A daring new “Man of La Mancha” leads a season of transformation, identity, and hope at Northwestern’s Wirtz Center

Evanston, Ill --- A timely retelling of a classic musical kicks off the Northwestern University Wirtz Center’s spring season Friday, April 25. Goodman Theatre resident director Henry Godinez’s re-imagined “Man of La Mancha” –– arguably one of the world’s most popular musicals –– is set in a detention center on the U.S.-Mexico border, where a growing group of migrants from across the world, being held and readied for deportation, is looking for safety and opportunity. 

The season also includes a world premiere of “Honeypot,” a play of personal stories of queer Black Southern women. Imagine U, Northwestern’s theater for young audiences, returns with a beloved children’s story “A Tale of Peter Rabbit,” but with a modern twist.  “As It Is In Heaven,” a play with music about a Shaker community navigating a rapidly changing world closes the season at the end of May.  

More information and single tickets are available on the Wirtz Center website. Tickets are available by phone at 847-491-7282 or in person at the Wirtz Center Box Office, located in the lobby of the Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive on Northwestern’s Evanston campus.   

Full mainstage winter season schedule below: 

April 25 – May 4
“Man of La Mancha” 
Written by Dale Wasserman 
Directed by Henry Godinez 
Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston 

“Man of La Mancha” is celebrating its 60th Anniversary. The original 1965 production won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ 17th-century masterwork “Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha” was originally set during the Spanish Inquisition when Cervantes is in prison awaiting trial.  In the re-imagined staging, Director Henry Godinez has Cervantes, and his fellow prisoners perform a play-within-a-play.  It tells the story of the elderly Alonso Quijana, who renames himself Don Quixote and goes on a quest to right all wrongs in the world. The score includes the iconic songs like “The Impossible Dream.”  

April 25 – May 11
Imagine U: “A Tale of Peter Rabbit”
By Trista Baldwin, adapted from the book by Beatrix Potter 
Directed by Tor Campbell
Mussetter-Struble Theater, 1949 Campus Drive, Evanston 

Award-winning writer Trista Baldwin gives Beatrix Potter’s timeless tale of Peter Rabbit a modern twist. What does it mean to be a good bunny? If everyone thinks you’re a bad bunny, can you ever be good? In this moving and adventurous re-imagining of Beatrix Potter’s classic tale, Peter Rabbit and his three sisters come together to tell a story of their very own. 

May 17 – June 1
“Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women” 
Book by E. Patrick Johnson 
Adapted for the stage by D. Soyini Madison 
Co-directed by Tim Rhoze and D. Soyini Madison
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre at Noyes Cultural Arts Center, . 927 Noyes St., Evanston  

Combining oral history with magical realism and poetry, “Honeypot” bears witness to the real-life stories of queer Black women throughout the American South. In this new adaptation for the stage of Johnson’s award-winning creative non-fiction book, women from all walks of life recount their experiences on topics ranging from coming out and falling in love to mother/daughter relationships, religion, sexuality, brutality, and political activism—richly and dynamically revealing the complexity of identity. This world premiere is produced in partnership with the City of Evanston’s Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre. 

May 23 – June 1
“As It Is In Heaven” 
By Arlene Hutton  
Music by Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill  
Directed by Francesca Patrón 
Josephine Louis Theater, 20 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston 

Based on true events in the history of the Shakers, the play explores the generational shifts that occur when a younger cohort comes in and begins to disrupt or change how things have been done. “’Tis a gift to be simple,” sing the Shakers of Pleasant Hill. But as the young women in the community claim new spiritual gifts, Sister Hannah and the other elders must judge whether these gifts are real or rebellious. Set during America’s surge of Utopian communities, the play wrestles with belief and doubt in a swiftly changing world.