Titan Theatre Company Announces Ambitious Online Shakespeare “Festival” To Run This Summer

The award winning Titan Theatre Company last month announced a new program titled, Shakespeare ONLINE, targeted at providing support for artists and educators due the mass cancellation of theatrical events due to COVID-19. This program came immediately after the company postponed both their MainStage and Touring Productions of ROMEO & JULIET till the 20/21 Season.

"In that month the program has served over 800+ artists from across the country." Said Titan's Managing Director Alyssa Van Gorder. "From Pay What You Can classes, to free artist support groups, online masterclasses with universities, and another partnership with Queens Library--the program has helped our community not only here in NYC, but across the country."

The success of the Shakespeare ONLINE program, whose name is a play on the Company's extremely popular SHAKESPEARE ON DEMAND outreach program that provides NYC schools with free live performances of Shakespeare's works in schools, has led to the company's next ambitious undertaking which the company announced today, Titan Shakespeare Festival.

"Many of our company members started our careers working at, or continue to spend summers working with, Shakespeare Festivals." said Artistic Director, Lenny Banovez. "We have always dreamt of having a summer festival of some sort here in the city, but never had the time. Now we do, and the time can be a gift. The current situation we all find ourselves in is scary and uncertain, but that does not mean that we stop. That's not what Titan, or our artistic community as a whole, is about. We adapt. We fight to make the work happen. Hamlet said: "The play is the thing"...so we have three of them for you, and a whole lot more."

Titan Shakespeare Festival will be a fully online, and immersive Shakespeare experience that will run from mid June through July, and will feature a season of Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS' DREAM, HENRY V, and Oscar Wilde's THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. The festival will also consist of online programming which will include Live Streamed Talkbacks with the casts, Masterclasses in acting and design based on the works of Shakespeare, as well as CAMP Shakespeare! A tuition based, week long Shakespeare themed virtual summer camp that will run twice over the summer and directly connect the Shakespeare ONLINE program to the Festival.

The festival will attempt to have the "feel" of a full summer repertory company. Productions will switch nightly, two show days, limited "tickets' to each performance, and a variety of other options to make the experience as interactive as possible. All programming will be FREE of charge with donations being accepted. 100% of the donations raised will go to help paying artists during this difficult time.

Banovez closed with this statement: "We know this isn't the way we want things to be. This may not be "theatre" per se. However, we must move forward. We must adapt. We must keep creating high quality content even with the limitations we have. Titan Shakespeare Festival may live online now, but it is indeed laying the groundwork for a fabulous extension of all that Titan Theatre Company has been able to do over the last decade plus. We will always choose to lead at Titan. We will always take risks. We have always been the "little company that could". We are all proud of that...but we aren't little anymore."

The company is currently working on finalizing dates and casting, but has promised to announce those here at Broadwayworld.com when they are set. More info about the company is also available at www.titantheatrecompany.com

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