420 FRANKENSTEIN to Make World Premiere at The Second City This Halloween Season
Creator Jay Krien brings Mary Shelley's classic to The Second City's de Maat Studio Theatre in a cannabis-infused comedy.
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420 Shakespeare, Chicago's cannabis-themed classical theater company, will present the world premiere of 420 Frankenstein, running five Saturday evenings at 6:00 p.m. from October 3 through October 31, 2026, at the de Maat Studio Theatre at The Second City, 230 W. North Avenue in Chicago. Tickets are $34.25, including fees, and are available now.
Following a sold-out April 20 opening night and a critically noted run of Baked Hamlet at The Second City earlier this year, 420 Shakespeare marks a significant expansion with its first production outside the Shakespeare canon. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein—the foundational text of science fiction, horror, and the ethics of creation—gets the 420 Shakespeare treatment just in time for Halloween.
The format remains delightfully deranged: four professional actors perform a comedic adaptation of a classic work, with one cast member having consumed a cannabis edible prior to the show.
Founded in 2024 by Jay Krien, 420 Shakespeare has established itself as Chicago's premier cannabis-infused theatrical experience, with roots going back to a 2022 workshop production and the 2023 world premiere of Chekhov's Bong!—a cannabis-themed adaptation of Uncle Vanya. The company is part of an emerging international movement of cannabis theatrical companies that includes Baked Shakespeare (Cape Town, South Africa) and Stoned Shakespeare (Denver, Colorado).
420 Frankenstein is the second production in what the company has announced as a full programming season, joining Baked Hamlet (annual 4/20 anchor) and the forthcoming Roach-meo & Joint-liet (Winter 2027) and A Midstoner's Nice Dream (Summer 2027).
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