First Folio Theatre

41°48′09″N 87°57′13″W / 41.802484°N 87.953491°W / 41.802484; -87.953491

First Folio Theatre was a not-for-profit theater company affiliated with the Actors' Equity Association. Founded in 1996, First Folio, originally named First Folio Shakespeare Festival, was located on the grounds of the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States. First Folio utilized the "Folio Method" as developed by Patrick Tucker (at one time of the Royal Shakespeare Company), who first introduced his approach to American actors, directors and teachers in a series of workshops sponsored by the Riverside Shakespeare Company of New York City at The Shakespeare Center beginning in 1982, which led to an awakened interest in the First Folio.^[1]^[2]

The Folio Method employs the text of William Shakespeare's First Folio to illuminate the textual clues for the actors and the audience.

First Folio Theatre was listed as a Major Festival in the book Shakespeare Festivals Around the World by Marcus D. Gregio (Editor), 2004.

After 25 years in operation, First Folio Theatre ceased operations with its last performance in February 2023, due to the retirement of its Founding Executive Director David Rice. https://firstfolio.org/26th-season-preview/

Performance venues

First Folio Theatre performed in the Event Hall of the historic Mayslake Peabody Estate. Its first venue was its outdoor stage, built in 1997 and located adjacent to the beautiful Portiuncula Chapel. Lawn seating allowed up to 500 audience members to enjoy a picnic while they watched Shakespeare-under-the-stars. The second venue was First Folio's chamber theater, opened in 2004 and located in the formal library of Mayslake Hall. With seating for 80, this venue was used for more intimate productions. The third venue was the Event Hall, opened in 2008 and located in the Retreat Wing of Mayslake Hall. This venue seated up to 130 and was First Folio's primary indoor venue through 2023.

Educational outreach

Along with their formal stagings, First Folio's Educational Outreach program also offered four educational touring shows and an artist-in-residence program. The four touring shows included Master Shakespeare and His Stories, designed for grade-school aged children; Shakespeare's Warring and Wooing, The Fifty Minute Midsummer Night's Dream, and Edgar Allan Poe and the Tell-Tale Heart, all geared toward middle and high school students. First Folio gave over 250 performances of their touring shows for over 125,000 students throughout Illinois and Iowa. These programs were included in the Illinois Arts Council's Arts Tour Roster. First Folio's outreach program was chosen as the Artists-in-Residence for the Quad Cities Arts Program in November 2006.

Past performances

2000

2001

Macbeth
As You Like It

2002

Antigone
Twelfth Night

2003

The Comedy of Errors

2004

Hamlet
A Midsummer Night's Dream

2005

2006

Private Lives
The Tempest
The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story

2007

Angel Street
Richard III
The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story

2008

2009

2010

Jeeves in Bloom
Will Rogers: An American Original
Twelfth Night
The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe

2011

2012

Unnecessary Farce
The Turn of the Screw
The Merchant of Venice
Shylock and His Daughter
The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe

2013

Jeeves Takes a Bow
Underneath the Lintel
Cymbeline: A Musical Folktale
The Rainmaker

2014

Rough Crossing
Salvage
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Gravedigger

2015

Laughter on the 23rd Floor
Love, Loss, and What I Wore
The Winter's Tale
The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe

2022-2023 season

Jeeves Intervenes
Louisa May Alcott's Little Women
And Neither Have I Wings to Fly
Twelfth Night (canceled)

References

^ Patrick Tucker, the author of Secrets of Acting Shakespeare: The Original Approach (Routledge Press, November, 2001), brought his first Acting Shakespeare workshop to New York City in the early 1980s, hosted by the Riverside Shakespeare Company.
^ The First Folio of Shakespeare, Introduction by Doug Mostin, Applause Books, 1995, p. vii. Also see First Folio

[1] Patrick Tucker, the author of Secrets of Acting Shakespeare: The Original Approach (Routledge Press, November, 2001), brought his first Acting Shakespeare workshop to New York City in the early 1980s, hosted by the Riverside Shakespeare Company.

[2] The First Folio of Shakespeare, Introduction by Doug Mostin, Applause Books, 1995, p. vii. Also see First Folio

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