Hip To Hip Theatre Company Starts Summer Tour Today

Now in its 12th season, Hip to Hip Theatre Company is proud to announce the tour dates for their 2018 Free Shakespeare in the Parks.

This season will showcase two of Shakespeare's classics, King Lear (directed by Artistic Director Jason Marr) and All's Well That Ends Well (directed by company member Owen Thompson). The two productions will perform in rotating repertory from July 26 to August 26, at thirteen parks throughout Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx. Performances will also take place in Jersey City and Southampton. Hip to Hip's popular children's workshop "Kids & the Classics," will be offered thirty minutes before each performance.

Artistic Director Jason Marr discussed what drew him to choosing the season's plays, "I wanted to continue chipping away at our long-term goal of working through Shakespeare's entire canon, so I picked two plays that Hip to Hip has never yet produced. King Lear and All's Well also make a wonderful thematic pairing, centering on fairy-tale-like battles between young and old, good and evil, and rich and poor."

All performances are free to the public and will feature an interactive kids workshop 30 minutes before showtime. Kids & the Classics is designed for ages 4 to 12 and gives children a chance to interact with the text by previewing the characters, situations, and creating links between the text and their own lives through theatre games and reading of text.

Audience members are encouraged to bring a blanket or low chair, picnic fare and enjoy a Shakespeare play in the open air. No tickets are necessary. Performances run 95 minutes.

King Lear
The aging King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters based on their love for him. Misunderstanding his youngest daughter's refusal to flatter him, he disowns her in favor of her ruthless, manipulative sisters...who promptly strip him of power, wealth, and sanity. Shakespeare's spectacular tragedy pits good against evil as the exiled princess returns to claim the throne.

All's Well That Ends Well
Having restored the King's health with a miraculous potion, Helena requests Count Bertram's hand in marriage in return. But when the arrogant Bertram refuses to marry beneath his class and flees from both King and bride to the nearest war, Shakespeare's courageous heroine must stop at nothing to bring him home. Meanwhile, Bertram's friends hilariously unmask the swashbuckling braggart Parolles.

2018 Performance Schedule
*Kids & the Classics, interactive workshops begin 30 minutes prior to each performance.

Wednesday, July 25 @ 7:30 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
*Final Dress Rehearsal Open to the Public
BROOKLYN Bushwick Inlet Parks (50 Kent Avenue)

Thursday, July 26 @ 7:00 pm - King Lear
QUEENS LeFrak City (59-17 Junction Blvd., Corona)

Friday, July 27 @ 7:30 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
BROOKLYN Fort Greene Park (Monument Steps)

Saturday, July 28 @ 7:30 pm - King Lear
QUEENS Sunnyside Gardens Park (48-21 39th Avenue)

Sunday, July 29 @ 5:00 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
STATEN ISLAND Snug Harbor Cultural Center (1000 Richmond Terrace)

Tuesday, July 31 - Rain Date

Wednesday, August 1 @ 7:00 pm - King Lear
JERSEY CITY Newport on the Green (14th St & River Drive S.)

Thursday, August 2 @ 7:30 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
QUEENS Crocheron Park 35th Avenue & Corbett Road Kids

Friday, August 3 @ 7:30 pm - King Lear
BROOKLYN Fort Greene Park (Monument Steps)

Saturday, August 4 @ 7:30 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
QUEENS Sunnyside Gardens Park (48-21 39th Avenue)

Sunday, August 5 @ 6:00 pm - King Lear
BRONX Van Cortlandt Park (Broadway and 245th Street)

Tuesday, August 7 - Rain Date

Wednesday, August 8 @ 7:30 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
QUEENS Flushing Meadows (at the Unisphere)

Thursday, August 9 @ 8:00 pm - King Lear
QUEENS Cunningham Park (Union Tpk & 196th Street)

Friday, August 10 @ 7:30 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
QUEENS Voelker Orth Museum (149-19 38th Ave, Flushing)

Saturday, August 11 @ 7:30 pm - King Lear
QUEENS Gantry Plaza State Park (4-09 47th Road)

Sunday, August 12 @ 5:00 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
QUEENS Socrates Sculpture Park (32-01 Vernon Boulevard)

Tuesday, August 14 - Rain Date

Wednesday, August 15
Harlem date TBA.

Thursday, August 16 @ 7:30 pm - King Lear
QUEENS Crocheron Park 35th Avenue & Corbett Road Kids

Friday, August 17 @ 7:30 pm - King Lear
QUEENS Voelker Orth Museum (149-19 38th Ave, Flushing)

Saturday, August 18 @ 7:30 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
QUEENS Gantry Plaza State Park (4-09 47th Road)

Sunday, August 19 @ 5:00 pm - King Lear
QUEENS Socrates Sculpture Park (32-01 Vernon Boulevard)

Wednesday, August 22 @ 7:30 pm - King Lear
BROOKLYN Bushwick Inlet Parks (50 Kent Avenue)

Thursday, August 23 @ 8:00 pm - All's Well That Ends Well
QUEENS Cunningham Park (Union Tpk & 196th Street)

Friday, August 24 @ 7:30 pm - King Lear
SOUTHAMPTON Agawam Park (25 Pond Lane)

Saturday, August 25 @ 7:30 pm All's Well That Ends Well
SOUTHAMPTON Agawam Park (25 Pond Lane)

Sunday, August 26 - Rain Date

About Hip to Hip Theatre Company
Hip to Hip is dedicated to stimulating and developing interest in the theatre arts in underserved communities by providing free, family-friendly, professional productions of popular classics, and free theatre workshops for children, in public spaces.

www.hiptohip.org
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