Court Theatre swept at the recent 2025 Equity Jeff Awards, an annual recognition of Chicago’s acclaimed theater community.
The spotlight was a big moment for the theater—as well as for a course of University of Chicago students who had gotten a front-row look at the making of Court’s production of Berlin. Playwright Mickle Maher’s world-premiere adaptation of the graphic novel by Jason Lutes was a star at the Jeff Awards, winning Best Production, Best Ensemble, Best Direction and Best New Work.
Angel Ysaguirre, the theater’s executive director, said Court was nominated for 21 awards—its best run ever—with each production from last year’s season tapped for either Best Play or Best Musical. Court, the professional theater in residence at UChicago, won a total of nine awards.
“On behalf of senior artistic producer Gabrielle Randle-Bent, senior managing producer Heidi Thompson Saunders and the Court Theatre staff, artists, Board and community, I am thrilled to share that the 2024/25 season was the most successful in our 70-year history,” Ysaguirre said.
“This recognition proves the enduring relevance of classic theatre and demonstrates that our audiences are hungry for the connection, intimacy and urgency inspired by live performance.”
In addition to the awards for Berlin, Court performers Stephen Schellhardt and AnJi White won respectively for their roles in the productions Falsettos and East Texas Hot Links. In the short run category, Timothy Edward Kane won for Best Performance and Charles Newell for Best Direction for An Iliad.
In the run-up to Berlin’s rehearsal and production process, the Division of the Arts & Humanities’ “Adaptation Laboratory” course gave students a rare opportunity to experience professional artistry up close.
The course, which was taught by professors Maher and David Levin, invited students to step directly into the creative process behind the show.
Maher, who wrote the script for Berlin, is a renowned experimental playwright who teaches in theater and performance studies.
Levin, the Alice H. and Stanley G. Harris Jr. Distinguished Service Professor across Germanic studies, cinema and media studies, and theater and performance studies, served as Berlin’s development and production dramaturg.
The course was supported by the Center for Disciplinary Innovation at the Franke Institute for the Humanities, which sponsors team-taught, interdisciplinary courses.
Over nine weeks during Winter Quarter, students collaborated with the production’s core creative team. This included John Culbert in scenic design; Julia Rhoads in movement direction; Jacqueline Firkins in costume design; and Mark Messing in sound design and composition.
Charles Newell, who directed Berlin, also attended several class sessions, working with students to explore ideas for staging Maher’s script.
“This class was an exciting opportunity to get to know the creative team behind Berlin,” said College philosophy student Billy Johnson. “For the final, I made a cardboard model for my idea for the set—it was probably the most fun and fulfilling project I’ve done.”
Other students echoed his enthusiasm.
“The class helped me understand how theater professionals adapt text into art for the stage,” said Raquel Buriani, a BA/MA student who studies psychology and cinema and media studies. “The weekly guests made it especially engaging.”
The Center for Disciplinary Innovation is an initiative of the Arts & Humanities Division, one of many that bridge scholarship and practice through team-taught, interdisciplinary courses.
Levin said the initiative “enabled us to develop Berlin in dialogue with UChicago students.”
“This teaching opportunity was totally transformational for Mickle and me, and enormously impactful for the Court production,” he said.
