Production History

2022-23 Season

On December 19, 2022, Chicago Youth Shakespeare welcomed our amazing community together one last time for a music-infused, staged reading of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, hosted by the Epiphany Center for the Arts. Directed by Jeremy Ohringer, the bittersweet celebration featured a cast of 20 alumni actors, representing every past CYS production.

2021-22 Season

Bard Bash, 2022

Chicago Youth Shakespeare’s 2022 Bard Bash fundraiser featured members of the 2021-’22 professional Ensemble in a one-night-only performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged, Revised [and Revised Again!] at Uncommon Ground, Edgewater. All proceeds benefited CYS programs.

Thanks to everyone who joined us in person and via livestream on April 24, 2022 to celebrate the Bard's birthday and support CYS!

A Stage Play and a Film!

The talented youth artists of CYS’s' 2021-22 Ensemble explored a dual creative process with their winter production of Macbeth: rehearsing the stage play for live performances, while simultaneously shooting a film. The cast worked with media artist Kyle Hamman of KBH Media, assisted by Ensemble members, Isabel Dudas and Sydney Gralike, both first year film students at DePaul.

Live performances of Macbeth played to sold out audiences at Writers Theatre of Glencoe as part of Chicago Theatre Week, 2022.
View the production program.

The film version, released in early 2023, offered audiences a distinctly different aesthetic from the staged production. Watch Now!

And… just for teachers: CYS created a comprehensive packet of hands-on learning resources to use in the classroom.
Download the Macbeth Learning Resource Packet.

The Chicago Youth Shakespeare Ensemble’s 2021-22 Season was made possible in part by::

2020-21 Season

When the pandemic brought live theatre programming and productions to an abrupt halt, CYS engaged our young artists and our community through a number of virtual projects.

Check out our Together in Isolation series here!

2019-20 Season

  • CYS kicked off the performance season with a staged reading of King Lear, featuring CYS youth artists and alumni alongside some of Chicago's most esteemed professional Shakespeare actors. Directed by Louis Fantasia. the one-night-only event played to a sold-out audience at The Edge Theatre on Chicago's north side. View the production program here!

  • In rehearsal with the amazing David Lively as King Lear. Read about the cast and contributing artists here!

  • The CYS Ensemble's production of Richard III featured a company of 14 youth actors and four contributing youth artists. The show held a successful three-week run at Raven Theatre. Subsequent touring performances, along with a staged reading scheduled later in the spring were cancelled due to Covid-19. View the production program here!

  • Enama Samuels (Lady Anne) in performance at Raven Theatre.

Set on a modern day college campus, CYS's Othello examined issues of systemic racism, sexism, and abuse, through a contemporary lens that spoke directly to young adults. ​The production featured the collaborative work of nine youth actors and six con

2018-19 Season

Set on a modern day college campus, CYS's Othello examined issues of systemic racism, sexism, and abuse, through a contemporary lens that spoke directly to young adults. ​The production featured the collaborative work of nine youth actors and six contributing youth artists, Ticketed performances and community outreach events were held at Raven Theatre, The School of Theatre & Music at UIC, and Writers Theatre of Glencoe. Following each of the performances, audiences engaged with the Ensemble in some amazing conversations about race, gender inequality, and the impact of theatre and the arts on issues of social justice.

  • Our 2019 Summer Shakes program culminated in a production of Twelfth Night, with performances and community outreach events at Raven Theatre, The School of Theatre & Music at UIC, and Adventure Stage Chicago. View the production program here!

  • Siah Berlatsky (Malvolio) in performance at Raven Theatre.

2017-18 Season

  • Our 2017/'18 Season production of The Tempest featured an ensemble of 13 youth actors and four contributing youth artists. Performances & community outreach events took place at The Joffrey Ballet's Arpino Black Box Theatre, The Old Town School of Folk Music, and the Addison Public Library. The artistic process featured ​a collaboration with Third Coast percussionist, Peter Ferry, and visiting artists, Lawrence Grimm and Samuel Taylor. View the production program here!

  • Izzy Terrell (Ariel) in performance at Joffrey Tower.

  • The 2018 Summer Shakes program culminated in our first devised production: Uneasy Lies the Head, comprised of scenes and selected text from over 15 Shakespeare plays. ​Ticketed & community outreach performances were held at Raven Theatre, The School of Theatre & Music at UIC, and Adventure Stage Chicago.

  • Summer Shakes students in rehearsal at The School of Theatre and Music at UIC

2016-17 Season

  • Our 2016/'17 production of Hamlet featured the work of nine youth actors, and artistic collaborations with teen LTAB poets, Ireon Roach and Victor Musoni. Ticketed performances and community outreach events were held at Theatre Wit, The Arts Club of Chicago, and LaSalle Language Academy (CPS). View the production program here!

  • Horatio, (Kiara Rivera) cradles a dying Hamlet (Freedom Martin) in a sold-out performance at Theatre Wit.

  • Our 2017 Summer Shakes program culminated in a production of Much Ado About Nothing, with ticketed and community outreach shows at Fury Theatre, Open Books West Loop, Adventure Stage Chicago, and Indian Boundary Park. View the production program here!

  • Brandon Lozano as Dogberry in performance at Indian Boundary Park, Chicago.

2015-16 Season

  • Our 2015/'16 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream featured an ensemble of 14 youth artists and a collaboration with Rough House Theatre. Ticketed performances and community outreach shows were held at Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theatrer, Hefferan Elementary School (CPS) and Kelvyn Park High School (CPS). View the production program here!

  • Titania (Karla Corona) and the fairies protect the “changling boy” created by puppeteers from Roughhouse Theatre.

  • The 2016 Summer Shakes program culminated in a production of The Comedy of Errors, with performances and community outreach shows at Stage 773 Theater and Noble Street College Prep (CPS)​. View the production program.

  • The Dromios: Oskar Westbridge and Simon Cohen in performance at Stage 773

2014-15 Season

  • Our 2014/'15 Ensemble production of Romeo and Juliet featured ten youth actors and a collaboration with playwright, Danielle Littman. Ticketed performances and community outreach shows were held at Gorilla Tango Theatre, Charnel House, Lakeview High School (CPS), and Theodore Roosevelt High School​ (CPS).
    View the production program

  • Freya Trefonides (Juliet) and Nina Sachs (Romeo) in performance at Gorilla Tango Theatre.

  • Our 2015 Summer Shakes program culminated in a production of Julius Caesar, with ticketed shows and community outreach events at Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theater, Roe Elementary School (CPS), and Unity Park in Logan Square.
    View the production program

  • Mari'jae Moore (Julius Caesar) in performance at Center on Halsted.

2013-14 Season

  • Our very first CYS Ensemble program culminated in a production of Macbeth, with ticketed performances and community outreach shows at The Lincoln Park Cultural Center, Phoenix Military Academy (CPS), and Urban Prep Academy, Englewood (CPS).
    View the production program.

  • The cast of Macbeth gets silly during a rehearsal at The Athenaeum.

  • Our very first Summer Shakes program culminated in a production of As You Like It, with ticketed and community outreach shows at The Hairpin Arts Center, Wrigley Square at Millennium Park, Unity Park in Logan Square, Piccolo Theatre, and The Admiral on the Lake.
    View the production program here!

  • Jesse Granato (Touchstone) and Sophia Carlin (Celia) in performance at The Admiral on the Lake.