24 Students and Teachers from 10 Chicago Public Schools Perform CPS Shakespeare! A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM 10/23, 10/24

?A 32-person ensemble of 24 high school students and 8 teachers from Chicago Public Schools (CPS), led by a team of Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) artists, is preparing for a four-week intensive rehearsal, beginning on September 26, culminating in a 60-minute adaptation of William Shakespeare's popular comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream. CST's landmark education program, CPS Shakespeare! brings together students and their teachers from across the city in a collaborative process with a team of theater professionals, including the director, designers, text coaches and a fight choreographer. The program concludes with two public performances of CPS Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream, adapted and directed by Kirsten Kelly, and performed in CST's Elizabethan-style Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. Public performances of CPS Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream are Friday, October 23 at 4:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 24 at 11:00 a.m. The one-hour performances are followed by a 30-minute post-show discussion with the entire ensemble. Tickets are $5 and may be purchased by calling Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or by visiting the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

CPS Shakespeare! is a central component of CST's commitment to serving the community through its far-reaching arts-in-education programs. Many of the participating educators have graduated from CST's year-long professional development seminar, Bard Core Curriculum: Reading into Shakespeare, which mentors English teachers from some of the most challenged Chicago public schools with drama-based reading strategies that have been documented to improve the basic skills of struggling and reluctant readers.

"Each year, we discover anew the transformative power of 'conquering' Shakespeare," says CST Director of Education Marilyn Halperin. "In this ensemble of teachers and students working side by side, we learn first-hand the enormous power of Shakespeare's language as we explore the story and creative process in an active, personal, and fully engaged way through the weeks of rehearsal together."

Ten high schools from across the Chicago Public School system, represented by 24 students and eight English teachers, will collaborate in this year's production. Participating schools include: Chicago International Charter School ? Ralph Ellison Campus, Chicago Vocational Career Academy, Curie Metropolitan High School, Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep, Julian High School, Kenwood Academy High School, Phillips Academy High School, Prosser Career Academy, Roosevelt High School and Taft High School.

Sandra Shimon, a Prosser Career Academy teacher who has participated in the program for the past two years, returns this year to serve as Assistant Director under the mentorship of Director Kirsten Kelly. "CPS Shakespeare! is a unique opportunity for students to learn, and have the experience of performing Shakespeare on the stage of a nationally recognized theater working alongside other students and teachers from across the city and under the tutelage of theater professionals," says Shimon. "This exploration through theater is extraordinary. The very real understanding and appreciation the students develop for William Shakespeare, the experience they gain both as collaborators and leaders, and the friendships they develop with students from such diverse backgrounds all make this program a powerful educational tool. As a teacher, it is a pleasure to watch the students who have been part of the program mature, and witness them, often bringing their leadership skills back to the classroom and their day-to-day lives."

Directing the production and leading the creative team is Kirsten Kelly, who returns to CST for a fourth year to stage the CPS production. An award-winning theater and film director currently residing in New York, Ms. Kelly is a co-creator of the CPS! Shakespeare program, and has directed past productions of Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. Off Broadway, she recently directed Daniel Talbott's Slipping at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Also in New York, she has recently directed Crash, an ensemble-created piece based on the Great Depression and the current economic crisis with Roots & Branches Theater Company. Other credits include: the Midwest premiere of David Mamet's Boston Marriage for which she won an After Dark Award for Best Director; Rebecca Gillman's Boy Meets Girl for Theatre Alliance for which she was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Best Direction and Sam Shepard's Savage Love/Tongues with the Julliard Percussion Ensemble at Lincoln Center.

The creative team for CPS Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream includes: costume design by Rachel Healy; lighting design by Joel Moritz; sound design by James Savage; wig and make-up design by Mary Patchell; and fight choreography by David Chrzanowski.

Ensuring the future of CPS Shakespeare!, Eric's Tazmanian Angel Fund has made a generous commitment to support Chicago Shakespeare's arts-in-education program. This fund will also provide for the Eric Curtis Skowronski Spirit Award. The award, given to the eight participating teachers, provides a monetary gift for the support of their schools' arts, literature or library programs.

Now in its fourth year, CPS Shakespeare! is an important element of Chicago Shakespeare's array of arts-in-education initiatives. CST's flagship education program, Team Shakespeare, is in its 18th year serving students and their teachers through classroom activities and an extensive professional performance series for students?both at CST's home on Navy Pier and on tour to area schools.

Public performances of CPS Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream are Friday, October 23 at 4:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 24 at 11:00 a.m. The one-hour performances are followed by a 30-minute post-show discussion with the entire ensemble. Tickets are $5 and may be purchased by calling Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or by visiting the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com.