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We are a non-profit group of Chicago Shakespeare enthusiasts committed to performing all 34 of Shakespeare's plays until we have done them all! We believe Shakespeare can be for anyone, by anyone. Come take the Oath!

A poster of the play Henry III, an abridged play of William Shakespeare. 14 actos keeping their heads while swapping roles. The best play you'll never see twice. One of Shakespeare's "best plays". Not to be confused with the plays Henry IV*, Henry V**, Henry VI***. Gawk at Queen Elizabeth in person! Henry VIII like you've never yet seen. All may not be true. Ify ou ignore all the others. Henry IV coming 2045, Henry V coming 2051, Henry VI coming 2029. At all!
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When we founded SBO, we made an oath to do all of Shakespeare’s plays, even the bad ones.

Well, it’s finally time to do one of the bad ones — Henry VIII. Frankly, we couldn’t be more excited!

This year, SBO will be injecting the chaos and energy of short-form improv into the work of William Shakespeare, with games, audience participation, and more to make light work of what some might describe as a slog of a play. The biggest twist … the SBO players will train and rehearse to perform any role in the play, and each performance will be cast in front of the audience at the beginning of the show. For fans of Shakespeare, this is a very rare opportunity to see Henry VIII performed live (it’s not uncommon for there to be zero productions of this show in a given year). For everyone else, it’s a guaranteed good time!

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