NAVY PIER — Hundreds of high school and college students from the Chicago area experienced a memorable evening Thursday night at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where actor Ian McKellen appeared to share stories from his roles in X-Men and Lord of the Rings, alongside powerful Shakespearean monologues. This Ian McKellen Chicago appearance offered a unique blend of popular culture and classical theater that engaged the young audience deeply.
McKellen’s Historic Ties and Purpose Behind the Visit
Ian McKellen’s visit to Chicago holds a personal connection with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Artistic Director, Edward Hall, whose father, Sir Peter Hall, founded the Royal Shakespeare Company in England. Kimberly Motes, the theater’s executive director, explained that this longstanding friendship inspired McKellen’s involvement.
“So [Edward Hall] has known [McKellen] a long time and asked him if him would come over and help promote Shakespeare in America … [McKellen] said he would love to come and he wanted to do a performance for young people. It was his idea, because he does a lot of work with young people,”
she said.
The theater invited educators from local schools with whom they had close ties to bring their students, ensuring a wide and diverse student audience from across the city and surrounding areas.
A Night Celebrating Stories Old and New
The event began with McKellen captivating the crowd by performing a scene from The Fellowship of the Ring, featuring Gandalf’s iconic “You Shall Not Pass” moment. He humorously engaged with the students by asking,
“Before it was made into all those movies, did you know that ‘Lord of the Rings’ was actually a book?”
Throughout the evening, McKellen shared anecdotes from his vast career, including his parts in the X-Men series and the Lord of the Rings films. When cameras caught his reference to the less successful film adaptation of Cats, he quipped,
“Do tell me you never saw it,”
prompting laughter from the crowd.
At 86 years old, McKellen confirmed that he remains active in filmmaking and shared plans involving upcoming projects. He revealed,
“I just got the call to go to New Zealand,”
referencing his return to the site of the Lord of the Rings movies. He also mentioned working alongside Patrick Stewart and Robert Downey Jr. in the soon-to-be-released Doomsday, though he maintained secrecy about the plot:
“I’m not allowed to tell you the plot of ‘Doomsday,’ which is just as well because I didn’t understand it.”
Bringing Shakespeare to Life for a New Generation
While McKellen’s blockbuster film roles were a major highlight, he continuously emphasized his passion for Shakespeare. He performed compelling soliloquies from plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, and Richard II. His creative rendition of the celebrated Romeo and Juliet balcony scene revealed that the word “balcony” is never spoken in the script — a fact that excited the students as he enacted both Romeo and Juliet’s parts.
When asked about his most challenging Shakespearean role, McKellen singled out the jealous king in The Winter’s Tale, explaining the difficulty of depicting falling into jealousy as naturally as one falls in love.
“I wanted to see how it was all done,”
he said, reflecting on how his early exposure to theater shaped his acting ambitions. He also recalled growing up before television and how his limited access to film led him to cultivate a lifetime passion for the stage, underscored by his performance of 21 plays in three years at Cambridge University.
Interactive Theater Experience for Students
The event’s highlight was when McKellen invited students onto the stage to participate in scenes, transforming them into fallen soldiers from Henry V during a battlefield enactment. The enthusiasm was so great that stage space quickly filled. This hands-on approach gave the students direct experience with live performance, amplifying their engagement with Shakespeare’s work.
The evening concluded with McKellen reciting the poignant Thomas More monologue, The Strangers’ Case, which addresses themes of compassion amid harsh immigration policies:
“Imagine that you see the wretched strangers
Their babies at their backs and their poor luggage
Plodding to the ports and coasts for transportation
As that you sit as kings in your desires …
This is the strangers’ case
And this your mountainous inhumanity.”
Community Impact and Future Cultural Engagements
This Ian McKellen Chicago appearance was his gift to the theater and city, as Kimberly Motes emphasized:
“Ian is doing this completely free. This is his gift to our theater and Chicago, and it’s been thrilling having him here this week.”
The event connected more than 22 Chicago high schools, several universities, and youth arts groups including Steppenwolf Theatre’s Young Adult Council and Goodman Theatre’s Youth Arts Council, highlighting a shared commitment to supporting arts education.
By bridging classical theater with modern film references, McKellen inspired students to explore dramatic arts in new ways, fostering enthusiasm for both Shakespeare and contemporary storytelling. His presence and engagement signal a promising future for cultural accessibility in Chicago’s educational landscape.
