Dec. 17--When William Shakespeare breathed his last in 1616 England, the land known now as Chicago was little more than a swampy stopover for Native American tribes and traders. It would take more than 200 years for Chicago to become a city and another century more to establish itself as one of the most dynamic theater cities in the nation, if not the world.
And that it did, from Chicago's "little theater" movement of the early 1900s to the revived Loop Theater District and the many improv and experimental theater companies that thrive in the city today.
It's no surprise then that Chicago, led by its own Shakespeare Theater, would launch a yearlong festival to celebrate the poet and playwright's 400-year legacy.
The festival, called Shakespeare 400 Chicago, will run throughout 2016 and involve more than 60 local theaters plus a growing list of international theater companies and arts groups. Through about 850 events, organizers promise to explore "how Shakespeare's words continue to live in Chicago and throughout the world's great theater, dance, literature, music, cuisine and spectacle."
But what would Shakespeare have made of such a plan, and of Chicago itself?
We think a time-traveling William Shakes would love Chicago -- not only for its bounty of stages and devout thespian community but also for its deep tradition of political theater and real-life tragic heroes -- lily-livered and otherwise.
Imagine the magic that would flow from Shakespeare's pen after sitting through a City Council meeting. The characters he could concoct after a Cook County Board meeting. The creative inspiration gleaned from meeting Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gov. Bruce Rauner or House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Perchance to dream.
The mayor is excited about the festival, or at least he was when it was announced in mid-November, before he tumbled into what some say is his own Shakespearean tragedy, featuring a cast of characters worthy of the best of the Bard's plays.
Emanuel told Tribune theater critic Chris Jones, "We have our own version of Elizabethan English here. And we can be difficult to understand. But we are a big city of big shoulders, a city of the spoken word, a city of the humanities and social thought. I think Chicago is the perfect place to celebrate Shakespeare's gift to the world, using all of our collective cultural strength."
Indeed it is, and the timing couldn't be better. We encourage the organizers to make the most of all the drama 2016 is bound to offer.
It looks like they're on the right track. A "Battle of the Bard" slam-poetry event featuring Chicago Public Schools is in the lineup -- how timely if it lets teachers and students react to a potential teachers strike. Another event will use dramatic readings from Shakespeare to carry a discussion about money and morals. Could organizers be planning a similar discussion of power and ethics, with a little King Lear and Julius Caesar thrown in? Shakespeare would enjoy that.
We may not have an actual time-traveler here in 2016, but the organizers of this festival are a smart, creative lot, and Barbara Gaines, artistic director and founder of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, is sure to lead an entertaining and enlightening festival.
Let's celebrate Shakespeare -- the Chicago way.
