The Old Globe

February 8 – March 16, 2014

Directed by Barry Edelstein

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NPR calls Old Globe Artistic Director Barry Edelstein “one of the country’s leading Shakespeareans.” Now Edelstein’s work takes center stage in his Old Globe directorial debut with Shakespeare’s most enchanting masterpiece, featuring a powerful musical score written expressly for the production by acclaimed classical composer Michael Torke. The Winter’s Talesweeps breathtakingly from tragedy to comedy and along the way visits kings and queens, dancing shepherds, a most extraordinary statue, and one notoriously hungry bear, before it reaches its stunning, magical conclusion.

Chicago Shakespeare Festival

February 22 – March 22, 2014

Director: David H. Bell

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A magical forest filled with a host of some of Shakespeare’s most comedic characters make A Midsummer Night’s Dream one of his most popular plays. CST’s 75-minute abridged Short Shakespeare! production serves as an ideal introduction to the Bard—for audiences of all ages. When lovers cross with mischievous sprites in an enchanted forest, a series of mishaps occur and nothing is what it seems. Add to the mix a bevy of fumbling actors and chaos breaks loose until dawn breaks and all is once again right with the world. After the performance, the actors remain on stage for a brief question-and-answer session. Then join the audience in the Lobby for one-on-one conversations and photo opportunities.

Chicago Shakespeare Festival

March 13 – May 4, 2014

Directed by Gary Griffin

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Associate Artistic Director Gary Griffin brings you not one, but two musicals, Gypsy and Road Show, that feature the extraordinary talents of Stephen Sondheim—both inspired by real stories of ambitious Americans in pursuit of their dreams. Based on the lives of the boldly enterprising brothers Addison and Wilson Mizner, the musical journey of Road Show spans forty years—from the Alaskan Gold Rush to the Florida real estate boom in the 1930s. Traversing the continent in a variety of get-rich-quick schemes, the brothers stick together through experiences that change their lives in unexpected ways.

Chicago Shakespeare Festival

March 30 – April 13, 2014

Adaptor/Director: Emma Rice

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Lauded all around the world for its trademark vitality, the artistic collective from Cornwall, England, Kneehigh makes its long-awaited Chicago debut with the iconic work that first catapulted the company to international fame. Marrying gorgeous music and ingenious staging with cheeky humor and Wagnerian intensity, Kneehigh now reimagines one of the world’s oldest love stories. Cornish King Mark is at war; he rules with his head, not his heart. But he hasn’t counted on falling head over heels for his enemy’s sister, or expected the arrival of the enigmatic Tristan.

Folger Theatre

April 17 – May 25, 2014

Directed by Ben Steinfeld and Jessie Austrian