Chicago Shakespeare Theater Presents Much Ado About Nothing November 18 Through December 21, 2025

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Casting announced for 

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Selina Cadell

Just in time for the holiday season, Shakespeare’s wittiest rom-com is “as merry as the day is long!”

Running November 18‑December 21 in the Courtyard Theater

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces the cast and creative team for Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s wittiest rom-com playing just in time for the holiday season, November 18-December 21. Beatrice is living it up as a fiercely independent woman who answers to no man. Benedick is an avowed bachelor with no plans to settle down. But when these stubborn singles finally meet their match under the sultry Sicilian sun, who can resist romance? Linguistic fireworks and a hilarious battle of wits dazzle in the original “enemies-to-lovers" rom-com. Staged by famed director Selina Cadell, you’ll be transported on holiday to the warm embrace of the Italian countryside in CST’s Jentes Family Courtyard Theater, considered one of the finest spaces to experience Shakespeare’s stories live in performance. Deborah Hay and Craig Bierko star as Beatrice and Benedick, leading an exceptionally talented ensemble cast that also features Debo Balogun, Mark Bedard, Joey Chelius, Sean Fortunato, Kevin Gudahl, Suzanne Hannau, Colin Huerta, Samuel B. Jackson, Mi Kang, Jaylon Muchison, Felicia Oduh, Yona Moises Olivares, Jeff Parker, and Tiffany Scott.

“Much Ado About Nothing is a wonderfully well-rounded, mature, romantic story which embraces all the ridiculous ups and downs of our own behavior when we're in the throes of deep feeling,” shared Artistic Director Edward Hall. “It also offers some of Shakespeare’s wittiest prose and most dazzling language. A truly warm and inviting treat for audiences during the holiday season.”

Director Selina Cadell stated, “In a turbulent world, where charm turns on a dime to hot-headed decisions and disproven assumptions, Much Ado About Nothing is a play for our times, reflecting the tangles of a powerful patriarchy and the wrongful accusations made when power and reputation take precedent over listening and truth. Shakespeare balances this tragic lens with comedy and compassion, as Beatrice and Benedick guide themselves and us through the obstacles that can thwart enduring love.”

In the role of Beatrice, Deborah Hay returns to Chicago Shakespeare after appearing in As You Like It and The School for Lies. Her other credits include nine seasons at the Shaw Festival and seven seasons at the Stratford Festival. Craig Bierko makes his Chicago Shakespeare debut in the role of Benedick, with Broadway credits including The Music Man (Tony Award nomination), Guys and Dolls, Matilda the Musical, and Girl from the North Country. The company also includes Debo Balogun (Richard III, Measure for Measure at CST), Mark Bedard (All’s Well That Ends Well, Richard III at CST), Joey Chelius (Sunny Afternoon at CST), Sean Fortunato (multiple CST credits, including Sunny Afternoon, Henry V, and Richard III), Kevin Gudahl (multiple CST credits, including The Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure, and As You Like It), Suzanne Hannau (The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale at CST), Colin Huerta (CST debut, with credits at The Colony Theatre, Jackalope Theater, and DePaul University), Samuel B. Jackson (CST debut, with credits at Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Black Ensemble Theatre), Mi Kang (CST debut, with credits at Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, and TimeLine Theatre), Jaylon Muchison (Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V at CST), Felicia Oduh (Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet and Measure for Measure at CST), Yona Moises Olivares (CST debut, with credits at Steppenwolf Theatre, About Face Theatre, and Remy Bumppo), Jeff Parker (The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale, As You Like It, The King’s Speech and more at CST), and Tiffany Scott (The King’s Speech, Sense and Sensibility, and more at CST).

Director Selina Cadell is an acclaimed director and actress. She directed Eddie Izzard’s Hamlet, which saw a record-breaking run at Chicago Shakespeare last year, and also directed Izzard in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. Her other directing credits include Love for Love (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Life I Lead (West End), The Double Dealer (Orange Tree London), The Rivals (Arcola London), The Way of the World and The Rake’s Progress (Wilton’s London). As an actor, her many credits include Top Girls (NYC) /Obie Award, Stanley (NYC), The Madness of King George (NYC), Twelfth Night, The Cherry Orchard (NYC), and A Monster Calls (London), and she has been seen on TV in Midsomer Murders, Queens of Mystery, Poirot, and Doc Martin (Mrs. Tishell). Cadell also runs an opera company with Eliza Thompson, OperaGlass Works, which released a filmed version of La Traviata earlier this year.

The creative team for Much Ado About Nothing also includes Amber Mak (Movement Director), Tom Piper (Scenic and Costume Designer), Jason Lynch (Lighting Designer), Nicholas Pope (Sound Designer), Eliza Thompson (Composer), Bob Mason (Casting), Nathan Allen (Associate Director), Jinni Pike (Production Stage Manager), Katrina Herrmann (Assistant Stage Manager), and Tuesday Thacker (Production Assistant)

PERFORMANCES

Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. (no matinee November 19, no evening performance November 26)

Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. (no performance on Thanksgiving, November 27)

Fridays at 7:00 p.m.

Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (no matinee November 22)

Sundays at 2:00 p.m. (plus 6:30 p.m. on November 30)

More information at chicagoshakes.com/muchado or on social media at @chicagoshakes.


CREATIVE TEAM

Selina Cadell - Director
Amber Mak - Movement Director
Tom Piper - Scenic and Costume Designer
Jason Lynch - Lighting Designer
Nicholas Pope - Sound Designer
Eliza Thompson - Composer
Bob Mason - Casting
Nathan Allen - Associate Director
Jinni Pike - Production Stage Manager
Katrina Herrmann - Assistant Stage Manager
Tuesday Thacker - Production Assistant


CAST
Debo Balogun - Don Pedro
Mark Bedard - Don John
Craig Bierko - Benedick
Joey Chelius - Messenger / Second Watch
Sean Fortunato - Dogberry
Kevin Gudahl - Leonato
Suzanne Hannau - First Watch
Deborah Hay - Beatrice
Colin Huerta - Conrade
Samuel B. Jackson - Claudio
Mi Kang - Hero
Jaylon Muchison - Friar / Verges / Balthasar
Felicia Oduh - Ursula
Yona Moises Olivares - Borachio
Jeff Parker - Antonio / Sexton
Tiffany Scott - Margaret
Will Burdin - Understudy
Jonathan Gillard Daly – Understudy
Caroline Kidwell - Understudy
Josh Zambrano - Understudy


CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER (CST)

CST is a leading international theater company and the nation’s largest year-round theater dedicated to the works of Shakespeare. Under the visionary leadership of Artistic Director Edward Hall and Executive Director Kimberly Motes, the Regional Tony Award recipient is committed to creating vivid, entertaining theatrical experiences that invigorate and engage people of all ages and identities by illuminating the complexity, ambiguity, and wonder of our world. Each year, nearly a quarter of a million people experience CST’s artistry through more than 12 productions. With Shakespeare at the heart of the artistic work, CST also produces compelling, contemporary stories from fresh voices of today. CST brings the world to Chicago and sends Chicago out into the world as Chicago’s foremost presenter of international theater, and consistent producer of North American and world premieres. Serving more students and teachers than any theater in the city, CST annually welcomes more than 20,000 students to performances and programs like Chicago Shakespeare SLAM, alongside professional development opportunities for teachers. CST activates its campus with three venues: 700-seat The Yard; the 500-seat Jentes Family Courtyard Theater; and the 200-seat Carl and Marilynn Thoma Upstairs Studio. Free programs like Shakes in the City bring performances to parks and community spaces across Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods. Shared humanity and unforgettable stories—now THIS is Chicago Shakespeare. www.chicagoshakes.com

SAVE THE DATE: Three-time Jeff Award winner Ron OJ Parson to direct Hymn at Chicago Shakespeare Theater April 29–May 25

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Three-time Jeff Award winner Ron OJ Parson to direct 

Hymn

Olivier Award winner Lolita Chakrabarti  re-sets her acclaimed play in Chicago

April 29–May 25 in the Courtyard Theater

Three-time Jeff Award winner, Ron OJ Parson and Hymn, Olivier Award winner, Lolita Chakrabarti

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announces renowned Chicago director Ron OJ Parson will helm the North American premiere of Lolita Chakrabarti’s Hymn, making his CST directorial debut. Chakrabarti has re-imagined her play in the South Side of Chicago, following an acclaimed premiere at London’s Almeida Theatre. The creative team also includes scenic and projection designer Rasean Davonté Johnson, costume designer Yvonne Miranda, lighting designer Jason Lynch, and sound designer and composer Willow James. The production runs April 29–May 25, 2025 in the Jentes Family Courtyard Theater. 

Hymn charts the lives of two middle-aged Black men as they form a deep bond in an intimate exploration of the loyalties and betrayals of brothers, fathers, and sons. The play received five-star reviews in its UK premiere from The Observer, The Daily Mail, and WhatsOnStage, which hailed it as “mind-blowingly excellent.”

“I wanted to write a story of two Black men who find love with each other—a familial, platonic love,” says Chakrabarti. “My own male friends have often surprised me with their sensitivity, femininity, fussiness, insecurities, fun, kindness, and warmth—the list goes on. Hymn was born out of my desire to tell a different story. To reframe this play for Chicago is very exciting indeed, and I believe it will lend itself beautifully to this city’s rich culture.”

CST artistic director Edward Hall said, "In my brief time in Chicago it has not taken me long to get acquainted with the work of the brilliant Ron OJ Parson. Both Lolita and I felt he was the missing piece in this delicate jigsaw, and I am deeply happy that the play resonated so powerfully with him. This will be Ron’s Chicago Shakespeare debut, and I am delighted to be welcoming the director of such a huge and important body of work into our company."

“I’ve long admired the work at Chicago Shakespeare, during my theater journey here in Chicago,” said Parson. “I am truly honored to be working on Hymn by world-renowned playwright Lolita Chakrabarti. As my journey continues, what better play than a play about brothers, family, love, faith, and hope. What the world needs a lot of. Peace.”

Lolita Chakrabarti won the Olivier Award for Best New Play for her adaptation of Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi, which later went on to a Tony Award-winning Broadway run and a national tour. Her adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the West End last year. Chakrabarti’s debut play Red Velvet enjoyed an acclaimed run at CST in 2017.

Ron OJ Parson is the co-founder and former artistic director of Onyx Theatre Ensemble, a resident artist at Court Theatre, and an ensemble member at TimeLine Theatre. In 2022, he received the Zelda Fichandler Award from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation and was recognized as the Chicago Tribune’s Chicagoan of the Year for Theater. He has won three Jeff Awards for directing for Relentless at TimeLine Theatre, and Blues for an Alabama Sky and Fences at Court Theatre. Other credits include East Texas Hot Links, The Lion In Winter, Arsenic and Old Lace, Two Trains Running, King Hedley II, Radio Golf, Five Guys Named Moe, Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars, Jitney, and The Piano Lesson at Court Theatre, Trouble in Mind, Too Heavy For Your Pocket, and A Raisin in the Sun at TimeLine Theatre Company, Toni Stone and Sweat at Goodman Theatre, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and East Texas Hot Links at Writers Theatre.

Parson is joined on the creative team by scenic and projection designer Rasean Davonté Johnson, a two-time Jeff Award winner returning to Chicago Shakespeare after Measure for Measure and It Came From Outer Space, with other recent credits including Romeo and Juliet at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Lucha Teotl at Goodman Theatre, and Her Honor Jane Byrne at Lookingglass Theatre; costume designer Yvonne Miranda, who makes her CST debut with recent credits including Leroy & Lucy at Steppenwolf Theatre, Primary Trust at Goodman Theatre, and The Hot Wing King at Writers Theatre; lighting designer Jason Lynch, a Jeff Award winner returning to CST after Beauty and the Beast, with other credits including Layalina and the ripple, the wave that carried me home at Goodman Theatre and Choir Boy at Steppenwolf Theatre; and sound designer and composer Willow James, who returns to CST after Twelfth Night, with other credits including A Christmas Carol, The Penelopiad, and The Nacirema Society at Goodman Theatre.

More information at chicagoshakes.com/hymn or on social media at @chicagoshakes.  

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER (CST)

A Regional Tony Award recipient, Chicago Shakespeare Theater produces a bold and innovative year-round season that includes Shakespeare, original plays, musicals, family programming, and international theatrical events. CST is committed to serving as a cultural center across its three stages—the 700+ seat Yard, 500 seat Jentes Family Courtyard Theater, and the 200 seat Carl and Marilynn Thoma Upstairs Studio as well as in classrooms, neighborhoods, and venues around the world. CST has a deep commitment to education and lifelong learning with robust programming for students, teachers, and lifelong learners, and engagement with communities across the city. Onstage, in classrooms and neighborhoods across the city, and in venues around the world, Chicago Shakespeare is a multifaceted theater—inviting audiences, artists, and community members to share powerful stories that illuminate the complexities, ambiguities, and wonders of our world. www.chicagoshakes.com