The absolute best training in theatre I have ever received, without fail. ​ - Summer Shakes Student

The CYS Summer Shakes Intensive is a rigorous acting and Shakespeare training program open to high school students (including incoming freshmen and graduating seniors) from across the Chicagoland area. Summer students explore a variety of acting and performance techniques as they discover how to “unpack” and personalize Shakespeare's words to make them their own.  

(NEW) Dates, Times, Location
​Summer Shakes 2022 will run from July 11-22, and will meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 10:00am-1:00pm at the Greenhouse Theater Center, located in the heart of DePaul, just steps away from OZ Park, and only a few blocks' walk from the Fullerton El stop. 

Summer students will workshop monologues and scenes from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream culminating in a live Shakespeare performance on Saturday, July 23rd.  

REGISTER

Doing CYS was an amazing experience unlike anything I'd done before. I learned so much! ​  - (Short) Summer Shakes Student, 2020

Admissions
Summer Shakes admissions are need-blind*, and no student can be turned away based on their ability to pay the program fee. 

​*Program Fees & Scholarships
The program fee for Summer Shakes 2022 is $400, and need-based program scholarships are available to all students requiring financial assistance. 

The availability of scholarships was a deciding factor in participation. Thank you to all who help in this way!  - Summer Shakes Parent, 2019

Visiting Artists & Field Trips
CYS welcomes visiting artists from Chicago's professional theatre community to lead masterclasses in a variety of performance techniques, including clown, stage combat, improv, devised theatre, Commedia dell' Arte, and more. Summer students travel off-site to explore some of the city's best cultural resources and participate in artistic exchanges with other Chicago-based summer youth programs.

​This program helped me build strong integrity in my work as an actor and confidence in my ability to succeed.  ​​- Summer Shakes Student, 2019

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A look back at past Summer Shakes programs...

​Visit @CYShakes on Facebook for photos from Twelfth Night!

Summer Shakes 2019 students share in a collaborative, post-show workshop with the Summer Trailblazers at Adventure Stage, Chicago!

Anyone who does this program will come out of it a better person.  - Summer Shakes Student, 2018

Photos from Summer Shakes 2018, and our first devised production, Uneasy Lies the Head, a mash-up of texts from 15 Shakespeare plays.

The cast of Much Ado About Nothing (along with some of our young audience members) at Indian Boundary Park!

Together in Isolation
CYS Ensemble
CYS In-Schools
Productions
CYS Training
Past Programs