Park goers have a laugh at Henry VIII at Wentworth Park

Shakespeare’s Henry VIII received a comedy improv twist on Saturday, July 27, at Wentworth Park, performed by the Shakespeare Blood Oath Theatre Company.

The star of the show was not Henry VIII, but his daughter Queen Elizabeth, who sat with the audience watching the show, critiquing and heckling performers for their “subpar” performances that insulted her father or mentioned his first wife. She requested Oscar-worthy performances from the actors, spun a wheel to have performers act as Star Wars characters, be immersed in the Aliens movie, or be surrounded by wiener dogs. Her majesty even inserted herself at the finale to play her child self.

Audiences were asked to boo along when performers displeased the Queen or applaud when they followed her direction. At one point, Queen Elizabeth asked audience members about their favorite TV shows—The Sopranos, Bob’s Burgers, and The Golden Girls—and then performers had to act like a character from that show while still reciting their lines. Select audience members also received free Polaroids as keepsakes.

The performers embraced the chaos, not taking themselves too seriously, talking back to her royal majesty, speeding up their lines, and getting yellow-carded for foul language.

Shakespeare Blood Oath (SBO) is a nonprofit group under Chicago Shakespeare Theatre that believes in “Shakespeare for anyone, by anyone.” This commitment to diverse theatre prompted their decision to join the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks initiative three years ago.

This summer, they’ve performed free park shows at River Park, Maplewood Park, and Kenwood Park. Wentworth Park marked SBO’s final Chicago Parks’ Night Out in the Parks show for the year.

Founders Mike Fernandez and Peyton Brown created SBO in 2019 with the goal of performing one Shakespeare play per year until all 34 are complete. They randomly drew names from a hat, redrew when they disliked the first couple of orders, and eventually went with whatever they drew. So far, seven of the 34 Shakespearean plays have been performed.

For 2026, they are performing Henry VIII, which directors, board members, and castmates consider one of Shakespeare’s weakest plays.

According to SBO board member Emerald Catron, Shakespeare was commissioned by the daughter of Queen Anne Boleyn to write about the life of Henry VIII. The play, she notes, is heavily sanitized and does not include the beheading of Queen Anne Boleyn or details about Henry VIII’s subsequent marriages.

Michael Fernandez was also the assistant director. He is from Aurora and studied theater in high school and college before moving to Chicago for DePaul University’s Film School.

He started SBO with his friend Brown because they were no longer working in theaters; starting their own company was the only way to cast and direct. Once all 34 Shakespeare shows have been performed, Fernandez will be 70. Two years ago, when they performed Twelfth Night, he got his dream role as Malvolio—a role he never would have landed otherwise.

“That’s something that just wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t started this. And it would not be where it is now if it weren’t for the fact that we’ve had people just join up and be even more passionate about the project than we are,” Fernandez said. “It’s been amazing collecting people over the years through our membership, which is anybody who’s done a play with us. You are a member for life. They have certain rights as a member within the company. We built bylaws and have 50-plus members now.”

SBO’s players include Kat Anderson, Jim Banta, Emerald Catron, Jay Greve, Louis Hirsch, Bo Johnson, Kate Kalil, James Major, Will Nelson, and Katie Wells. The players have different backgrounds and experience levels in theatre but are equally talented, having trained in all roles and playing different roles in each show. They are Chicago-based friends, comedians, and performers united by their love of performing.

The cast changes each year as people who see SBO’s shows want to get involved and are welcomed. Lara explained that four of the 14 cast members have no acting or theater background; this is their first time performing.

Director Orlando Lara has been doing improv in Chicago for the past 17 years, performing in bars, comedy clubs, Logan Square Improv, and professional theater. Most notably, he’s performed at Second City and other local Chicago venues.

Lara was roommates with Fernandez and Brown and has been involved with SBO from the beginning, appearing in every show. Henry VIII is the first one he directed, despite his candor about not being a Shakespeare fan. He joked about directing and then happily got stuck with it.

Catron also directed last year’s production of Macbeth. This year, she helped with marketing. Catron studied music and sound in undergrad, later did improv in New York City and Chicago, then earned her master’s degree in Berlin for Clown and Dance Theatre.

Beyond the love of performing, Catron reflected on performing in parks and the production’s desire to perform as far as possible from the North Side to reach a larger audience. Although they had no preference for which Chicago neighborhoods to work with, they were willing to be placed in whichever community needed arts programming.

“It’s an honor to perform for those who may never come out to a show and get to see us perform. We primarily rehearse on the Northwest Side, but my favorite neighborhoods to perform in are those like Garfield Ridge, on the edges of the city,” Catron said.

Catron called the play super silly and joked that their production company is likely the only one in the world performing Shakespeare’s Henry VIII right now. The “long” and “boring” trial scene motivated the cast to find ways to make it fun and improvisational through games, audience participation, and a twist: SBO performers are cast in front of the audience into a new role at the beginning of each show.

SBO will be performing Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar next and hopes to continue their partnership with Chicago Parks’ Night Out in the Parks, offering Chicagoans free access to theatre and the arts.