A perfect introduction to Shakespeare to audience members of all ages, Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors is a 75-minute abridged production telling the wildly chaotic story of identical twin brothers and their identical twin servants lost in a mixed-up world of mistaken identities. The cast of Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors includes: Andrew Ahrens as Antipholus of Ephesus; Alexandra Billings as Courtesan and Abbess; Brian Hamman as Dromio of Syracuse; Joel Hatch as Egeus and Luce; Michelle Hensley as Luciana; Blaine Hogan as Dromio of Ephesus; Krishna LeFan as Antipholus of Syracuse; Joe Minoso as Angelo; Jonathan Pereira in the ensemble; Gail Rastorfer as Adriana; and David Tibble as Balthazar and Duke. Tuns through Aug. 13, 2005 in Chicago Shakespeare’s Courtyard Theater. Call (312) 595-5600, www.chicagoshakes.com.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier presents a special one-night-only benefit performance of The Princess and the Pea on Monday, Aug. 1, 2005 at 7 p.m., to raise funds for Season of Concern, the Chicagoland theater community’s fundraising effort in the fight against AIDS. Already playing to family audiences nine times weekly, The Princess and the Pea is a musical adaptation of the popular Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale and stars Alexandra Billings, Don Forston, Ed Kross, Whitney Sneed, Travis Turner, and Cassie Wooley. Call (312) 595-5600.