2023 is here and we are ready for action! Are you?
This semester, we’re excited to return to our classical theatre roots and produce a favorite Shakespearean Comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Things were really, really different the last time we looked at this story…
The cast of our 2012 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, when we were still the Teen Drama Troupe at GiGi’s Playhouse Chicago.
It’s been over a decade. Many of these OG actors are still with us, and some and now employed by us. We’ve also more than tripled in size, added virtual programming, built partnerships around the city, and done a lot of growing up! We’ve changed, and the world around us has changed too. It’s time for an update…
Join ABLE’s ensemble as we miss texts, drop calls, and wander love struck in the Athenian forest. Actors will work with a team of teaching artists and volunteer facilitators to stage a hybrid performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream updated for our social-media obsessed times. The king and queen of the fairies are fighting, the mechanicals are rehearsing a play but no one knows their lines, and the Athenian teens keep changing their relationship status. We will continue to explore our season theme of connection in this modern adaptation by A.B.L.E. teaching artist Emma MacLean.
The finished production will weave Shakespeare’s words with original scenes, monologues, songs, and dances devised by our ensembles. The virtual ensemble will narrate the tale for us as the in-person ensembles take the stage at Chicago Shakespeare Theater the second weekend of June. (Stay tuned for performance details!)
