Chicago actor Ernest Perry, Jr. will spend the winter on the road in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” the August Wilson play set in a 1920s Chicago recording studio. As directed by another local artist, Ron OJ Parson, the show is a co-production between the Actors Theatre of Louisville (where it will play in January and February) and the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre (where it will play in March).

Also on the move is Steppenwolf Ensemble member Yasen Peyankov returns in December to his native Bulgaria to direct a play at Bulgaria’s National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia, where he trained as an actor before coming to the USA 20 years ago. He’ll be back in time to perform at Steppenwolf in “The Hot L Baltimore” (March 24-May 29). Peyankov also is Director of Theatre Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Ryun Yu will make his Chicago debut in Jeanne Sakata’s “Dawn’s Light: the Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi,” the true story of a Japanese-American who sued the U.S. government in 1942 rather than accept internment. Yu starred in the world premiere of the one-man show at East-West Players (Los Angeles) in 2007-2008. “Dawn’s Light” will be presented  by Silk Road Theatre Project as part of the In the Works series at Jay Pritzker Pavilion (indoors), Jan. 13-15. Yu is a familiar TV face from guest starring roles on “Bones,” “Medium,” “Good Luck Charlie” and other shows.