Theater News

King Charles III and Shakespeare in Love to Make Chicago Premieres

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces its 2016-17 season lineup.

Tim Pigott Smith in the Broadway production of King Charles III, making its Chicago premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Tim Pigott Smith starred in the Broadway production of King Charles III, which will make its Chicago premiere at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
(© Joan Marcus)

Chicago Shakespeare Theater has announced the productions set for its 2016-17 season.

The lineup includes the Chicago premiere of King Charles III, Mike Bartlett's royal drama that ran at Broadway's Music Box Theatre earlier this season. The Olivier Award-winning play, directed by Gary Griffin, will run from November 5-January 15, 2017 at the Courtyard Theater.

Lee Hall's stage adaptation of Shakespeare in Love will also make its Chicago premiere. Based on the beloved Academy Award-winning film written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, the play premiered in July 2014 at the Noel Coward Theatre in London. Performances will run from April 15-June 11, 2017, at the Courtyard Theater.

Artistic director Barbara Gaines will direct the world premiere of The Book of Joseph, a new play written by Karen Hartman and based on the life of Joseph A. Hollander and his family. The play follows Richard Hollander, who discovers an unopened suitcase of letters written by a family he never knew during the Second World War. Performances will run from January 29-March 5, 2017, Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare.

Also making its world premiere will be Gravediggers’ Hamlet, a new commission coming to CST in spring 2017. Written by Michael Mahler, Alan Schmuckler, and Laura Schellhardt, and directed by Sean Graney, the play explores the story of Denmark’s prince from the perspective of five blue-collar gravediggers.

The roster of 20 productions also includes a number of Shakespeare classics, including Henry VI, Parts 2 and 3, Richard III, Love’s Labour’s Lost, the Globe production of The Merchant of Venice, and many more.

For the complete season lineup, click here.

Featured In This Story

Shakespeare in Love

Closed: June 18, 2017

King Charles III

Closed: January 15, 2017