The Drilling Company Marks 400th Anniversary of the Bard's Death with Events in Bryant Park Today

Today, April 22, 2016, The Drilling Company (producer of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot) and Bryant Park Corporation honor the 452nd Birthday of Shakespeare and the 400th anniversary of his death with a full day of events in Bryant Park, located at 6th Avenue and 42nd Streets, Manhattan.

In the afternoon, beginning at 12:30 PM and continuing until 2:00 PM, the company presents Shakespeare Birthday Bash with individual performances by company members all around the Park. The Natalie Smith Band (www.nataliesmithsings.com) follows with a performance of original songs written to some of the great songs of the canon. The public can participate in the third annual "Speak the Speech," in which spectators are invited to come to a microphone and read aloud a Shakespeare monologue of their choice and are rewarded with a T-shirt for their bravery. In addition audience members have the opportunity for the third year in a row to inscribe their favorite Shakespeare quote--or any such message as the heart may prompt--on the Word Wall.

In the evening The Drilling Company presents "Deaths of Shakespeare " from 6:30 to 8:30, in honor of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare 's death. Drilling company members will performs great death scenes from Shakespeare's canon and lead the audience in a mock jazz funeral for Shakespeare. Plays excepted will include "Hamlet," "Othello," "MacBeth," "Julius Ceasar," "Romeo and Juliet," "Cymbeline" and "Richard III." The jazz procession, led by the Jambalaya Brass Band (jambalayabrassband.com/reviews.htm), will commence at 6:30 PM near the fountain terrace.

Bryant Park's food service kiosks are a source of delicious food for this delightfully complete Midtown event.

Bryant Park is accessible by subway using the B, D, F, or M to 42nd Street/Bryant Park and 7 to 5th Avenue, and through nearby transportation hubs.

The actual date of Shakespeare's death is a mystery, but it is commonly estimated to be April 23, based on the date of his funeral, April 25, 1616. His birth is thought to be the same date, based on his baptism record of April 26, 1564. Bryant Park has set the festivities for Friday, April 22, to make the event more accessible to working people in midtown New Yorkers.

The Drilling Company (www.drillingcompany.org, www.shakespeareintheparkinglot.com) is producing a season of three outdoor Shakespeare productions in Bryant Park this year: "Much Ado About Nothing from May 19 to June 4 on the Upper Terrace Stage (near the back of the NYPL), "As You Like It" from July 21 to 23 on the Bryant Park Stage (near 6th Avenue), and "Measure for Measure" from September 1 to 18 on the Upper Terrace Stage. All are to be performed in Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan, between 40th and 42nd Streets & Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

The Drilling Company is well known as the producer of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, a series of free Shakespeare productions that have been presented on the Lower East Side for over 20 years. This summer, the series offers new interpretations of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" July 7 to 24 and "The Merchant of Venice" July 28 to August 14. Both productions to be staged in the parking lot behind The Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center (CSV), 114 Norfolk Street (between Delancey and Rivington Streets).

Bryant Park Corporation (BPC), a private not-for-profit company, was founded in 1980 to renovate, finance and operate Bryant Park, one of the busiest public spaces in the world, without government or philanthropic funding. In addition to providing security and sanitation services, and tending the lawn and seasonal gardens, BPC creates amenities and activities in Bryant Park for over 6 million visitors each year. BPC's website, www.bryantpark.org, has more detailed information plus a complete schedule of upcoming free events, activities, and programs. BPC invites New Yorkers and visitors to Midtown Manhattan to experience live theatrical productions of Shakespeare plays, as well as the NYC summer traditions of HBO/Bryant Park Summer Film Festival and Broadway in Bryant Park.

Patrons of Bryant Park are subject to the rules of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

For info on upcoming Drilling Company productions call 212-873-9050 or visit www.shakespeareintheparkinglot.com and www.drillingcompany.org. For info on Bryant Park events only, see: www.bryantpark.org, @bryantparknyc and #bryantpark.