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Virtual Program

Welcome

Welcome to our first ‘pop up’ free Shakespeare! Tyrone Philips who directed our hugely successful Twelfth Night returns to create a 45‑minute ‘pop up’ version which will play throughout the summer in 21 neighborhoods in Chicago. It’s a thrill for us at CST to be launching our ‘Shakespeare In The City’ program as part of our commitment to bring vivid and entertaining work to all parts of Chicago. Free pop-up Shakespeare will bring an expansion to our community work as we wrap around neighborhoods and festivals and demonstrate that there is no environment in which we can’t play. Next year we will be expanding our Short Shakespeare program too–there has never been a better time for you to get a taste of the Bard. Where better to begin your journey with Shakespeare but in the outdoors under a blue sky (we hope!) just like Shakespeare’s original audiences. Whether you’re passing by and stumble on a performance, staying for a few minutes or you’re settling in to watch it all, welcome to a short, funny and eye opening taste of Illyria in the expert hands of Tyrone and his brilliant cast. Enjoy and have a great summer!

EDWARD HALL
Artistic Director
Carl and Marilynn Thoma Chair

KIMBERLY MOTES
Executive Director

Synopsis (English)

Duke Orsino is pining for the love of the Countess Olivia, who has declared seven years of mourning for her dead brother and will see no one. And so, matters of love in Illyria are at a stalemate—for the time being. Then a violent storm at sea deposits young Viola upon Illyria’s shore. She fears her twin brother Sebastian has died.

Assuming the disguise of a young male page for safety, Viola as “Cesario” seeks employment in Duke Orsino’s household. Orsino takes Cesario into his confidence and sends the page as his ambassador of love to Olivia. Viola dutifully undertakes her new responsibility, though she herself has fallen in love with Orsino. Face to face with Olivia, Cesario urges the Countess to drop her veil of mourning. As she does, Olivia falls in love with the young stranger. The Countess’ household is in an uproar. Her uncle Sir Toby Belch and his sidekick Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who also hopes to win Olivia, drink late into the nights. Her clown, Feste, brings both laughter and sometimes melancholy to the court through his music and musings. Olivia attempts to maintain order through her steward Malvolio, hated by all as a self-righteous puritan. With the assistance of Toby and Andrew, Olivia’s gentlewoman Maria plots their revenge: a forged letter of love to Malvolio, ostensibly from Olivia. Malvolio’s adversaries gather to observe the scene with delight as he presents himself to his mistress, precisely as instructed by the letter—cross-gartered, yellow-stockinged, and smiling. Dismayed by her steward’s odd behavior, Olivia entrusts him to the care of her uncle.

Viola does not know that her lost brother and look-alike, Sebastian, is alive and newly arrived in Illyria, guided by his newfound friend, the sailor Antonio. Urged on by Toby Belch, the reluctant Aguecheek challenges Cesario to a duel and ends up roundly defeated by Viola’s male doppelgänger. Olivia makes the same mistake: begging once more for Cesario’s love, she is stunned when he readily agrees to marry her. No one is more shocked, of course, than Viola when she hears report of Cesario’s marriage to the Countess. The appearance of the real Sebastian and the reunion of brother and sister set almost all right in Illyria. 

Sinopsis (Spanish)

El duque Orsino suspira por el amor de la condesa Olivia, quien se ha declarado de luto, siete años, por la muerte de su hermano y no saldrá con nadie. Así que, las cuestiones amorosas en Iliria están estancadas… por el momento. Mientras tanto, una violenta tormenta en el mar arrastra a la joven Viola a la costa de Iliria. Ella teme que su hermano mellizo Sebastián haya muerto.

Por seguridad, disfrazándose de un paje joven, Viola como “Cesario”, busca empleo en la casa del Duque Orsino. Orsino confía en Cesario y envía al paje como su embajador del amor a Olivia. Viola asume obedientemente su nueva responsabilidad, aunque ella se ha enamorado de Orsino. Frente a Olivia, Cesario insta a la condesa a quitarse el velo de luto. Al hacerlo, Olivia se enamora del joven desconocido. La casa de la condesa se vuelve un caos. Su tío Sir Toby Belch y su compañero Sir Andrew Aguecheek, quien también espera conquistar a Olivia, beben hasta altas horas de la noche. Su bufón, Feste, a través de su música y sus reflexiones trae a la corte, risas y, a veces, melancolía. Olivia intenta mantener el orden a través de su mayordomo Malvolio, odiado por todos como un puritano moralista. Con la ayuda de Toby y Andrew, María, la dama de Olivia, planea su venganza: una carta de amor falsificada para Malvolio, aparentemente de Olivia. Los adversarios de Malvolio se reúnen para observar con deleite la escena mientras él se presenta frente a su patrona, precisamente como se indica en la carta: con tirantes cruzados, medias amarillas y sonriendo. Consternada por el extraño comportamiento de su mayordomo, Olivia lo confía al cuidado de su tío.

Viola no sabe que su hermano desaparecido y casi idéntico a ella, Sebastián, está vivo y acaba de llegar a Iliria, guiado por su nuevo amigo, el marinero Antonio. Instado por Toby Belch, el reacio Aguecheek desafía a Cesario a un duelo y termina rotundamente derrotado por el doble masculino de Viola. Olivia comete el mismo error: suplicando una vez más por el amor de Cesario, se queda atónita cuando él accede fácilmente a casarse con ella. Por supuesto, nadie se sorprende más que Viola cuando escucha la noticia del matrimonio de Cesario con la condesa. La aparición del verdadero Sebastián y el reencuentro entre hermana y hermano pone casi todo en orden en Iliria.

Artists

Beth Laske-Miller

Production Designer

Maurilio Rodriguez

Dresser

Beth Laske-Miller

Production Designer

Maurilio Rodriguez

Dresser

Shakes in the City is made possible with support from Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks, National Endowment for the Arts, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and Peoples Gas Community Fund.