Barbara Gaines

Hart, of Andersonville, has been training actors of all levels since she began teaching in 2006. She taught for five years at the acclaimed Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, as well as at Loyola University, Notre Dame University Summer Shakespeare, and Act One Conservatory. She has served as text coach for Chicago Shakespeare, Strawdog Theatre and Summer Shakespeare at Notre Dame, and her directing credits include Macbeth at City Lit Theatre and Falstaff's Dream at Notre Dame.

Discover the nominations for the 55th Anniversary Jeff Awards for Equity Theater! Find out who made the cut and get ready for the highly anticipated awards ceremony.

Last week, Broadway narrowly avoided joining Hollywood by coming to a tentative agreement on the Pink contract, after IATSE had voted to authorize a strike if they couldn’t find a deal. Amidst wide industry challenges, Cara Joy David explores the revenue side of the equation and the regional theatre subscription model.

Chicago Shakespeare is welcoming new artistic and executive leadership, who are set to bring fresh ideas, innovation, and creativity to the theater scene. Prepare to be amazed by the exciting changes happening at Chicago Shakespeare.

According to various reports, Jeffrey Carlson, best known for originating the role of Marilyn in TABOO and Billy in Edward Albee's THE GOAT on Broadway, has passed away. He was 48.

Get a first look at footage of The Comedy of Errors at Chicago Shakespeare Theater!

As the world commemorates William Shakespeare's 459th birthday this April, Chicago Shakespeare Theater will celebrate the Bard with multiple events throughout the month. The Theater will honor the legacy of Founding Artistic Director Barbara Gaines with the Spirit of Shakespeare Award, which will be presented at a fundraising event at the Theater's home on Navy Pier on Monday, April 24, 2023.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director Barbara Gaines cleverly marries play and production concept in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS for her final production.

In her final production as Chicago Shakespeare Theater artistic director, Barbara Gaines stages Shakespeare’s riotous The Comedy of Errors, imprinting her legacy of inventive and captivating interpretations of the Bard’s work for today’s audiences. Go inisde reheartsals with newly released photos and video of the company in action!

Haven will start off 2023 programming with its annual Director's Haven, now in its sixth year. Featuring three emerging directors, Director's Haven 6 gives directors in the earliest stages of their professional careers a rare opportunity to take risks, hone their crafts and talents and share their vision through a fully staged production of a short play.

​​​​​​​Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces the cast and creative team for the upcoming production of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, staged by celebrated director Henry Godinez in the Courtyard Theater, October 21–November 27, 2022.

Criss Henderson, who has steered Chicago Shakespeare Theater from a fledgling start-up theater in 1990 through 33 years of expansive growth, award-winning productions, and nationally recognized education and community engagement programming, has announced that he will be stepping down from his executive director role at the end of 2022.

Peninsula Players Theatre, America's oldest professional resident summer theater and Door County's theatrical icon, has announced the cast and creative team for its production of Lauren Gunderson's 'I and You.'

The Lucky Star, produced by Douglas Denoff & Beth Goldsmith, The Directors Company, and 59E59 Theaters will conclude its limited engagement on Sunday, June 12 as originally planned. The production began previews on April 26, 2022, and opened May 5, 2022 in Theatre A. 

Find out this year's nominees and winners for Drama League Awards. The 2022 Awards will recognize eligible Broadway and Off-Broadway (non-virtual only) productions that began preview performances between March 16, 2021, and April 23, 2022.

The Drama League today announced the 2022 Drama League Awards Nominees and we've got all the nominations for for Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, Outstanding Direction of a Play, Outstanding Direction of a Musical, and the much-coveted Distinguished Performance Award.

Get the season schedule for the Chicago Shakespeare Theater's 2022/2023 Season, which includes a highly anticipated world premiere musical, striking new adaptations of literary classics, and Barbara Gaines directing her final production in her role as artistic director, thirty-six years after founding the company.

Last week, we got two different sets of data that started to make a case for the current state of the cultural economy - a report from the NEA laying out just how bad things got in the depths of 2020 (and hinting at some initial recovery in 2021) - and the first time The Broadway League reported individual show grosses since Broadway reopened.

New data points show that the theatre industry is once again at an inflection point - first, data backs up the anecdotal sense that the recovery from the pandemic shutdown has been uneven across the globe, and across different regions within countries. With pandemic response being handled on a local level, this uneven recovery is not surprising.

The announcement of the Tony Awards and the return of the BC/EFA Red Bucket campaign brought a huge sense of normalcy back to the theatre industry last week - unfortunately this week, we were also reminded how far the industry has to go in establishing the new normal with the release of Actors Equity Association’s latest Diversity and Inclusion report.