this week in shakespeare

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK BERGEN COUNTY

Who: Black Box PAC
What: Free Shakespeare in Bergen County
Where: Overpeck Park Amphitheater
When: Weekends July 23 – August 29, free, 8:00
Why: New York City has Shakespeare in the Parking Lot’s Two Noble Kinsmen, NY Classical’s King Lear with a happy ending, the Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Seize the King, and the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park presentation of Merry Wives of Windsor. But you can also catch free Bard in New Jersey, where the Black Box Performing Arts Center’s summer season begins this weekend with modern productions of Hamlet and As You Like It, continuing Thursday to Sunday through August 29 at the Overpeck Park Amphitheater in Bergen County. In addition, Black Box PAC will be hosting free “Play On!” concerts Sundays in August at the amphitheater at 4:00, including performances by Divinity & the FAM Band, Melissa Cherie, Esti Mellul, Ginny Lackey & the Hi-Fi Band, Dan Sheehan’s Rising Seas, and Andy Krikun & Jeff Doctorow. There will also be script-in-hand readings of Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew at the Englewood Public Library on Wednesdays at 8:00 from July 28 to September 1. Admission to all events is free, with no advance RSVP necessary. As Duke Orsino declares in Twelfth Night, “If music be the food of love, play on!”

SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKING LOT: TWO NOBLE KINSMEN

The Drilling Company will be back in the Clemente parking lot and Bryant Park with free presentation of Two Noble Kinsmen (photo by Hamilton Clancy)

Who: The Drilling Company
What: Free summer Shakespeare
Where: Parking lot of the Clemente, 107 Suffolk St., and Bryant Park
When: July 15-30, free, 7:00 or 7:30
Why: Indoor theater is back after the pandemic lockdown, and so is outdoor theater, including free summer Shakespeare, a birthright of New Yorkers. Among the many entries this season is the beloved Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, which has been presented by the Drilling Company since 1995. This year the troupe is staging the rarely performed Two Noble Kinsmen, what might be William Shakespeare’s final work, a collaboration with John Fletcher based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale” from The Canterbury Tales. Founding artistic director Hamilton Clancy has reimagined the play, which is set in the aftermath of a war between Athens and Thebes, as a contemporary drama involving Russian spies, Interpol, and corporate espionage. The two-hour show, which stars Brad Frost as Palemon, Jane Bradley as the Jailer’s Daughter, John Caliendo as Arsite, and Liz Livingston as Emilia, with Lucas Rafael, Mary Linehan, Jaqwan Turner, and Remy Souchon, will take place July 15-17 and 28-30 in the Clemente parking lot and July 19-21 in Bryant Park, with admission first come, first served.

SLEEP NO MORE

SLEEP NO MORE is finally coming to the end of its long run at the McKittrick Hotel (photo by Thom Kaine)

McKittrick Hotel
530 West 27th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Monday – Saturday, ongoing
866-811-4111
www.sleepnomorenyc.com

The less you know about Punchdrunk’s dazzling production, Sleep No More, the better, but one thing you do need to know about this runaway success is that tickets continue to sell fast. Sleep No More takes place at the long-abandoned McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea, where guests are given masks and then left to wander on their own through the myriad rooms of the mysterious warehouse space, a different story going on behind every door and down each hallway. Don’t look for a linear narrative, although there are elements of Shakespeare’s Macbeth scattered about. Many of the rooms contain notebooks, diaries, postcards, letters, medical texts, and other paraphernalia that point toward the McKittrick, which was built in 1939 but shut down shortly thereafter, having been the site for some very questionable scientific experimentation, but don’t get too lost in that either. There are several ways to proceed through this spectacularly immersive theatrical experience; while some visitors prefer to go from room to room and floor to floor more or less in order, others select a character and follow him or her as they meet up with other characters, pause in a room to offer more personal hints at what’s going on, or coax a guest behind closed doors. Although we strongly suggest you get the early tickets and stay the entire three hours, you still won’t see everything, but don’t worry about that. Just catch what you can and let yourself get swept up in all the action, which includes contemporary dance, fighting, a bloody bath, detective work, interrogation, poisoning, nightclub performances, a fab dinner party, and virtually no dialogue. Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett and choreographer Maxine Doyle’s lighting, Barrett, Livi Vaughan, and Beatrice Minns’s sets, and Stephen Dobbie’s sound design combine to create a dark, spooky mood that is exhilarating and intoxicating. And the more you put into it, the more you get out of it; be adventurous, wear comfortable shoes, and try not to bring a bag, backpack, or coat, because everything needs to be checked. Advance reservations are a must and are scheduled every fifteen minutes between 7:30 and 8:30 Monday through Thursday and 7:00 to 8:00 and 11:00 to midnight on Friday and Saturday. A collaboration between Punchrunk and Emursive, Sleep No More was a hit in London and Boston before becoming New York City’s must-see theatrical event. [Ed. note: Sleep No More has been extended indefinitely as of fall 2014.]