Theatre In Chicago
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• Chicago Shakespeare Theater Introduces Theater to Young Audiences
  

  Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) continues its 2008-09 CST Family Series with Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream, a 75-minute abridged production of Shakespeare's classic comedy, adapted and directed by Amanda Dehnert. CST's Short Shakespeare! Series is designed for parents, grandparents, teachers-and all adults with children in their lives-to introduce young people to theater. The production will run for seven Saturdays at 11 a.m., January 24 through March 7, 2009 in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier.

  A magical forest, impish fairies and a host of some of Shakespeare's most comedic characters make A Midsummer Night's Dream one of his most popular plays-and a perfect introduction to theater. When lovers cross with mischievous sprites in an enchanted forest, a series of mishaps occur and nothing is what it seems. Add to the mix a bevy of fumbling actors and all chaos breaks loose until dawn breaks and all is once again right with the world.

  For young audiences being introduced to live theater, Chicago Shakespeare's Elizabethan thrust stage provides a close relationship between audience members and the actors, enhancing the play-going experience. The stage (modeled after that of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon) is surrounded on three sides by the audience whose laughter and gasps of surprise affect the action on stage and prompts responses from the actors, making each audience member an important part of the performance.

  Returning to Chicago Shakespeare Theater in the role of Bottom is Sean Fortunato, most recently seen by CST audiences in the title role of Willy Wonka in 2008. Mr. Fortunato has frequented CST's stages and recently performed in The Comedy of Errors, Othello, and previous productions of Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other actors returning to Chicago Shakespeare Theater are Kareem Bandealy (Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet) as Quince/Egeus; Lacy Coil (Troilus and Cressida) as Helena; John Taylor Phillips (Othello) as Oberon; Matt Schwader (Hamlet, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Measure for Measure) as Puck and Bob Turton (Othello, Much Ado About Nothing) as Lysander. Rounding out the cast is Melissa Carlsonas as Titania, Alex Goodrich as Snout/Wall, Megan Long as Hermia, DeRante' Parker as Snug/Lion, Juan Gabriel Ruiz as Demetrius, Matthew Sherbach as Starveling/Moonshine and Shaun Whitley as Flute/Thisbe.

  Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream is adapted and directed by Amanda Dehnert, who also adapted, directed and composed the music for Chicago Shakespeare's 2008 production of Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet.

  Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier is not only the region's largest professional theater dedicated to the works of Shakespeare, it is also a leading cultural center for young audiences, their parents and teachers. Chicago Shakespeare provides families, students and educators with a unique environment to share one of the richest experiences there is: the making of art and the sharing of stories. By introducing the classics and art to young people, CST offers a significant experience, presenting a convergence of abridged Shakespeare productions, timeless fables and fairy tales, interactive music concerts, and musical theater created with families in mind. For the tens of thousands of families who visit Navy Pier every year, Chicago Shakespeare Theater introduces the classics and the performing arts to young people.

  Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night's Dream will run for seven Saturdays at 11 a.m., January 24 through March 7, 2007. Tickets are $16 for students, 18 and younger (recommended for ages 10 and up), and $20 for adults. Immediately following each performance, the actors remain on stage for a brief question-and-answer session and will then join the audience in the lobby for one-on-one conversations and photo opportunities. For further information and to purchase tickets, call the Chicago Shakespeare Theater Box Office at 312-595-5600, or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

• Clunie's Living Green pays homage to A Raisin in the Sun
  If you get out, are you obligated to give back? Living Green, a world premiere drama by Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble member Gloria Bond Clunie (North Star, Shoes), explores this and other thorny questions in its story of a well-to-do African American family "living green" in a mostly white Chicago suburb, who are contemplating a move back to the old neighborhood.
  
  Set in 1995, the year of the Million Man March, Living Green looks back at a recent moment in black history while investigating issues seemingly ripped from today's headlines. What happened to our families as we "moved up" and fled the black neighborhoods that once nurtured us?  How do we revitalize our communities?  How do we protect our children from the violence that plagues our streets?
  
  Meet Angela and Frank Freeman, hardworking parents who moved out of the old neighborhood years ago to give their children, Dempsey and Carol, what they never had - access to great schools and well-manicured lawns.  Trouble is, Frank is worried he and Angela may have traded away their children's identity as African Americans in the process.  With Carol about to graduate from high school, Frank suggests they move back to the city, and join a few families who are trying to make a difference.  Angela, however, is too worried about safety. "Thanks," she says, "but I like life."  Newly energized with the sense of community generated by the Million Man March, the Freemans make plans to sell their home, just as they take in 16-year-old Shondra, a bright girl raised in the projects.  Can their newfound idealism survive the very real challenges Shondra brings into their home?
  
  Regarding the play's title, Living Green, "people have asked if this is a play about ecology," says Clunie.  "In some ways, yes.  If you've got money, you're life is greener.  You're able to afford green.  Literally, and ecologically.  But should green only be possessed by the people who can afford it?"
  
  Clunie adds, "the title is really inspired by the plant in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.  The small potted plant represents Mama Younger's dream of owning a house with a garden - a dream that propels much of the action in a play about an African American family consigned to a specific community, and they want to expand beyond that. And I began to wonder what happened to us as we moved out of our communities?  Now some wonderful things happened.  Opportunities expanded.  But there were new demands, a few losses, and other important questions of the heart."
  
  Special events in anticipation of February, Black History Month, include:
  
  Low-priced previews of Clunie's modern-day homage to A Raisin in the Sun begin January 23, 2009 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago. Regular performances of Living Green run through March 1.   Single tickets are $20-$48.  Four-play subscriptions including Living Green start at only $64.  For ticket and subscription information, call the Victory Gardens box office - 773.871.3000 or visit www.victorygardens.org.

• Northlight Theatre presents the World Premiere of Po Boy Tango
  Northlight Theatre continues its 2008-2009 Season with the World Premiere of Po Boy Tango by Kenneth Lin, directed by Chay Yew.  The production, featuring Ken Narasaki, Jeanne Sakata and Jacqueline Williams, runs January 7-February 15, 2009 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie.

  A celebration of the human spirit and the joy of cooking, Po Boy Tango tells the story of Richie Po, a Taiwanese immigrant who turns to his estranged friend Gloria to help him recreate his mother's "Great Banquet."  Despite the challenges of shark fin soup, duck po boy sandwiches and underlying cultural tensions, Richie and Gloria find common ground through their shared humor and the blending of traditional Chinese cuisine and African-American "Soul Food."  Helped by lessons from Po Mama’s television cooking show, the two discover a deeper understanding of food, culture and the nature of friendship. 

  Po Boy Tango comes to the Northlight stage for a full production after a successful workshop and reading as a part of the Northlight Interplay series-the third production to make such a transition (Lady, Better Late).

  "Po Boy Tango was another of our