Director Kirsten Kelly (center) with CPS Shakespeare! students photo by Liz Lauren

Chicago Shakespeare Theater was selected as the 2012 recipient of the Shakespeare Steward Award, bestowed by the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. CST’s Education Department was recognized for its innovative teaching of Shakespeare in American classrooms and service as a partner to Chicago Public Schools for more than two decades. CST is the first arts organization to be a recipient of this prestigious national award. On November 2, the Folger’s Director of Education Robert Young presented the award, which was accepted by Chicago Shakespeare’s Director of Education Marilyn Halperin and CPS Department of Arts Education Director Mario Rossero. The premiere of CPS Shakespeare! Hamlet on the Courtyard Theater stage—featuring an ensemble of twenty-eight CPS high school students and teachers—immediately followed the presentation.

Over the past twenty years, CST’s nationally recognized education programs have lifted Shakespeare’s text off the page for more than one million students. 40,000 students annually experience world-class performances of Shakespeare at CST and on tour throughout the Midwest. As a seminal partner to nearly 100 Chicago Public Schools, we have developed innovative theatrical tools to directly combat declining literacy rates and improve student achievement. During the academic year CST helps more than 1,000 educators enrich their classroom practice through live performance, study guides and free professional development workshops. As Chicago’s home for Shakespeare, we are proud to introduce thousands of Chicagoans of all ages and cultures to the transformative nature of theater each year—on Navy Pier, in Chicago’s schools and throughout the community.

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