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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)