Flash Mob Announced as Part of THE R&J PROJECT

A Pop-Up, Flash Mob performance of the balcony scene from Romeo & Juliet will be staged on streets throughout the five boroughs of New York City, in cities across the United States and countries around the world.

All are welcome to participate. The only requirement is that you want to.

When: SEPTEMBER 1ST AT SUNSET

Where: Staged six feet apart on city streets, in public spaces or private - and even on sofas - throughout the world.

Why this scene: Because it is universally recognized. Because it is about the inability to be together. Made more dangerous by prejudice. Because if Friar John hadn't been put into quarantine Romeo would have known what was up.

Why now: Artists are a conduit for grace to enter the world, when grace is present, we are inspired to continue and sustain the fight for what is right and just.

Conceived by playwright/actor Kristina Poe (Drama Desk nominee for "Betty Woods" in Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven by Stephen Adly Guirgis - Atlantic/LAByrinth Theater Companies) a theater artist who spent a couple of decades on the management side of things including as the Company Manager of LAByrinth Theater Company under John Ortiz and Philip Seymour Hoffman, where she sharpened her writing skills and emerged a new playwright (Love Sick, The Idea of Me, Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project - Chay Yew mentor, 11.05.08: POST RACIAL AMERICA DAY ONE). Last summer she conceived and curated LAByrinth Theater Company's Installation on America which confronted family separation at the border. She is an alumnus of University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and a proud member of both LAByrinth Theater Company and The Actors Studio PDW.

Re the R&J Project: "I had the idea for this project back in February. Then it was to rehearse a few actors and go to Washington Square Park and offer anyone the opportunity to read opposite of them just so they could say these beautiful words, and by doing so maybe put a little more much needed love into the world. Then the world turned upside down and I didn't think about it much...until the middle of July, when the idea came back nudging me and not letting go, but with a bigger scope, and a more urgent need in the world for what we do.

There are a lot of valiant battles to be fought right now, and we can all play a part. I hope with this project we are able to reconnect the world with their deeper humanity, if just for ten minutes, in order to fortify the resolve to keep showing up, keep fighting for what is right and just, and reminding us of the beautiful humanity we are all capable of."

Performers will live stream their scenes, and after we will edit the clips into a short fundraising video to support three organizations: The Actor's Fund, Black Lives Matter, and Impact Lebanon.