2014 FREE Shakespeare in the ParkS is an All-Female production of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet performed for free in 4 parks around New York City and 3 free outdoor summer festivals. Manhattan Shakespeare Project’s dual mission is:
- To Facilitate the Growth of the Female Artist
- To make Shakespeare both Financially and Physically accessible to all communities.
Our Free Shakespeare in the ParkS project fulfills both our mission objectives. It employs female artists from all walks of the community: actors, director, dramaturg, publicist, designers & builders, photographer & videographer, stage manager, graphic designer, fight choreographer, musicians, coaches, teaching artists, IT gurus, & producers. It’s free to anyone & everyone, and we go out to the communities bringing the production to as wide and diverse an audience base as we can. In 2010 Titus Andronicus did 6 performances in Central Park and reached an estimated 200 audience members. In 2011 Henry V did 13 performances in three different parks (Central Park, Harlem, Brooklyn) & reached over 500 audience members. Last year Twelfth Night did 17 performances in 4 parks (Central Park, Harlem, Brooklyn: Prospect Park, Brooklyn: Sunset Park) and reached over 600 audience members. For this season, we’ve added performances in Morningside Park, and plan to perform at 3 summer festivals (LMCC 4th of July, River to River and SummerStage). Our audience goal for 2014 is 1000 people. 2014 FREE Shakespeare in the ParkS will bring the power of Shakespeare’s words and imagery to underserved communities and connect social groups through the breadth and depth of the human condition. In addition, we bring fun! MSP’s specialized approach to interactive theatre invariably gets children dancing, everyone singing, & audiences that are engaged and actively involved in the theatre going experience. Our mission for our 2014 FREE Shakespeare in the ParkS project is to stir our community to active involvement in the world.