Mission

We make Shakespeare accessible by offering free and donation-based workshops and performances. People of all experience levels are welcome at our events.

We build community by uplifting the work of other Shakespeare companies and creating spaces for Shakespeareans to gather. Friendships made through WiCS continue outside of the rehearsal room.

We foster innovation by bringing new ideas to Chicago. Our whirlwind, day-and-a-half rehearsal process is rooted in historical performance practices and lessons from the east coast punk Shakespeare scene.

Will you join us?

Team

Elizabeth Jay

Co-Founder

Elizabeth Jay (she/her) began studying original practice Shakespeare with the Atlanta Shakespeare Company at the age of twelve and made her professional debut there at sixteen. She is an artistic associate with Elsewhere Shakespeare Company and would be an actor-combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors if she remembered to pay dues.

Her favorite roles include Iago, Rosalind, Edmund, Menenius, and Catherine in Proof even though it isn’t by Shakespeare. Favorite directing credits include King Lear, the modern world premiere of William Davenant’s The Cruel Brother in collaboration with Digital Renaissance Editions, and a staged reading of D.A. Mindell’s “The Merchant of Venice” by William Shakespeare (or at least our best approximation) for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

When she’s not onstage or backstage, you can usually find her in the audience with a camera. She holds a PhD from Duke University and has received awards for both her research and her teaching. Most importantly, she made a Hamlet meme that went really viral in 2017. Yes, that one.

Jenna Thomas

Co-Founder

Jenna is a Chicago native and happy to be back in the city! She graduated from Emerson College in 2026 with a BFA in stage and production management. 

Jenna found her love for Shakespeare while participating in the Prague Shakespeare Summer Intensive stage managing Measure for Measure and The Comedy of Errors. Jenna then joined Elsewhere Shakespeare where she got bit by the acting bug and became an artistic associate.

Emerson College credits include: Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (2nd Assistant Stage Manager), The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (1st Assistant Stage Manager), Tanner Maverick’s Book of Sound (Stage Manager), Jelly’s Last Jam (Co Stage Manager).

Other credits include: Moonbox Production’s LATE: A New Musical [A Developmental Production] (Assistant Stage Manager). 420 Shakespeare’s 420 Frankenstein (Rehearsal Stage Manager)

When she is not working on shows, you may find Jenna playing volleyball as a setter/right side!

Comrades

Elsewhere Shakespeare Company
The Shakespeare Forum