New York Shakespeare Exchange's August ShakesBEER Pub Crawl Set for Today

New York Shakespeare Exchange, creator of the viral smash The Sonnet Project, is excited to announce participating bars for their summer ShakesBEER, NYC's Original Shakespearean Pub Crawl.

August's ShakesBEER takes place in Hell's Kitchen today, August 16. The event kicks off at Mercury Bar (659 9th Avenue between 45th & 46th Streets) before moving on to three more bars still to be announced. Admission is $45, which includes four drink tickets redeemable for beer, wine and select cocktails at the participating bars. Check-in begins at 2:30 PM at Mercury Bar for the 3 PM kick off. Tickets are available at BrownPaperTickets.com or at the door. Advance booking is strongly recommended. For more information, visit www.shakespeareexchange.org.

ShakesBEER is a three-hour pub crawl that features plenty of Bard to go with your beer (or wine or cocktails). The crawl is divided between four bars, with Shakespearian scenes breaking out at each location. The actors are shoulder-to-shoulder with the audience, drawing them in and making this experience about as "up-close and personal" as Shakespeare gets.

August's ShakesBEER features scenes from Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Cymbeline, and a ShakesBEER original mash-up of excerpts from 10 different plays. The featured actors include Harry Barandes, Brian Cheng, Tom Degnan, Vince Gatton, Kim Krane, Elizabeth Neptune, Kelli Ruttle, and Michael Shattner. The directors are Vince Gatton, Kim Krane, Cristina Lundy, and Ross Williams.

New York Shakespeare Exchange (NYSX) offers theatrical programming that explores what happens when contemporary culture is infused with Shakespearean poetry and themes in unexpected ways. Providing fresh points of entry to the work so that modern audiences will be exposed to the intrinsic power of Shakespeare, NYSX's goal is to encourage appreciation of classical theater and to expand the reach of the art form within new and existing audiences.