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The Chicago Youth Shakespeare Ensemble (CYSE) is our flagship program and Chicago’s only professional youth Shakespeare company, offering young artists ages 14 to 19 the opportunity to perform Shakespeare’s plays while earning a stipend and professional credit for their work. In addition to young actors, the CYSE invites contributing youth artists to collaborate with the Ensemble, integrating original music, poetry/spoken-word, dance, photography, theatrical design, and other artistic disciplines to our Shakespeare productions.
At CYS, our mission has always been to make Shakespeare's work accessible and relevant to young artists and young audience members. We also believe in putting teenagers in the driver's seat where they belong. For these reasons, CYS productions are conceived collaboratively by the ensemble members themselves. CYS staff, along with visiting professional artists from Chicago's rich theatre community act as facilitators, rather than directors - providing training, guidance, and support throughout the process. I felt like I was always being pushed artistically in ways that would improve me as an actor. And, I learned through this program to be the person to push myself. Representing a variety of communities, ethnicities, cultures, and life experiences, CYSE members create a unique, artistic ensemble fueled by collaboration, innovation, and a diverse range of creative approaches and ideas. CYS is committed to providing youth artists of all backgrounds with a safe, supportive, and inspiring creative environment, and to ensuring that audiences of all income levels can attend our performances.
As a member of the Youth Ensemble, my knowledge of Shakespeare, theatre, acting, myself, and the world we live in grew drastically! I learned more than I could have ever imagined. The CYS Ensemble and Summer Shakes Intensive have mounted a combined 14 Shakespeare productions, impacting over 5000 youth participants and audience members. View our production history here. ***
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CYSE productions are made possible in part through generous support from individual donors and the following 2019/'20 program partners:
