Hall heads to Chicago as Artistic Director

EDWARD HALL has been appointed Artistic Director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He will take up the post in mid-October. 

An international theatre, film and television director, Hall is the son of British theatre director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Sir PETER HALL.

For nearly a decade from 2010, Edward Hall was Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of London’s Hampstead Theatre, where he rescued the theatre from near bankruptcy and led the company through a period of transformation.

During his tenure at Hampstead, he produced over 100 world premieres, championed wider accessibility in the theatre industry and introduced initiatives for new writing and early career playwrights.

Previously, he directed plays for the RSC and founded the ensemble-based Propeller Theatre Company, performing Shakespeare in the West End and on tour internationally. 

His appointment to Chicago Shakespeare Theatre marks a homecoming for Hall, who maintained a close relationship with the company since directing there in 2002.

Hall succeeds BARBARA GAINES, who stepped down last month after 37 years at the helm. 

“I am honored and excited to be entrusted with the responsibility of building on Barbara Gaines’ extraordinary legacy,” Hall said. 

“Chicago Shakespeare Theater has always held a special place in my life both as an inspiring theater to work at and as an institution that delivers a brilliantly dynamic and broad range of work to a diverse audience in Chicago and beyond.”