Chicago Shakespeare's 2009-10 Season Has Shrew, Vanya, Richard III, Druid and More

Visits by acclaimed international companies are expected: Ireland's Druid, France's Ilotopie and Russia's Maly Drama Theatre are part of the season's mix the CST's World Stage Series.

Here's the CST 2009-10 season at glance:

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Barbara Gaines directs Richard III, Shakespeare's tale of the brilliant hunchback and witty manipulator who seduces and murders his way to the English throne." Sept. 23-Nov. 22. Courtyard Theater.

Associate artistic director Gary Griffin (The Color Purple) directs Noel Coward's Private Lives, a tale of a divorced couple who reunite on adjoining hotel balconies — on the honeymoons of their second marriages. Jan. 6-March 7, 2010. Courtyard Theater.

The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare's comedy of unconventional courtship between fortune-seeking Petruchio and fiery Katherina. April 7-June 6, 2010. Courtyard Theater. World's Stage Series

Ilotopie, "a French troupe which specializes in the creation of waterborne theatrical wonders," visits. The acclaimed company has performed on the Thames in London, the River Seine in Paris and will make their American debut with Water Fools (Fous de Bassin) in Chicago on Lake Michigan off the east end of Navy Pier. "Chicago's aquatic front yard will be transformed into a world where cars drive on water, heads burst into flames and a 12-foot tall lady glides by on a penny-farthing." Aug. 21-22, 2009. Navy Pier.

CST hosts Druid, one of Ireland's major theatre companies, with their acclaimed production of Enda Walsh's tragic comedy, The Walworth Farce. "This biting social commentary disguised as a traditional high farce played to sold out houses at the National Theatre in Great Britain and garnered an Edinburgh Fringe First Award." Oct. 28-Nov. 1. Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare.

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Anton Chekhov will be Uncle Vanya and the Chicago debut of Russia's Maly Drama Theatre of Saint Petersburg. Led by artistic director Lev Dodin, the Maly Drama Theatre has found worldwide acclaim for this production of Chekhov's classic. March 17-21, 2010. Courtyard Theater. CST Family

Expect a summer 2009 production of Disney's Aladdin, based on the 1992 award-winning animated film and complete with the original music, including "A Whole New World" and "Friend Like Me." Devanand Janki directs. July 1-Aug. 30. Courtyard Theater.

Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors, adapted and directed by David Bell, on Saturday and Sunday mornings. A 75-minute abridgment of Shakespeare's first comedy introduces young people and their families to the theatrical genius of CST's resident playwright. Saturdays and Sundays at 11 AM, Jan. 23-March 7, 2010. Courtyard Theater. For more information on all Chicago Shakespeare Theater productions and to purchase subscriptions and tickets online, visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com or call the Theater's box office at (312) 595-5600.

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