Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is a global theatrical force, known for vibrant productions that reflect Shakespeare's genius for intricate storytelling, musicality of language and depth of feeling for the human condition. As a leading international theater company, we are dedicated to producing extraordinary productions, unlocking Shakespeare's work for the next generation, and serving as Chicago's cultural ambassador through our World's Stage Series.

Founded in 1986, the Theater was established to serve the community with dynamic and accessible productions by William Shakespeare, breathing new life into timeless works that speak directly to modern audiences. CST's work has expanded over time to include family productions, musicals, new work, and visiting international productions that sit alongside plays from the canon to engage our audiences in a more complete theatrical offering. This evolution has been guided by the partnership of CST founder and Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, who brings her creative vision to our programming, and Executive Director Criss Henderson, who serves as CST's chief entrepreneur and producer. Their work together has propelled CST from an itinerant band of actors into an innovative and enterprising company that is an integral part of the region's cultural landscape.

Today, the Theater serves as the cultural anchor of historic Navy Pier on downtown Chicago's lakefront. Our annual producing season features as many as 15 plays and 600 performances. CST's current home contains two intimate theater spaces that are designed to accommodate a wide variety of staging needs and concepts. The 500-seat Courtyard Theater thrust stage is modeled loosely after the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, and the Upstairs Theater is a flexible black box studio that seats up to 200. As the scope of our season programming continues to grow, in the past year CST has also utilized facilities in partnership with the Chicago Park District, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Broadway in Chicago and The Hideout to accommodate our expanding production schedule, and our work has toured to New York, Australia, England, Germany and Scotland. With our large-scale productions, extended performance runs and year-round programming, CST provides more actor work-weeks than any other local nonprofit theater and last year employed more than 400 actors, directors, designers and professional artists.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater offers a broad spectrum of theatrical experiences year-round, engaging and entertaining audiences from all walks of life and from around the world. The plays of William Shakespeare form the core of our company's work and Subscription Series, featuring selections from Shakespeare’s 38-play canon complemented by other dramatic works—from traditional classical theater to new classics that resonate with Shakespeare’s timeless insights into the human condition.

As Chicago Shakespeare strives to share our uniquely American brand of Shakespeare with the world, so do we also strive to bring to Chicago some of the best theater the world has to offer. To our World’s Stage Series, we bring international theatrical productions to our city, presenting new cultural expressions and experiences for Chicago audiences and artists alike.

Chicago Shakespeare is committed to making theater an expansive, ever-changing and lifelong relationship. For our family audiences, CST Family presents abridged Shakespeare productions and classic musicals. Our education outreach program, Team Shakespeare, helps Shakespeare come alive for students and teachers in classrooms throughout the Midwest.

CST annually engages nearly 200,000 members of the Chicago metropolitan and surrounding areas with our acclaimed productions that reflect the diversity of our urban community. Audiences continue to show strong support for our work—CST's subscriber base of 16,000 patrons routinely outperforms the industry standard for year-to-year renewal rates, averaging more than 80% for the past ten seasons, and in total, CST productions exceeded 80% capacity last season. The Theater's nationally recognized education programs serve 40,000 students and teachers; our dedicated family programming engages 25,000 multigenerational audiences; our international programming an added 15,000 community members (of which 40% are new to CST); and our CST for $20 subsidized ticket program for theatergoers under 35 years of age reaches thousands of young professionals each season. One in four CST visitors is under the age of 18, an important step in nurturing a lifelong appreciation of the arts and ensuring future audiences for our nation's great cultural institutions.

Chicago Shakespeare's tradition of excellence has been recognized with a number of awards and honors, including the Regional Theater Tony Award, three Laurence Olivier Awards, and 70 total Joseph Jefferson Awards for our productions. Additionally, CST has elevated Chicago as a world-class destination for innovative theater by sending some of our best works abroad, including our Olivier Award-winning production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures; Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon; Funk It Up About Nothin', a CST-commissioned work by resident hip-hop artists The Q Brothers that garnered acclaim throughout the United Kingdom and Australia; and our recent participation in the 2012 London Cultural Olympiad where CST represented North America in the Globe to Globe Festival with the world premiere of the Q Brothers' latest adaptation, Othello: The Remix, which also traveled to festivals in Germany and Scotland in the summer of 2012. In addition to our significant artistic accomplishments, CST received the 2011 British Consul General Award for the Theater's leadership in furthering cultural exchange with the U.K.