Her Honor Jane Byrne
By J. Nicole Brooks
Originally produced at Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago, IL
February 26 - April 12, 2020
About the Premiere Production:
Synopsis:
It is March 1981. The first female Mayor of Chicago, Jane Byrne, is fed up with gun violence in Cabrini-Green, one of the nation’s most notorious housing projects. She does what no mayor would dare to do: she moves into Cabrini-Green for three weeks with her husband, journalist Jay McMullen. Met with intense skepticism from the media as well as activists like Marion Stamps, a prominent community member who later helps elect Chicago’s first Black Mayor, Harold Washington, Byrne’s gesture became one of Chicago’s biggest political controversies. Her Honor Jane Byrne is a creative and historical play exploring the inner minds of these larger-than-life figures who, despite the radical differences of their world-views, struggle to find a unified path towards social justice.
Director: J. Nicole Brooks
Additional Funders: National Endowment for the Arts