The First Breeze of Summer

“Ron OJ Parson, the skilled director of this show and resident artist at Court, is the perfect partner for artistic director Charles Newell, a restless classical revisionist. Not only is Parson here energetically reviving a period drama that very few Chicagoans have seen before, but he embraces its florid, middle-brow, flashback-laced style, layering this unusual but provocative revival with lush music and filling the fake tree on Jack Magaw’s romantic setting with shimmers of sensual light.” -Chicago Tribune

“What knocks you out is the incredible chemistry. Director Ron OJ Parson guides a brilliantly charming ensemble through this time-traveling story with fluidity and a dazzling balance of dramatic tension and beguiling humor. The explosively hysterical “testifying in the living room” scene provides a showcase for these incredible actors. Jacqueline Williams’s peripheral reactions, to the music and testimony, alone make for sidesplitting laughs, and Ronald L. Conner’s “slayed in the spirit” breakdown is hilarious.” -Gay Chicago Magazine

Obie Award winner and Tony-nominated “Best Play,” Leslie Lee’s rarely seen drama reveals a turbulent time in three generations of an African-American family. One hot June weekend, the family matriarch reflects on the lessons of her own youth and the three lost love affairs that shaped her life and her family while the conflict between her two teenage grandsons and their father comes to a head.