Skip to content

Student Matinees

We are thrilled to share the 2024/25 Season offerings with you. From full-length student matinees to our beloved abridgment program, you are sure to find something exciting, diverse, and engaging for your classroom!

Interested teachers can view the schedule and submit the form to request tickets for our upcoming season. Teachers may call 312.595.5678 to finalize booking a performance:

Student Matinees

Weekdays @ 10:00 a.m.,
11:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.
February 4–March 7

Approx. Length: 75 minutes
Grades 6–12

We’ve increased the number of performances to 40 this season, enabling us to welcome 20,000 middle and high school students! Adapted and directed by Edward Hall, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a perfect 75-minute introduction to Shakespeare’s beloved romantic comedy.

What FOOLS these mortals be! Join Puck and his feisty fairy band for a Saturday at the Athens summer music festival in this 75-minute production of Shakespeare’s dreamiest romantic comedy. Hermia is engaged to Demetrius, but actually loves Lysander. Lysander loves her back, until a spell casts his gaze upon her best friend Helena, who—would you believe it?—loves Demetrius. This quartet of love-sick young people are joined by a motley crew of theatricals, a fairy King and Queen in an epic showdown, and a talking donkey to boot. Delight in the exhilaration, hilarity, and delight of young love as the chaos of magic and enchantment turns the world upside down. CST Artistic Director Edward Hall brings his signature clarity in storytelling and a playful staging to this Midsummer treat. Plus, every performance includes a post-show conversation with the cast to give you an insider’s perspective into bringing the story to the stage!

Courtyard Theater
By William Shakespeare
Adapted & directed by Edward Hall

24/25 Season Past Productions

Man in a black tank top wearing dogtags and holding a crown

Weekdays @ 1:00 p.m.
September 25, 2024
September 26, 2024
October 2, 2024

Approx. Length: 3 hours
Grades 9–12

This gripping tale of youthful ambition and adventure explores the thrill and destructive power of war, examining nationalism at its most dangerous and seductive. Henry V includes some of Shakespeare’s most famous speeches and stirring poetry. Hall’s approach reflects his belief in Shakespeare as a modern writer for our modern world, exploring the themes of conflict, patriotism, and legacy through a contemporary lens.

Courtyard Theater
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Edward Hall

Bearded man in light blue traditional garment with "RSC PERICLES" text on a dark blue background

Tuesdays @ 10:30 a.m.
November 12, 2024
November 19, 2024

Approx. Length: 3 hours
Grades 9–12

In her and Daniel Evans’ first season as the RSC’s co-artistic directors, Tamara Harvey directs this major new production of Shakespeare’s moving tale of love, hope, and miracles. When Prince Pericles flees for safety, he finds himself on an epic voyage through storms, shipwrecks, abduction, and loss. This exclusive limited engagement marks CST’s 100th international production of bringing the world’s great artists to Chicago.

Courtyard Theater
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Tamara Harvey

The top half of the head of a young woman with brown skin and black hair with braids styled in an intricately braided bun on top of her head and white text on a red background. Every occurrence of the letter "I' in the title art has a textured pattern within the letters, resembling braided hair.

Tue, January 28, 2025 @ 10:30 a.m.

Approx. Length: 90 minutes
Grades 9–12

Ticket Access for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding is provided by Dove, a proud co-founder of the CROWN Coalition.

Straight from Broadway and making its Regional Premiere at CST! This comedic play offers a glimpse into the lives of a group of West African immigrant women who find community in a Harlem hair salon. Over the course of a sweltering summer day, love blossoms, dreams flourish, and secrets are revealed. When uncertainty takes over, this tight-knit group is forced to confront what it means to be an outsider on the edge of the place they call home.

The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare
Written by Jocelyn Bioh
Directed by Whitney White

LEAD STUDENT MATINEE SPONSOR


The Grainger Foundation

ADDITIONAL STUDENT MATINEES SPONSORS


The Segal Family Foundation Student Matinee Fund

theatre works!