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

SLAM 2023 Education Team