Beginning in 1978 with twenty-one performances on the tennis courts of Ewing Manor, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival has grown to become an internationally recognized company; now putting on thirty-six performances each season in a state-of-the-art, Elizabethan-style theater.
The Festival’s directors, designers, interns, and staff are masters of their craft and are recruited from all over the nation. In 1998, the Festival joined the Actors’ Equity Association Theatre (U/RTA contract). This development has allowed the Festival access to superior actors, who in turn contribute their experience and passion to the company.
In 1996, the Festival added the beloved Green Shows to the experience. Presented originally as mini-plays of the night’s main performance, these often-hilarious and farcical representations simplified Shakespeare’s language and plots for the audience. The Green Shows continue today with comedic moments, intense fight scenes, and educational facts from the life and times of William Shakespeare.
