July 11 and 12's Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare in Central Park Plaza was just part of the programs and projects being offered with Chicago Street Theatre's "Summer of Shakespeare" going on now through July 26. In addition to the three remaining performances of Romeo and Juliet July 24 through 26, CST received a grant from the Indiana Humanities Council to help with expanding projects and educational programming surrounding this summer's production.
The grant assisted Chicago Street in providing additional classes as companion to the group's CST Summer Shakespeare Workshop for high school age students to include a new camp for students ages 8 to 13 called, "Shakespeare in Shorts.' With these expansion to the educational programming, the theatre was also able to acquire the help of Valparaiso University scholar and provide a symposium to go along with the group's Thursday Talkback series on July 24.
Hosting the evening's performance on Thursday, July 24, will be Elizabeth Burow-Flak, the Chair of VU's English Department, who will conduct a pre-show symposium about the play and Shakespeare's use of the "tragic form" in Romeo and Juliet. The professor will also moderate the post show discussion that takes place after the performance between audience, cast and crew that has been part of Chicago Street Theatre's Thursday Talkback series for the past five years. Burow-Flak has been the Chair of the English Department since 2012 and has been a professor at the university since 1997.
Shakespeare in Shorts and Shakespeare Workshop will get their own shot at performing Romeo and Juliet with shows on Friday and Saturday, July 25 and 26. The 8 to 13 year old students will present their abridged versions of the classic play at Chicago Street Theatre on Friday afternoon at 3:30 PM and on Saturday at 1 PM. The high school aged actors will present their production at 5:30 PM on Friday and again on Saturday at 2:30 PM. General Admission for these junior performances are $5 with tickets available online at ChicagoStreet.org or through the CST Box Office at 219-464-1636 X1. Box Office hours are weekdays 10 AM to 2 PM and two hours prior to performances. Great seats are available for the Thursday Talkback and the final performances of Romeo and Juliet July 25 & 26. Tickets for the MainStage performance are: Adults for $18 and Students, Seniors (62 and up) and Military for $15.
