“I don’t want you to lose, Not one bit,
But I am afraid of what happens when you win.”
– Nina

The Royale
October 22 – November 29, 2026

“Gutsy programming has made a return.”
–Chicago Tribune

Jay is a really good boxer, so good they call him “The Sport.” He’s won his last seventy-six fights and has his sights set on being crowned the next heavyweight champion. But it’s 1905, and in the Jim Crow era, a Black man doesn’t get to fight a reigning white champion.

When a surprising chance at the title appears, Jay gears up for the fight of his life—where the stakes are staggeringly high inside the ring and out. Inspired by real-world boxer Jack Johnson, this adrenaline rush of a play by Marco Ramirez (Orange is the New Black, Buena Vista Social Club) is a kinetic and poetic portrayal of what it takes and what it costs to make history.

“The music of the sweet science of boxing has seldom been played as resonantly as it is in Marco Ramirez’s absorbing drama.”
–The New York Times

Taking the Metra? Show your metra tickets to the Box Office and get a cash reimbursement of $10/rider!