Season tickets for the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (ISF) 2023 season will be available for purchase beginning, Tuesday, February 14. Individual tickets will be available beginning March 21.
An exciting 46th season has been planned featuring two Shakespeare plays—one comedy and one tragedy—as well as a contemporary play about the publication of Shakespeare’s First Folio. All plays will run in repertory.
The season will launch June 23, 2023, with The Comedy of Errors, last performed at the Festival in 2013. One of Shakespeare’s earliest works, The Comedy of Errors is a farcical tale of separated twins and mistaken identities. This comedic romp is an ISF favorite that includes madcap bawdiness, love at first sight, unexpected reunions, and happily-ever-afters. The Comedy of Errors is directed by Doug Finlayson.
What follows is the ISF premiere of The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson, the most produced living playwright in America in recent years. Gunderson’s award-winning The Book of Will asks the audience to consider a literary world that would be without Shakespeare’s First Folio and the iconic characters contained therein. The First Folio was printed in 1623 and compiled by actors Henry Condell and John Heminges, who banded together to beg, borrow, and align themselves with unsavory publishers to save their friend’s work. Set amid the noise and color of 1620s London, The Book of Will presents a story of love, loss, and laughter. The Book of Will is directed by Lori Adams.
The final performance in repertory will be The Tempest, last performed in 2010 and one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote. In The Tempest, the banished noble Prospero harnesses the power of an otherworldly island to conjure a storm and torment the survivors of a shipwreck that includes the King of Naples and Prospero’s treacherous brother, Antonio. Prospero seeks revenge but discovers forgiveness and generosity in this tale full of magical spirits. The Tempest is directed by Chris Anthony.
Patrons can also anticipate other beloved staples of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival experience including a Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) production, Summer Camps for Youth, the annual John Stevens Memorial Golf Outing on Monday, June 19, and the unforgettable end of season Bard Bash and Cabaret on Sunday, August 6.
Founded in 1978, the Illinois Shakespeare Festival is the professional theatre at Illinois State University’s Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts.
For more information, visit IllinoisShakes.com or call the ISF Box Office at (309) 438-2535.
