Public Theater's Mobile Shakespeare Unit to Tour MACBETH

The Public Theater announced today that it will continue its commitment to bringing free Shakespeare to the community and strengthening audience engagement with the arts by expanding its MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT to include a spring touring production of MACBETH to the five boroughs. Directed by Edward Torres, the free Mobile Unit tour (April 24 - May 14) will bring free Shakespeare to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts by visiting prisons, homeless shelters, 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. Following the three-week tour, MACBETH will have a limited sit-down run at The Public Theater from May 17 through June 7, with an official press opening on Wednesday, May 20. The Mobile Shakespeare Unit toured Pericles last fall.

"The Mobile Unit is the purest expression of Joe Papp's vision, that society is better when Shakespeare belongs to everyone," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "It's an honor to welcome Edward Torres, in his Public Theater debut, directing a show that is a nightmare about what happens when we follow the darkest angels of our nature."

Member tickets, priced at $15, and single tickets, priced at $20 for MACBETH at The Public are on sale now. 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. All tour performances are free but performances at Pelham Fritz Recreation Center, Highbridge Recreation Center, Brownsville Recreation Center, and Faber Park Field House are also open to the general public. To further the mission and reach of the MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT, 20 tickets for each performance of the limited run at The Public Theater will be given to community organizations that cannot host a visit from the tour.

The Public Theater's MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT, part of The Public Theater's long-standing commitment to making Shakespeare accessible to all, returns with MACBETH. A wicked prophecy sets the soldier Macbeth on a murderous path to the throne. United by love and ambition, Macbeth and his wife decide to plot, scheme, and kill their way into power - but the price of power might be more than he can afford.

"Adding a second Mobile Unit tour this season means double the opportunity for The Public Theater to tell great stories throughout all five boroughs in the city," said Director of Special Artistic Projects Stephanie Ybarra. "And for the first time, we'll be doing so with veteran Mobile Unit actors on stage - welcoming back Rob Campbell, Nicole Lewis, and Keith Eric Chappelle to 'the van' makes this tour particularly special."

Now in its fifth 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; Richard III; Much Ado About Nothing; and Pericles, Prince of Tyre. 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 productions of The Tempest and The Winter's Tale staged at the Delacorte Theater for three nights for free; Free Shakespeare in the Park; and The Public's other affordable productions at its downtown home at Astor Place, all reinforcing the company's commitment to the ongoing exploration of Shakespeare's canon.

The MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT is made possible with the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Ford Foundation and The Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Additional generous support provided by Bloomberg and Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP. Special thanks to The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation's lead support for The Public's access and engagement programming.

TOUR DATES WILL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING VENUES (April 24 - May 14):

Pelham Fritz Recreation Center, Manhattan, is an NYC Parks and Recreation center located in Harlem (April 24).

Highbridge Recreation Center, Manhattan, a NYC Parks and Recreation center located in Washington Heights (April 25).

DreamYard Arts Project, Bronx, a Public Works community partner, uses project-based arts learning to ignite the transformative spirit (April 27).

Brownsville Recreation Center, Brooklyn, a Public Works community partner, is an NYC Parks and 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 (April 28).

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 (April 29).

Eric M. Taylor Center, Rikers Island - Built in 1964, EMTC houses nearly 2,000 adult and adolescent males sentenced to one year or less (April 30).

Queensboro Correctional Facility, Queens, is a minimum security prison in Long Island City (May 1).

Lenox Hill Women's Mental Health Shelter at the Park Avenue Armory, Manhattan, provides short-term, safe, and supportive environments to address immediate needs for mentally ill, homeless women (May 4).

Metropolitan Detention Center (Male Population), Brooklyn, is a U.S. federal administrative detention facility, which holds male and female prisoners of all security levels (May 5).

Metropolitan Correctional Center, Manhattan, a U.S. federal administrative detention facility, which holds male and female prisoners of all security levels (May 6).

Rose M. Singer Center, Rikers Island - Built in 1988, RMSC houses more than 1,700 adult and adolescent females (May 7).

Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, is the only active military base in New York (May 8).

Faber Park Field House, Staten Island, is an NYC Parks and Recreation center located in Staten Island (May 9).

ICL Personalized Recovery-Oriented Services, Brooklyn, is a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation program for adults with serious mental illness (May 11).

Taconic Correctional Facility, Westchester, is the largest maximum security prison for women in New York (May 12).

Metropolitan Detention Center (Female Population), Brooklyn, is a U.S. federal administrative detention facility, which holds male and female prisoners of all security levels (May 13).

The complete cast of eight features Rob Campbell (Macbeth, Third Murderer); Keith Eric Chappelle (Banquo, Bloody Sargeant); Jennifer Ikeda (Lady Macbeth, First Witch); Nicole Lewis (Lady Macduff, Second Witch); Teresa Avia Lim (Third Witch, Lennox); Nick Mills (Porter, Ross); Daniel Pearce (Macduff, Duncan); and James Udom (Malcolm, Old Man).

MACBETH features scenic design by Wilson Chin; costume design by Amanda Seymour; and music composition by Michael Thurber.

EDWARD TORRES (Director) most recently directed the California Premiere of Water by the Spoonful at the Old Globe Theatre and the world premiere of Quiara Alegría Hudes's The Happiest Song Plays Last for Goodman Theatre. He directed the world premiere of Kristoffer Diaz's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at Victory Gardens Theater (produced in association with Teatro Vista), which was named Best Play of 2009 by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Time Out Chicago, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and earned Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Production and Best Director. He also directed subsequent productions Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre (2011 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play and Obie Award for Best New American Play) and at Geffen Playhouse to critical acclaim. Torres has been a producer for 18 years and is the cofounder and former artistic director of Teatro Vista. He was the recipient of a 2010 Arts Artist Award and was featured as guest director at the 2011 Eugene O'Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference. Torres has a B.A. in Theatre from Roosevelt University and an M.F.A. in film from Columbia College Chicago. He served on the Illinois Arts Council and on the National Endowment for the Arts Theater Panel (2005-07) (2013) and the MAP Fund Theatre Panel (2008).

To post a comment, you must register and login.