Free Shakespeare in the Park at Ping Tom

When: Saturday, September 4, 2021 from 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Where: Tom (Ping) Memorial Park, 1700 S. Wentworth Ave.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater celebrates the 10th anniversary of Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks with a return to outdoor, in-person performances.

The re-imagined summer tour will bring a new take on a Shakespeare play to select Chicago parks. Neighborhood artists, musicians, and dancers will take center stage alongside actors to create a multidisciplinary, multilingual, and wholly unique artistic event celebrating resiliency and connection.

Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks will launch the Theater’s new, year-round program that responds to and engages with neighborhoods and community partners.

In accordance with Be Safe Chicago Guidelines for Parks and Recreation Activities, participants in this activity will be required to wear a mask and practice social distancing at all times while participating. Patrons who are exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 are asked to stay home and join us for an event when symptoms subside

History of Ping Tom Park (redacted from Chicago Park District website)

The Chicago Park District acquired the site for Ping Tom Memorial Park in 1991. For years, Chinatown lacked of open space and recreational facilities. The only nearby parks, Hardin Square and Stanford Park, had been demolished 30 years earlier to make way for the Dan Ryan Expressway.

Ping Tom Memorial Park’s 12-acre site was originally a Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad yard. In 1998, the Chicago Park District began transforming the old rail-yard into a beautiful park with river views, a children’s playground, community gathering areas, and Chinese landscape design elements.

The park was named in honor of the leading force behind its creation, Chinatown’s most noted civic leader, Ping Tom (1935-1995). A lifelong resident of Chinatown, Ping Tom formed the Chinese American Development Corporation in 1984. The private real estate firm transformed a 32-acre rail yard site into Chinatown Square a residential and commercial expansion of Chinatown.

In 2002, the Chicago Park District acquired 5 additional acres on the northeast side of the park. Landscape improvements to the expanded area of Ping Tom Memorial Park will soon follow.