(top, l to r) Londen Shannon and Michael Turrentine with (bottom, l to r) Ashley Crowe, Renee Lockett, and Grainne Ortlieb.

First Floor Theater has announced casting for its Chicago premiere of the award-winning “Sugar in Our Wounds,” part of playwright Donja R. Love’s trilogy of black love at pivotal moments in history, Directed by Company Member Mikael Burke.

On a plantation during the Civil War, a mystical tree stretches toward heaven. It protects James, a young slave, while he reads newspapers about the imminent possibility of freedom. When a stranger arrives, an unexpected bond leads to a striking romance.

The cast includes Ashley Crowe, Renee Lockett, Grainne Ortlieb, Londen Shannon and Michael Turrentine.The production team includes Joy Ahn (scenic design), Madeleine Rose Byrne (costume design), Eric Watkins (lighting design), Sam Clapp (sound design), Sana Selemon (dialect coach), Ian Maryfield (violence and intimacy design), Caitlin McCarthy and Cole von Glahn (co-production management), Emma Franklin (stage manager) and Julia Toney (assistant stage manager).

Launching First Floor Theater’s eighth season, Sugar in Our Wounds” will play October 19 – November 23 at their resident home, The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently on sale at firstfloortheater.com.