CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE SLAM: FINAL BOUT
Monday, December 11, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
in the Courtyard Theater
Teams representing high schools from across the region collaborate to celebrate the power of language—and their own voices—in the seventh annual Chicago Shakespeare Slam. SLAM is, more than anything, an ensemble program—building community, within a school’s team, and among the many teams participating from across the entire region.
Here’s how it works. Each team, comprised of two to eight students, attends a Saturday workshop in the fall where they learn skills in text work, character building, staging, and—most importantly—come together as a SLAM community. Back at their school rehearsals, each team prepares two performance pieces to be performed at one of three Regional Bouts. First, teams stage the “Scene Round,” a scene that they’ve selected from any of Shakespeare’s plays. Next, teams present the “Dream Round,” a devised, remixed performance piece inspired by a shared text that explores a character, theme, or story that they want to tell in an original and creative way.
This year’s shared text is the tragic romance Romeo and Juliet. A tale of love found and tragically lost. A story where young love fights to survive in a divided community. A text with powerful moments of feeling and play, creating an exciting landscape for students’ imaginations to explore. The top-scoring teams advance to perform in the Final Bout on Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s stage with the entire SLAM community gathering to celebrate and support their fellow performers.
SLAM 2023 Participating Schools
Francis W. Parker School, Chicago
Intrinsic Schools – Belmont Campus, Chicago
Kennedy High School, Chicago
Kenwood Academy High School, Chicago
Lincoln Park High School, Chicago
Lindblom Math and Science Academy, Chicago
Little Village Lawndale High School, Chicago
Mundelein High School, Mundelein
New Trier High School, Winnetka
Niles North High School, Skokie
Oak Park and River Forest High School, Oak Park
O-School, Chicago
Round Lake High School, Round Lake
Senn Arts High School, Chicago
Sullivan House High School, Chicago
Taft High School, Chicago
Tri-Point High School, Cullom
Universal School, Bridgeview
University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, Chicago
Warren Township High School, Gurnee
SLAM 2023 Education Team
Nora Carroll, Interim Director of Education
Roxanna Conner, Education Consultant
Grace Grindell, Learning Programs Associate
Mersedez Hoover, Education Programs Associate
Devin Christor, Educator Artist
Charence Higgins, Educator Artist & Emcee
Kevin Long, Educator Artist
Jarrett King, Educator Artist
Sonya Madrigal, Educator Artist
Kenesha Reed, Emcee
Arik Vega, Emcee
DJ Beats – Enrique Arroyo, DJ