New York Shakespeare Exchange Announces The Next Freestyle Lab

New York Shakespeare Exchange announces the next Freestyle Lab:To Undreamed Shores: Shakespeare and Immigrant Voices in Conversation on Tuesday, October 22,2019 at 7pm at the 53rd Street Library Theater (18 W. 53rd Street, NYC). This event is free, but reservations are requested at www.NYSX.org.

The October lab features an ensemble of immigrant and first-generation actors presenting excerpts from Shakespeare and contemporary poets, playwrights, essayists, and politicians - all with the focus on themes of immigration. The performance will be followed by a lively town hall conversation during which we will expand on topics like family separation, treatment of refugees, cultural stereotyping, assimilation, how languages figure in to the immigrant experience, and the code-switching and loaded expectations that often come with being a first-generation citizen. The evening is curated by Jennifer Curfman, Aysha Salam, and Associate Artistic Director Cristina Lundy.

The evening will be moderated by Bridget Crawford, the Legal Director for Immigration Equality:

Immigration Equality is the nation's leading LGBTQ immigrant rights organization. We represent and advocate for people from around the world fleeing violence, abuse, and persecution because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status.

FEATURING THE WRITINGS OF:

Claudia Cortese, Denice Frohman, Ananda Lima, Carvens Lissaint, Ankita Raturi, William Shakespeare, Divya Victor, and others to be determined

PERFORMANCES BY:

Clemmie Evans, Katie Fanning, Niki Hatzidis, Anaseini Katoa, Aida Leguizamón, Salome Mergia, Hyojin Park, Krushika Patankar, and Marcus Xavier Stewart

New York Shakespeare Exchange bridges cultural divides, starts conversations, promotes education, and brings communities together through diverse, classically based programming that re-imagines how Shakespearean theater and poetry can impact our modern world. Brimming with an unwavering sense of adventure, their work honors the legacy of the Bard while intersecting his poetry with today's ever-changing social, political, and technological landscapes. From star-crossed lovers wooing across a crowded bar, to sonnets interpreted as independent film, to live productions that highlight Shakespeare's verse in a contemporary context, our projects challenge expectations and lead us forward to continued innovation.

NYSX is internationally known for its The Sonnet Project (in which more than 1,500 volunteer filmmakers from around the world have joined the discussion by creating short films in New York locations based on all 154 Shakespeare sonnets). NYSX also produces mainstage productions and the crowd favorite ShakesBEER, NYC's Original Shakespearean Pub Crawl. This past season NYSX staged a critically acclaimed, new adaptation of Midsummer Night's Dream, conceived and directed by Brendan Averett which ran in January/February 2019 at the Secret Theater in Long Island City, NY.

NYSX will present the final signature Freestyle Lab of 2019 at the New York Public Library at 53rd Street on November 19, 2019. www.NYSX.org

To post a comment, you must register and login.