Red Bull Theater & Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble to Bring A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM To Area Schools

Red Bull Theater has announced that this Spring Red Bull would be offering a brand new in-school touring production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in a partnership with Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble, with optional associated residencies developed by Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble to introduce student audiences to the play through practical theater workshops with a social justice lens.

This production of Midsummer, specially designed for students, will tour New York City middle and high schools, providing students with a unique theatrical experience.  Employing minimal design and live musical elements, a company of actors and teaching artists will transform familiar school spaces into the magical and mischievous realm of the fairies.

Red Bull Theater and Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble will offer on-site performances at schools in the spring, as well as public school hour performances at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons for those schools that do not have access to an appropriate performance space. This tour is available in the NYC metro area including the surrounding suburbs of New Jersey, Westchester and Long Island. A Midsummer Night's Dream will tour March - April, 2025. Performances will run approximately 90 minutes

There will also be one performance open to the public at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons on April 11th (6:30pm).  Tickets will go on sale shortly at redbulltheater.com/a-midsummer-nights-dream.

Featured in the cast will be Fernando Barbosa, Colleen Litchfield, Fiona Maguire, Saby Ramirez, Alice Renier, Sean Runnette, Damian Thompson, and Zo Tipp.

On the eve of a royal wedding in Athens, four young lovers fly to the woods in pursuit of their hearts' desires, and a troupe of amateur actors meet to rehearse a play. As night falls, the spirits of the woods meddle in their plans and all are transformed by a dream... or was it a dream?  Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is a hymn to the power of human imagination – in art, in life, and in love.

Shakespeare and Social Justice: Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble will also provide schools the option of single workshops or residencies consisting of 5 to 7 sequential workshops in advance of all performances, taught by actors and artists associated with the production. These ensemble-based workshops engage students in the language and themes of the play through an anti-bias framework. The curriculum will be based on the workshops previously developed by Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble in collaboration with The Shakespeare Center of LA, guided by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Learning For Justice Anti-Bias Framework. Residencies will culminate in an in-class showcase of student performances from Shakespeare's play.

Mr. Berger says: “All of us at Red Bull Theater are thrilled to be partnering with another pioneering arts education organization, Apocalyptic Artists Ensemble, on a touring production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This will enable us to bring Shakespeare to many more students and young people across the City, sometimes in their first experience of Shakespeare in performance, with a fantastic group of actors and teaching artists.”

Mr. Giannini adds, “Arts education continues to be one of Red Bull Theater's central priorities, serving thousands of New York City students over the years through our Shakespeare in Schools (SIS) initiative. Through SIS, students and educators alike are given the opportunity to work with expert teaching artists from the classical theater community to study, improvise, and perform Shakespeare in their own classrooms. SIS's methods have been shown to improve literacy and public speaking, unlock and engage student creativity, and make Shakespeare accessible to young learners. We are thrilled to be offering this exciting new opportunity to the students and educators we serve.”

If you or someone you know are an educator, administrator, or student in the New York City Metropolitan Area whose middle or high school would be interested in bringing A Midsummer Night's Dream to their school this spring, or for information on how to support Red Bull's education programming, please contact Red Bull Theater's Executive Director Martin Giannini at martin@redbulltheater.com or by phone at (212) 343-7394.