Jones to portray Justice Marshall

James Earl Jones will star in “Thurgood,” a one-man play at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut about Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Marshall, who died in 1993, successfully argued Brown vs. Board of Education, a decision that struck down school segregation in 1954, before serving on the nation’s highest court from 1967 to 1991.

“This is a tremendously accomplished actor who is right for the part and totally invested in it,” said George Stevens Jr., a multiple Emmy Award winner who wrote the play, which runs April 30 to May 14.

Organizers hope the play -- directed by Leonard Foglia -- makes it to Broadway.

The Westport playhouse reopened last year after an extensive renovation led by Joanne Woodward. She and husband Paul Newman live in Westport.