Court Theatre
MISSION: Discovering the power of classic theatre.

VISION: To be the nationally celebrated professional center of excellence for classic theatre at the University of Chicago.

CHARLES NEWELL (Director/Artistic Director) has been Artistic Director of Court Theatre since 1994, where he has directed over 25 productions. He made his Chicago directorial debut in 1993 with The Triumph of Love, which won the Jefferson Award for Best Production. Directorial credits at Court include The Glass Menagerie, Man of La Mancha, The Importance of Being Earnest, Travesties, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Cyrano, Guys and Dolls, James Joyce's "The Dead", Hamlet, Piano, The Invention of Love, The Little Foxes, The Cherry Orchard, and Nora. Mr. Newell has also directed at the Guthrie Theatre (Resident Director: The History Cycle, Cymbeline), Arena Stage, John Houseman's The Acting Company (Staff Repertory Director), the California and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals, Juilliard, and New York University. He is the recipient of the 1992 TCG Alan Schneider Director Award and is a multiple Jeff Award recipient/nominee. He served on the Board of Directors of Theatre Communications Group, as well as on several panels for the National Endowment for the Arts. His opera directing credits include the Lyric Opera of Chicago with Marc Blitzstein’s Regina, and Rigoletto at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Mr. Newell recently returned from Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven where he directed the remount of Court's critically acclaimed production of Man of La Mancha.

DAWN HELSING (Executive Director) is in her second season as Court Theatre’s executive director. She comes to Chicago from Baltimore, where she served for four years as director of development for CENTERSTAGE, overseeing growth in all areas of the theater’s fundraising. While completing her master’s degree in theatre management at Yale School of Drama, Dawn served as associate managing director of Yale Repertory Theatre and managing director of Yale’s Summer Cabaret. She has held marketing and public relations positions at both Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and at CENTERSTAGE, and has served as a thesis reviewer for Goucher College’s graduate Arts Administration program.