The Folio Is Female: Great Women Of Shakespeare - FREE At Bryant Park Picnics

Bryant Park Picnics (BPP), the newly-renamed summer performing arts series from Bryant Park Corporation, will kick off its 2018 season in Bryant Park on Monday, April 23 with The Folio Is Female: Great Women of Shakespeare, a combination 454th birthday party that celebrates the dynamic female leads of Shakespeare's plays. BPP welcomes back one of New York's most beloved theater companies, The Drilling Company, renowned for their Shakespeare in the Parking Lot series, for this re-examination of the roles of Shakespeare's women in monologues and scenes.

The permanent event link for this production is:
http://bryantpark.org/events/2018/04/23/the-folio-is-female-great-women-of-shakespeare

The Folio is Female director Jane Bradley says, "In this cultural moment of Pantsuit Nation, #MeToo and real-life heroes like Emma Gonzales, it has become abundantly clear that the future is female... and so is the Folio. Shakespeare reminds us that the purpose of theater is 'to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature,' to examine what's already there. It would seem that he must have seen our current cultural shift coming more than 400 years earlier, because Shakespeare's plays contain some of theater's greatest female leaders, icons and trailblazers, characters we're still coming to terms with centuries later."

Audiences can expect to see climactic moments from both Shakespearean comedies and dramas at this special event, including excerpts from Othello, Cymbeline, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew. Since Shakespeare's death as well as his birth are traditionally noted as April 23, the evening will begin with a bravura opener that's become a ritual for The Drilling Company's Shakespeare Birthday/Funeral parties: a New Orleans Second Line funeral processional to spirit the Bard into Bryant Park, played by guest artists the Jambalaya Brass Band and accompanied by the entire cast.

"We are excited to be entering our fifth season working with The Drilling Company," says Bryant Park Public Events Manager Dan Fishman. "Their sometimes irreverent and often powerful performances have become a summer tradition for thousands of New Yorkers, both serious devotees and first-time theatergoers. This birthday celebration offers a rare opportunity for audiences to experience a wide range of Shakespeare's timeless roles and watch as one of the city's most engaging theater companies gives these characters new resonance."

Bryant Park Picnics will run from April 23 to September 14 and include three full-length performances of Shakespeare plays by The Drilling Company; a sneak preview of a new opera production and sections from multiple classics by the New York City Opera; acclaimed local and international musicians at the largest accordion festival in the United States, Accordions Around the World; the Emerging Music Festival, a two-day ten-artist music festival in mid-August; a Latin Festival in June that will feature salsa, cha-cha and boogaloo performers; new programs with new partners and much more to be announced.

A complete Bryant Park Picnics lineup will follow this release shortly. If you are on deadline for summer festival features, please contact us directly to discuss date and artist specifics.

Bryant Park Corporation (BPC), a private not-for-profit company, was founded in 1980 to renovate, finance and operate Bryant Park in New York City. BPC is funded by income from events, concessions and corporate sponsors, as well as an assessment on neighboring properties, and does not accept government or philanthropic monies. In addition to providing security and sanitation services and tending the park's lush lawn and seasonal garden displays, BPC provides public amenities and activities, including movable chairs and tables, cafe umbrellas, restaurants, food kiosks, world-class restrooms, and a wide range of free events throughout the year. The Midtown Manhattan park is visited by more than six million people each year and is one of the busiest public spaces in the world. BPC's website, bryantpark.org, is available for more detailed information and a schedule of upcoming events.