Free Street Theater Brings 50 Plays To 50 Wards In One Day

50 Plays
Elijah Ruiz and Coya Paz of Free Street Theater at WBEZ on June 21, 2019. Jason Marck / WBEZ/Jason Marck
50 Plays
Elijah Ruiz and Coya Paz of Free Street Theater at WBEZ on June 21, 2019. Jason Marck / WBEZ/Jason Marck

Free Street Theater Brings 50 Plays To 50 Wards In One Day

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Patrick Henry created Free Street Theater in 1969 based on the notion that everyone deserves to be exposed to, and moved by, the power of live theater. 

So he put together a company that put on free shows in unorthodox places like parks, field houses and public housing courtyards. 

Fifty years on, Henry’s vision is still going strong, and still driven by the original mission. 

Free Street will celebrate its golden anniversary by putting on 50 plays in all 50 Chicago wards in a single day on Sunday, June 23. 

Morning Shift checks in with Free Street’s artistic director and one of it’s actors about the project.

GUESTS: Coya Paz, Artistic Director, Free Street Theater.

Elijah Ruiz, Actor