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50-Minute Hamlet to be Staged at Palatine Public Library

The Shakespeare Project of Chicago will perform "50-Minute Hamlet" at the Palatine Public Library, 700 N. North Court, Palatine, Illinois at 7:00PM on Thursday, April 12, 2012.  Admission is free, seating is limited.  A discussion with actors and audience will immediately follow the presentation.  For additional details, contact the Palatine Public Library at 847-358-5881.

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Download our 2011-2012 Season Newsletter here.

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The Shakespeare Project of Chicago Announces New Board Member

The Board of Directors of The Shakespeare Project of Chicago is pleased to announce the appointment of a new board member, Regina M. Schwartz, who teaches English literature and Law at Northwestern University and is a former president of the Milton Society of America.  In 2010, The Shakespeare Project produced Schwartz’ play of John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” at the Newberry Library as part of the Milton Project.  David Skidmore, President of The Shakespeare Project’s Board of Directors, stated “We are thrilled to add Regina to our board because of her passion for Shakespeare, her incredible knowledge, and her love and appreciation for what we do.”  Artistic Director Peter Garino added, “Regina will help the project’s goal of expanding our outreach to higher education institutions and connections to professional organizations with an interest in Elizabethan and Renaissance drama.”
Prior to joining the faculty at Northwestern, Schwartz taught at Duke University for a decade. She is a recipient of Woodrow Wilson and Rockefeller Fellowships, and has been a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Culture in Virginia. She also wrote the libretto for the new opera based on Milton's epic, "Losing Paradise," recently composed by the award-winning composer, John Eaton.

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Announcing the 2011-2012 Theatrical Reading Season

We are proud and very excited to announce our lineup for our 17^th season of free theatrical readings at our three venues:  the Newberry Library, Chicago; the Wilmette Public Library and the Highland Park Public Library. 

The season will open the weekend of October 22-23, 2011 with Shakespeare’s history play Richard II.  Last produced by The Shakespeare Project in 1997, the reading will be directed by Artistic Director Peter Garino.  John Webster’s dark revenge tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, will initiate a multi-year exploration of Shakespeare’s contemporaries and will play the weekend of January 21-22, 2012.  Stephen Spencer will direct.  Shakespeare’s beloved battle of the sexes, The Taming of the Shrew, will be offered the weekend of February 25-26, 2012 with Jeff Christian directing.  The season concludes April 21-22, 2012 when Shakespeare’s tragic love story Troilus and Cressida  will be presented, directed by Associate Artistic Director Barbara Zahora.

Saturday performances will be given at 10:00AM at the Newberry Library and 2:00PM at the Wilmette Public Library.  The Sunday performance at the Highland Park Public Library is at 2:00PM.  An introduction to each play will commence 15 minutes prior to each performance.  Each performance is followed by a discussion with the cast and creative team.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.  The Shakespeare Project of Chicago has been providing free performances of the works of William Shakespeare and other great dramatists to Chicago area audiences since 1995. The Project's presentations place an artistic emphasis on the language of the plays and leverage the talents of professional actors, members of Actors' Equity Association. The company's educational programs bring The World in Words to high schools and universities through abbreviated adaptations of Shakespeare's plays and interactive actor-led workshops.  Location maps and further information are available at www.shakespeareprojectchicago.org ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Download our 2010 Year-End Newsletter here.

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The Shakespeare Project and Snow City Arts

Partnering with Snow City Arts (www.snowcityarts.org), The Shakespeare Project brought to life hospitalized children's "erasure poetry".  After a performance of The Project's "50 Minute Hamlet" students at Children's Memorial and Stroger Hospitals worked with Snow City Arts' resident poet Eric Elshtain to tell their own stories by choosing select words from Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be" speech, and erasing the rest.  The result is some very moving, personal poetry from some very courageous young people.    Click on the link below to experience this moving presentation.

www.shakespeareprojectchicago.org/snowcity