FFTCHICAGO.COM Chicago Shakespeare Theater Proud tobeapartner with CARASCO PHOTOGRAPHY —The Merry WivesofWindsor THE HEIR APPARENT Contents Chicago Shakespeare Theater 800 E. Grand on Navy Pier On the Boards 12 Chicago, Illinois 60611 A selection of notable CST events, plays and players 312.595.5600 www.chicagoshakes.com ©2015 Point of View 14 Chicago Shakespeare Theater John Rando discusses his ongoing collaboration All rights reserved. with playwright David Ives—and their shared love artistic director: Barbara Gaines of language, comedy and great actors executive director: Criss Henderson above and cover: Nate Burger and Emily Peterson, Cast 23 photos by Bill Burlingham Playgoer’s Guide 24 Profiles 25 From Another Perspective 32 Stuart Sherman extols the verbal music of playwrights Regnard and Ives in The Heir Apparent 4 Winter 2015 | The Heir Apparent CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER Welcome DEAR FRIENDS, We are thrilled to have you with us for The Heir Apparent. It marks our third production penned by the incomparable American playwright David Ives (following A Flea in Her Ear in 2006 and The School for Lies in 2013). To say DEAR FRIENDS, that David has “a way with words” would be woefully understating the fact of the matter. His work is smart, funny, raucous—truly a singular voice of the American theater. Tony Award®-winning director John Rando and our talented cast, including Paxton Whitehead in his Chicago Shakespeare debut, have created a performance that is a veritable master class in comedic timing. The Heir Apparent follows our sold-out, five-star productions of The Tempest and Ride the Cyclone this fall. Together with the recent announcement of the upcoming West Coast premiere of our musical adaptation of Jane Austen’s “A WILDLY ENGAGING Sense and Sensibility, which graced our own stage last year, it is a thrilling time for our artistic collective. It is our privilege to develop and produce work that HIP-HOP TAKE TICKETS makes Chicago proud. And we are so appreciative of the role you play as an ON DICKENS’ START AT audience member. $ Looking ahead to 2016, we hope you will join us for the yearlong celebration, CLASSIC” 30 Shakespeare 400 Chicago. This festival will position Chicago as host to the –CHICAGO SUN-TIMES largest global celebration of the playwright as the world commemorates the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s legacy. We’re thrilled that 2016 will bring written by GQ, JQ, together our city’s leading cultural institutions and invite artists from around JACKSON DORAN and POSTELL PRINGLE the world to make Chicago their stage as we honor Chicago Shakespeare’s developed with “resident playwright.” RICK BOYNTON n directed by GQ and JQ We hope to see you again soon. a Chicago Shakespeare production presented by CST and Richard Jordan Productions Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare Barbara Gaines Criss Henderson Sheli Z. Rosenberg NOW Artistic Director Executive Director Chair, Board of Directors THROUGH JANUARY 3 312.595.5600 • www.chicagoshakes.com www.chicagoshakes.com 7 Join us for more JANUARY–JUNE extraordinary productions on our stages this season! 2016 RUSSIA BELARUS from from THE HEIR APPARENT A Q BROTHERS’ CHRISTMAS CAROL Cheek by Jowl & Moscow Drama Pushkin Theatre Belarus Free Theatre NOVEMBER 29, 2015–JANUARY 17, 2016 NOVEMBER 28, 2015–JANUARY 3, 2016 MEASURE FOR MEASURE KING LEAR by David Ives • adapted from Le Légataire universel by written by GQ, JQ, Jackson Doran and Postell Pringle JANUARY 27–31, 2016 FEBRUARY 5–14, 2016 Jean-François Regnard • directed by John Rando developed with Rick Boynton • directed by GQ and JQ by William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare • directed by presented by CST and Richard Jordan Productions directed by Declan Donnellan Vladimir Shcherban • adapted by Nicolai Khalezin THE U.K. THE U.K. from from Oxford Playhouse Filter Theatre in association with SHORT SHAKESPEARE! OTHELLO the Royal Shakespeare Company SANCHO: AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE FEBRUARY 18–APRIL 10, 2016 TWELFTH NIGHT FEBRUARY 17–21, 2016 by William Shakespeare TWELFTH NIGHT MARCH 5–APRIL 9, 2016 written by and starring Paterson Joseph directed by Jonathan Munby MARCH 1–13, 2016 SATURDAYS AT 11:00 A.M. by William Shakespeare adapted and directed by Kirsten Kelly THE U.K. from OTHELLO: THE REMIX TUG OF WAR: FOREIGN FIRE Tim Crouch Theatre APRIL 12–MAY 8, 2016 EDWARD III HENRY V HENRY VI PART 1 I, MALVOLIO written, directed and music by GQ and JQ MAY 11–JUNE 12, 2016 JUNE 2–5, 2016 developed with Rick Boynton by William Shakespeare presented by Chicago Shakespeare Theater adapted and directed by Barbara Gaines & Richard Jordan Productions 312.595.5600 • chicagoshakes.com www.chicagoshakes.com 9 CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER About CST A global theatrical force, CST is known for vibrant productions that reflect Shakespeare’s genius for storytelling, language and empathy for the human condition. The Theater has evolved into a dynamic company, producing award- GET SOCIAL winning plays at its home on Navy Pier, throughout Chicago’s schools and #cstHEIR neighborhoods and on stages around the world. CST serves as a partner in literacy to Chicago Public Schools, working alongside English teachers to help struggling readers connect with Shakespeare in the classroom, and bringing his text to life on stage for 40,000 students every year. And each summer, 30,000 families and audience members of all ages welcome the free Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks tour into their neighborhoods across the far north, west and south sides of the city. Reflecting the global city it calls home, CST is the leading producer of international work in Chicago and has toured its plays abroad to Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Canada/North America and the Middle East. The Theater’s tradition of excellence and civic leadership has been honored with numerous national and international awards, including the Regional Theatre Tony Award, three Laurence Olivier Awards, and eighty total Joseph Jefferson Awards. CST’s work with Chicago Public School students and teachers was recognized by the White House in 2014 with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. Among its many international engagements, CST participated in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2006 Complete Works Festival and was selected to represent North America at the Globe to Globe festival as part of London’s 2012 Cultural Olympiad. n BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sheli Z. Rosenberg* Criss Henderson* Stephanie Pope Chair William L. Hood, Jr. Richard W. Porter Whether you’re sitting in the Theater, on the El, or just relaxing Eric Q. Strickland* Stewart S. Hudnut John Rau Treasurer William R. Jentes* Nazneen Razi at home, share The Heir Apparent with your friends! Jack L. Karp Ingrid Razny Steven J. Solomon* John P. Keller Lance Richards Deputy Chair Christie B. Kelly Glenn R. Richter* Richard A. Kent John W. Rowe* Frank D. Ballantine Barbara Malott Kizziah Robert Ryan Brit J. Bartter* FOLLOW US @chicagoshakes Edward A. Langan Carole B. Segal Thomas L. Brown Chase Collins Levey Kathleen Kelly Spear Allan E. Bulley III Anna Livingston Harvey J. Struthers, Jr. Patrick R. Daley LIKE US /chicagoshakespeare Renetta E. McCann Eileen Sweeney Brian W. Duwe Raymond F. McCaskey* Sheila G. Talton Philip L. Engel Robert G. McLennan Marilynn J. Thoma* Jeanne B. Ettelson VISIT US www.chicagoshakes.com Jess E. Merten Gayle R. Tilles Harve A. Ferrill Robert Moore William J. Tomazin Sonja H. Fischer Christopher O’Brien Donna Van Eekeren Richard J. Franke TAG US @chicagoshakes Dennis Olis Priscilla A. (Pam) Walter* Barbara Gaines* Mark S. Ouweleen* Ray Whitacre C. Gary Gerst* Carleton D. Pearl Ava D. Youngblood Search for “Chicago Shakespeare” on M. Hill Hammock* RECOMMEND US Judith Pierpont TripAdvisor, Yelp or your favorite review site Kathryn J. Hayley * Paulita A. Pike denotes Executive Committee members Nate Burger and Emily Peterson, photo by Bill Burlingham www.chicagoshakes.com 11 THE HEIR APPARENT CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER On the Boards AROUND IN THE BEHIND ON STAGE THE WORLD COMMUNITY THE SCENES Fresh from working with the Royal Shakespeare 400 Chicago launches During the month of October, the CPS Sense and Sensibility, the new musical Shakespeare Company, Jonathan Munby in early 2016 with extraordinary Shakespeare! ensemble of seventeen launched at Chicago Shakespeare by returns to CST to bring Shakespeare’s international work sitting alongside students and six teachers from Chicago Tony Award®-nominated composer most intimate tragedy, Othello, to Chicago’s finest artists. The diverse Public Schools across our city turned Paul Gordon, will make its West Coast life on the Courtyard Theater stage array of presentations will showcase CST’s rehearsal hall into a learning lab. premiere in 2016. Presented at the beginning February 18. CST audiences how the timeless words of our resident Working with a full team of professional Old Globe Theatre in San Diego in will remember Munby’s work from playwright continue to inspire creativity artists, they devised a unique forty-five- association with Chicago Shakespeare, his 2013 production of Julius Caesar, across artistic disciplines and cultures. minute production of Shakespeare’s Sense and Sensibility will be directed by which thrust the tale of betrayal into a One moment in time will see the Macbeth performed at CST on November Artistic Director Barbara Gaines under modern American political landscape. concurrent work of: Hamburg Ballet’s 6 and 7. The students were selected continued development by CST Creative On his upcoming production, Munby Othello at the Harris Theater for Music for CPS Shakespeare! by their teachers Producer Rick Boynton. Sense and remarks, “Othello is one of the greatest and Dance; Lyric Opera’s staging of to take part in the immersive six-week Sensibility took home the 2015 Joseph psychological thrillers ever written. A Romeo and Juliet; Cheek by Jowl and experience. Recently, CPS Shakespeare! Jefferson Award for Outstanding New masterpiece really and a study of human Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre’s was awarded The National Arts and Musical.