Greta Oglesby. After a sold-out run of the Nat King Cole-themed "I Wish You Love," Penumbra Theatre hopes that patrons will come back not just for more. The theater also hopes that audiences will hop aboard for the rest of its season, starting with "Two Trains Running." The August Wilson, directed by theater founder Lou Bellamy, kicks off Penumbra's 35th anniversary season. It is set in the late 1960s as the civil rights struggles are coming to a head. No casting has been announced (Sep. 29-Oct. 30).

Bellamy, above, directs all the plays in the theater's 2011-2012 slate, announced Thursday. The line-up includes an encore performance of Dominic Taylor's "I Wish You Love," which stars Dennis Spears as pioneering entertainer Cole and which is now up at the Kennedy Center in Washington before going on to Hartford, Conn. (Nov. 18-Dec. 4). Kara Lee Corthron's "Julius by Design," whose world premiere was postponed from last season, will make its regional premiere. Developed at Penumbra and centering on forgiveness, "Julius" revolves around a mother who secretly communicates with the jailed killer of her son. (Feb. 9-March 4, 2012). Penumbra also will produce Pearl Cleage's "Bourbon at the Border," about the enduring nightmares that two civil rights workers face decades after fighting for freedom in Mississippi. (March 29-April 22, 2012). The theater's season concludes with Penumbra's production of James Baldwin's "The Amen Corner" at the Guthrie. That show, center on a pastor who reunites with her estranged husband, will star Greta Oglesby and will be backed by a gospel choir from Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church (May 11 – June 17, 2012). "Penumbra cultivates new work and new artists, even as we celebrate our past with giants like James Baldwin and August Wilson," said Bellamy. Season packages and single tickets for "I Wish You Love" are on sale, 651-224-3180 or www.penumbratheatre.org.