the Ensemble
The Chicago Youth Shakespeare Ensemble (CYSE), is our flagship program and the city of Chicago’s only professional youth Shakespeare company, offering teen artists ages 14 -19 the opportunity to train, collaborate, and perform Shakespeare’s plays while earning a stipend and professional credit for their work.
The Ensemble includes young actors as well as contributing youth artists who work behind the scenes to incorporate original music, poetry, spoken-word, dance, film, and other artistic elements into our Shakespeare productions.
The talented young artists of the CYSE represent many different communities, identities, cultures, and life experiences. Together, they create a unique, artistic ensemble fueled by collaboration, innovation, and a diverse range of creative approaches and ideas.
“As a member of the Ensemble, my knowledge of Shakespeare, theatre, acting, myself, and the world we live in grew drastically! I learned more than I could have ever imagined.”
CYSE productions feature the collective work of a diverse ensemble of young artists, as they seek to reimagine Shakespeare’s stories through a contemporary and undeniably youthful lens. Our productions also reflect CYS’s uniquely collaborative process that puts young artists in the driver’s seat. Staff and visiting artists from Chicago's rich theatre community provide professional training, guidance, and direction throughout the rehearsal process, while giving our young artists the space and the support to make creative discoveries and decisions together.
“I felt like I was always being pushed artistically in ways that would improve me as an actor. And, I learned through this program to be the person to push myself.”
CYS is committed to providing our young artists with a safe, supportive, and inspiring creative environment, and to ensuring that audiences of all backgrounds and income levels have access to our performances.
View our production history HERE.