Civil Strife is the stunning conclusion of the ultimate game of thrones, Tug of War—Chicago Shakespeare Theater Artistic Director Barbara Gaines' singular distillation of six Shakespeare masterworks into two action-packed dramas. Power plays, ego, lust, humor and, yes, even love: no writer surpassed Shakespeare in portraying the forces that drive leaders to war—or the wisdom and valor of the common soldier. Twenty-two actors including a four-member band, form the company that will satisfy your craving for a multi-episode immersion into some of the most brilliant stories of the cyclical human condition. Picking up where Tug of War: Foreign Fire left off, focus shifts to the home front in Civil Strife, as family divisions launch a country at war with itself in Henry VI, Parts 2 and 3 and Richard III—and nobility and commoners alike pay the price.