't Cry
Special Thanks: Josh McCammon (Technical Director of Audio and Video, Court Theatre), Camille Oswald (Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation, Court Theatre)
10 Mar 2021
The Investigator: Ida B. Wells
Renowned journalist and activist Ida B. Wells led an anti-lynching crusade to protect Black lives in the South, despite facing death threats. Actors Aneisa Hicks and Sheldon Brown read an excerpt from “Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases.” Directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce.
3 Mar 2021
The Afro-Futurist: Pauline Hopkins
Pauline Hopkins is thought to be the first Black woman to pen a sci-fi novel. Actor LaQuis Harkins reads chapter four of the novel “Of One Blood.” Directed by Ron OJ Parson.
24 Feb 2021
The Poet: Phillis Wheatley
Poetess Phillis Wheatley is one of the earliest known writers in African American literature. Actor Diana Coates reads six of her poems: “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” “On Virtue,” “To the Honourable T.H. Esq; On the Death of His Daughter,” “On Imagination,” “To S.M. a Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works” and “An Hymn to the Morning.” Read by Diana Coates. Directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce.
17 Feb 2021
The Diarist: Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson
Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson was one of the few Black women diarists of the early 20th century. She also worked as an educator for most of her life. Actor Kierra Bunch reads three selections from her first book “Violets and Other Tales”: “Three Thoughts,” “The Woman,” “Paul to Virginia.” Directed by Ron OJ Parson.
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