Chicago Shakespeare Theater Hosts Shakespeare Festival Leaders From Spain, Germany, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and United Kingdom

In anticipation of Chicago Shakespeare Theater's (CST) world premiere production Othello: The Remix at this summer's Globe to Globe Festival for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, CST will host a delegation of leaders from Shakespeare festivals across Europe, February 21–25, 2012. Representatives from Spain, Germany, Romania, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and the United Kingdom will join CST Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson to discuss upcoming projects and the possibility for future cross-cultural collaborations.

CST will welcome the delegates with a luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 22, introducing them to City of Chicago leadership and key members of the Chicago cultural community. Featured speaker Tom Bird, director of the Globe to Globe Festival, will discuss The Globe Theatre's unprecedented multi-lingual presentation of Shakespeare's entire canon for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. In hosting the European Shakespeare festival leaders, Chicago Shakespeare strengthens its commitment to bring international theater to Chicago, and to present CST's productions abroad.

Additional European Shakespeare festival leaders expected to visit Chicago Shakespeare Theater are:

Chicago Shakespeare Theater's world premiere production at the Globe to Globe Festival, Othello: The Remix, is being devised by The Q Brothers in collaboration with CST Creative Producer Rick Boynton, who was also instrumental in the creation of The Q Brothers' award-winning CST commission Funk It Up About Nothin'-which received rave reviews in its world premiere at Chicago Shakespeare and subsequent international tour. Other acclaimed CST exports to the United Kingdom include the Olivier Award-winning Pacific Overtures at London's Donmar Warehouse and Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Complete Works Festival. These productions are emblematic of Chicago Shakespeare Theater's World's Stage initiative to present Chicago Shakespeare's work to international audiences in addition to bringing the world's finest productions to CST. Since the inception of the World's Stage Series in 2000, CST has hosted more than 30 international companies, from the Chekhov InterNational Theatre Festival (Russia) to The Farber Foundry (South Africa); one step at a time like this (Australia) to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (United Kingdom).