This Just In: The following is a news release written by an arts organization, submitted to Chicago On the Aisle.

• At Chicago Shakespeare Theater, two productions of Othello illustrate the exciting range of interpretations for a single text: Jonathan Munby’s modern staging of Shakespeare’s tragedy in the Courtyard Theater through April 10, and the Q Brothers’ award-winning hip-hop “ad-rap-tation” Othello: The Remix created with Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Creative Producer Rick Boynton in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. Othello: The Remix returns to Chicago April 12-May 8 after international tours to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, South Korea, New Zealand, Poland, the United Arab Emirates and beyond.
• Chicago Shakespeare’s Artistic Director Barbara Gaines’ reimagined six-play history cycle Tug of War is in rehearsal, preparing to take the stage for the first of two highly anticipated events: Foreign Fire, opening May 12, to be followed by Civil Strife, opening September 14.The dynamic ensemble cast performs over 100 characters ranging from kings to commoners throughout the action-packed drama spanning more than a century of British history. A vibrant musical soundscape encompasses music from Bach and the blues, to contemporary pop and rock anthems.
• The Gift Theatre Company‘s highly acclaimed Richard III, featuring Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton in the title role, is presented in the Steppenwolf Garage, in partnership with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, through May 1. On April 23, the production will be livestreamed via Periscope for audiences worldwide.
  • Chicago Symphony Orchestra fills the month of April with Shakespeare-inspired works of classical music conducted by Maestro Riccardo Muti at Symphony Center, including:
    • Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet featuring international superstars Ekaterina Gubanova, Paul Groves and Dmitry Belosselskiy,April 7-9.
    • Tchaikovsky’s overtures for Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest, along with Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, performingApril 14-24.
    • Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff, April 21-26. Singing the title role is Ambrogio Maestri, “the most sought after Falstaff singer of his time” (The New York Times).
• The Supernatural Shakespeare exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago launches April 10 and is on display through October 10. The artistic exhibition brings the Bard’s mischievous witches and faeries to the fore.
• Culinary Complete Works translates the 38 plays of Shakespeare through the talents of 38 chefs in restaurants across the city throughout 2016. Curated by star restaurateur and tastemaker Alpana Singh and developed with Chicago Shakespeare Creative Producer Rick Boynton, each participating chef will artfully interpret one of Shakespeare’s plays through food. Offerings available in April include:
  • Kevin Cudihee, TWO — Antony and Cleopatra
  • Jimmy Ferguson, Jimmy Jamm’s Sweet Potato Café — The Merry Wives of Windsor
  • John Manion, La Sirena Clandestina — Othello
  • Tony Priolo, Piccolo Sogno — Troilus and Cressida
• On April 28, University of California, Davis Professor Gina Bloom will introduce her new highly interactive digital gameat Northwestern University, Play the Knave, in which everyone has a chance to design, direct and act in scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, karaoke-style. A motion capture camera maps each player’s movements onto a 3D avatar that mirrors their gestures.
• Throughout the month of April, thousands of students across the region will experience the tour of Chicago Shakespeare’s abridgement, Short Shakespeare! Twelfth Night.
• High school students and teachers from 50 Chicago public, private and parochial schools will begin the first phase of Battle of the Bard–developed in partnership with Chicago Youth Shakespeare–in which students will perform scenes plus their own creative mash-ups from the canon in a slam-style arena.
• Chicago Public Library’s Check Out Shakespeare initiative offers screenings of Shakespeare and Shakespeare-inspired films; a new Shakespeare Read-Aloud Book Club; special online resources that offer historical information about Shakespeare and his works; and even a chance to learn to talk like Shakespeare.
• City Desk 400 correspondents from ten of Chicago’s world-class universities will respond online to the remarkable body of artistic work encompassed by Shakespeare 400 Chicago.
• Worldwide celebrations of the playwright will reach the pinnacle on Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23, 2016, which also marks the 400th anniversary of his death. Shakespeare 400 Chicago joins in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s observance ofTalk Like Shakespeare Day, an occasion for citizens from Chicago and across the globe to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday by bringing the spoken words of the playwright into their daily lives. Penning 154 sonnets and 38 plays, Shakespeare is credited with contributing over 1,700 words and phrases to the English language-including “bedazzled,” “swagger” and “new-fangled.”
• Chicago Shakespeare will host GALA 2016, which will draw five hundred of the city’s civic and cultural leaders to CST’s home on Navy Pier to enjoy theatrical-inspired décor and living art installations. Proceeds from the event directly support Chicago Shakespeare in Urban Classrooms and Communities–the Theater’s nationally recognized education programs and Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks tour.