Public Theater's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING To Tour NYC this November

Continuing its commitment to bringing Shakespeare to the community and strengthening audience engagement with the arts, The Public Theater will mount its MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT again this November with a free three-week tour to the five boroughs of Shakespeare's comedy MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah and featuring choreography by Chase Brock. The three-week mobile tour (November 4-22) will bring free Shakespeare to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts by visiting prisons, homeless shelters, centers for the elderly, and other community venues, including stops at our Public Works community partner venues: Brownsville Recreation Center in Brooklyn, Fortune Society in Queens and DreamYard Project in the Bronx.

"The Mobile Shakespeare Unit is at the heart of The Public Theater's mission to democratize our culture," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "Shakespeare is for everyone, the theater is for everyone, just as America belongs to us all. It is an honor to welcome Kwame Kwei-Armah back to The Public and to offer his delightful Much Ado About Nothing to our audiences."

Following the free mobile tour, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING will have a sit-down run at The Public Theater from November 25 to December 15, with an official press opening on Tuesday, December 3. Single tickets, priced at $20, go on sale on Thursday, October 31. Tickets can be purchased by calling (212) 967-7555, visiting www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at 425 Lafayette Street. To further the mission and reach of the MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT, 20 tickets for each performance of the run at The Public Theater will be given to community organizations that cannot host a visit from the tour.

Now in its third year, MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT is a reinvention of Joseph Papp's Mobile Shakespeare program, which began in 1957 to bring Shakespeare to the masses, evolving into the New York Shakespeare Festival and ultimately becoming The Public Theater. Recent Mobile Shakespeare Unit productions include Measure for Measure and Richard III. MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT will also present educational workshops at selected tour venues, expanding The Public's existing community outreach and education program. This program will continue the expansion of The Public's Shakespeare Initiative, which includes the recent Public Works production ofThe Tempest staged at the Delacorte Theater for three nights for free in September, free Shakespeare in the Park, and The Public's other affordable Shakespeare productions at its downtown home at Astor Place, all reinforcing the company's commitment to the ongoing exploration of Shakespeare's canon.

The cast features Michael Braun (Benedick); Rosal Colón (Margaret, Borachia, Friar Francis); Ramsey Faragallah (Leonato, Watch);Marc Damon Johnson (Don Pedro, Verges); A.Z. Kelsey (Claudio, Conrade); Lucas Caleb Rooney (Dogberry, Don John); Samantha Soule (Beatrice); and Kerry Warren (Hero, Sexton).

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING features scenic design by Timothy R. Mackabee; costume design by Clint Ramos; and music byShane Rettig.

This program is made possible with the generous support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and The Ford Foundation. Additional support is provided by Bloomberg.

MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT TOUR (November 4-22) will include the following venues:

Charlotte's Place, Manhattan, part of Trinity Wall Street Church - a free and open space for the diverse communities living, working, and going to school in lower Manhattan (November 4).

Park Avenue Armory Women's Mental Health Shelter, Manhattan, provides short-term, safe, and supportive environments to address immediate needs for mentally ill, homeless women (November 5).

St. John's Recreation Center, Brooklyn, is a park and recreation center located in Bedford-Stuyvesant (November 6).

Eric M. Taylor Center, Rikers Island - Built in 1964, EMTC houses nearly 2,000 adult and adolescent males sentenced to one year or less (November 7).

Roy Wilkins Recreation Center, Queens, a park and recreation center, this public space is a cultural touchstone for all of New York City (November 8).

Greenbelt Recreation Center, Staten Island, a park and recreation center (November 11).

Queensboro Correctional Facility, Queens, is a minimum security prison in Long Island City, (November 12).

Brownsville Recreation Center, Brooklyn, a Public Works community partner, is a recreation center is located in the Brownsville Playground with extensive resources for youth and seniors. The center offers a vibrant space to tap into pursuits artistic and athletic alike(November 13).

Fortune Society, Queens, a Public Works community partner, is a social service and advocacy organization, supporting successful reentry from prison, and promoting alternatives to incarceration (November 14).

The Osborne Association, Bronx, offers opportunities for individuals who have been in conflict with the law to transform their lives through innovative, effective, and replicable programs that serve the community by reducing crime and its human and economic costs (November 15).

Hamilton Partnership for Paterson, Paterson, New Jersey, is a community development organization near the Great Falls National Park (November 16).

Taconic Correctional Facility, Westchester, is the largest maximum security prison for women in New York (November 18).

Rose M. Singer Center, Rikers Island - Built in 1988, RMSC houses more than 1,700 adult and adolescent females (November 19).

DreamYard Project, Bronx, a Public Works community partner, uses project-based arts learning to ignite the transformative spirit (November 20).

Al Oerter Recreation Center, Queens, a recreation center providing affordable or free athletic activities and arts events to people of all ages (November 20).

Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, Westchester, is the largest maximum security prison for women in New York (November 21).