Sophomore English Honors classes headed to the Chicago Shakespeare theater to enjoy The Taming of the Shrew.

Students were supposed to leave at around 7:45 am, however, buses ran late.

“We waited by the front of the school for about another 45 minutes just waiting for the bus.” said sophomore Ciara White.

Once buses arrived, it was about an hour and a half drive all the way to Navy Pier. When students arrived, they headed straight to the theater. For many students, this was their first time at Chicago Shakespeare.

“I’ve been to Navy Pier many times before, and I knew of the theater, but that was my first time actually going inside,” said sophomore Rhea Sienes.

Ushers brought students to the lobby, where there was the Education Director introduced what made Chicago Shakespeare so unique. Instead of the traditional stage, they modeled it to mimic what stages were usually like back to when Shakespeare performed.

This included 3 tiers of seating, one ground floor, and 2 overlooking the stage. Students from Grayslake North sat on the second tier.

“I had never sat in a theater like that before. It was a cool experience to have a view from above,” said sophomore Natalie Grzesik.

Soon after arriving the play began. The cast was entirely women, which contradicted the tradition of only men. It was a frame story of the Chicago’s Women’s Club in 1919, during the peak of the women’s suffrage movement.Which a late director had added those scenes into Shakespeare’s original play the Taming Of the Shrew

“It was cool to see that the play would switch from Shakespeare to modern English. At first it was hard to follow,”Sienes said, “but I quickly got used to it.”

The plot included lots of drama, comedy, and romance between the characters, and the message of women having the right to vote touched some of the students.

“I truly loved the theme of the power of women that they had included to a play that completely contradicted that idea,” said Ciara White.

Once the play had ended, students went to the Oasis for lunch, while teachers had asked around for opinions.

“I really enjoyed it, and I hope to be back soon,” said Grzesik.