Shakespeare In The Square Presents A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM With Food Play

Shakespeare in the Square is proud to present William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream for an exclusive two-week engagement starting tomorrow night, Tuesday, August 7 and running through Sunday, August 19. Performances will take place at The Access Theater (380 Broadway, New York City) in The Gallery Space. Tickets are available at www.ShakespeareintheSquare.tix.com.

Coming off of its successful four-week tour along the east coast, this stripped-down production of Midsummer combines Shakespeare in the Square's quick and precise style with a dash of experimentation. The cast of six, all dressed in utilitarian jumpsuits, feast on Shakespeare's words with boldness and athleticism, weaving from scene to scene and portraying over 20 characters. They play on a bare tarp, with the only props being a variety of food-stuff; from dried oats, to blood oranges, to mashed potatoes, and marshmallow fluff, the food helps invoke feelings of childishness, sexiness and tiptoes the fine line between silliness and kink. You could think of it as a Food Fight Midsummer: unhinged, messy, and fun.

The cast includes Felix Birdie, Kimberly Chatterjee, Estefania Giraldo, Beth-Ann Hopkins, Constantine Malahias and Rebeca Miller.

The show has costume design by Richard Aaron and lighting design by Timothy Meola. The original set and prop design for the tour was by Olivia McGiff, and Angelina Margolis is designing sets and props for this production. Hannah Kallenbach serves as our associate director and food-play expert. Additional director credits include Abigail Wahl as fight director, Jorge Morales as music director, Chloe Troast as choreographer, and Samantha Hosi as assistant director. Lindsay Kipnis serves as production stage manager.

A Midsummer Night's Dream from Shakespeare in the Square performs at The Gallery Space at The Access Theater (380 Broadway, New York City) from Tuesday, August 7 through Sunday, August 19. The performance schedule is Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 8:00 PM. Regular tickets are $45, with $30 tickets for patrons under 30 with a valid ID, and student tickets for $20 with a valid student ID. All ticket are available on the website at www.shakespeareinthesquare.com. This production is part of the Access Association Series.

SHAKESPEARE IN THE SQUARE (Producer) was founded in 2010 by Rose Bochner and Dan Hasse. It is the mission of the company to perform Shakespeare to the hilt, with a respect for the words and an awareness of original staging practices. SITS believes that his language still has the power to captivate a crowd without the use of elaborate sets or lighting effects; we trust the audience's imaginations to "piece out our imperfections."

Above all else, the company strives to create shows that are fast, accessible, and precise. After seeing a recent Shakespeare in the Square performance, Terrence McNally - the Tony and Emmy winning playwright - raved: "Washington Square Park is never more alive and enchanting than when these merry, nimble players are at work there. Shakespeare smiles." The organization was praised for its "presence and immediacy" by MCC Theater artistic director Will Cantler.

The acclaimed SITS production of Romeo and Juliet was hailed as "full of zest and humor" by TheaterMania and "not to be missed" from Stage Buddy. Gay City News praised the "troupe's penchant for breaking rules and blasting expectations, all in service to making the Bard's work more accessible to the common folk." Their recent adaptation, Coriolanus: From Man to Dragon, was called "compelling" by Washington Square News, "hugely ambitious" by Manhattan Digest and "glorious" by Theater Pizzazz.

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