Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces
Community Programming in Partnership
North Lawndale’s Theatre Y performs Little Carl Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare May 27–28, 2023
A.B.L.E returns to Chicago Shakespeare’s stage with A Midsummer Night’s Dream June 10–11, 2023
Plus more events across the city this spring and summer
Chicago—April 19, 2023—Chicago Shakespeare Theater has long fostered creative engagement across the city, beyond its home on Navy Pier, and offers a variety of opportunities to connect this spring and summer. Rooted in collaboration with arts partners and community-based organizations, these ongoing initiatives include three pillars of engagement: cornerstone program Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks, now in its twelfth year, with Summer 2023 details to be announced next month; co-created workshops and events with arts partners and community-based organizations; and opportunities for partner arts organizations to share Chicago Shakespeare’s stages.
Last weekend, on April 15, the Theater partnered with Bethel New Life and Move Me Soul for an Austin Community Conversation: The ART of Healing Trauma. This free co-created workshop explored how the arts can play a role in wellness and healing—both individually and collectively—following a traumatic event or experience. In community at Bethel New Life Center in Amberg Hall, attendees of all ages shared refreshments, engaged in a circle conversation, and participated in a breathing and movement practice.
On April 23, the Theater will premiere TO BE, a streaming event celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday featuring performances by past Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks arts partners: Jose “iasEL” Gonzalez, a spoken word artist, and Yin He Dance, a dance company rooted in Chicago's Chinese American community.
Next month, Chicago Shakespeare partners with Theatre Y of North Lawndale to present Little Carl, an original work of puppet theater developed in partnership with youth from Chicago’s West Side, North Lawndale local Marvin Tate, puppetry artisan Michael Montenegro, and the Firehouse Community Arts Center. Theatre Y is a Chicago-based international incubator that creates connections between diverse artists, and in Little Carl, the company’s Youth Ensemble grapples with the difficult issue of gun violence by creating a dream play using puppets, masks, and poetry, making beautiful imagery as an antidote to despair. Little Carl will be performed May 27–28, 2023 in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare.
In June, A.B.L.E. (Artists Breaking Limits and Expectations), an organization that creates theatre and film for, with, and by individuals with Down syndrome and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, returns to the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. A new adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by A.B.L.E. Teaching Artist Emma MacLean moves the action from ancient Greece to a modern-day high school. The themes of connection and disconnection in Shakespeare’s tale are ramped up as characters miss texts and drop calls while wandering deeper into the woods. The multimedia production weaves Shakespeare’s words with original scenes, songs, dances, and even GIFs devised by the cast, with performances June 10–11, 2023. A.B.L.E. is a longtime community arts partner, having collaborated with Chicago Shakespeare regularly since 2016, most recently for the ensemble’s first-ever festival, RECONNECT, last fall, featuring performances and a workshop facilitated by A.B.L.E.’s Creative Associates.
This summer, Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks returns for free pop-up performances in Chicago Park District parks. Since its establishment in 2012, Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks has been fueled by the transformative power of neighborhood-based partnerships—and has built a network between more than 600 civic, cultural, and corporate partners and thousands of artists. Carrying on the program’s community-building spirit, neighborhood artists, musicians, and more will be taking center stage in a Shakespeare-inspired piece created in collaboration with a team of actors. Summer 2023 details to be announced next month.
Theatre Y’s
LITTLE CARL
working from an original script by Michael Montenegro developed in partnership with Theatre Y’s Youth Ensemble, Marvin Tate, Michael Montenegro, Haman Cross III, & Melissa Lorraine
Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 28 at 4:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.
Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
800 East Grand Avenue on Navy Pier
Chicago IL, 60611
Tickets are general admission and pay-what-you-can, starting at $15. Audience members from Chicago’s West Side receive free admission.
www.chicagoshakes.com/littlecarl • 312.595.5600
Learn more about Theatre Y: www.theatre-y.com
A.B.L.E.’s
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
by William Shakespeare
adapted by Emma MacLean
Saturday, June 10, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 11 at 2:00 p.m.
Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Theater
800 East Grand Avenue on Navy Pier
Chicago IL, 60611
Tickets are general admission and pay-what-you-can, starting at $15
www.chicagoshakes.com/ablemidsummer • 312.595.5600
Learn more about A.B.L.E.: www.ableensemble.com
Accessibility: Performances will be open-captioned and ASL-interpreted.
To ensure A.B.L.E.’s immunocompromised performers and community members feel safe and welcome, audience members must remain masked for the duration of their time in the theater complex.
ABOUT CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER
Regional Tony Award-recipient Chicago Shakespeare Theater produces a bold and innovative year-round season—plays, musicals, world premieres, family productions, and theatrical presentations from around the globe—alongside nationally recognized education programming serving tens of thousands of students, teachers, and lifelong learners each year. Founded in 1986, the Theater’s onstage work has expanded to as many as twenty productions and 650 performances annually. Chicago Shakespeare is dedicated to welcoming the next generation of theatergoers; one in four of its audience members is under the age of eighteen. As a nonprofit organization, the Theater works to embrace diversity, prioritize inclusion, provide equitable opportunities, and offer an accessible experience for all. On the Theater’s three stages at its home on Navy Pier, in classrooms and neighborhoods across the city, and in venues around the world, Chicago Shakespeare is a multifaceted cultural hub—inviting audiences, artists, and community members to share powerful stories that connect and inspire. www.chicagoshakes.com.
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