Daddy Issues

On this Father's Day Eve, I went to Central Park to see New York Classical Theatre perform Henry IV.

Director Stephen Burdman adapted both parts of Shakespeare's two central plays from the Henriad into one two-hour performance, featuring a game cast frequently performing multiple roles.

Ian Antal plays Prince Hal, the heir to the throne who finds himself torn between two father figures, his actual father, King Henry IV (Nick Salamone), and his surrogate father, the rascally Sir John Falstaff (John Michalski).

Due to financial constraints, the production has to rely on considerable amounts of doubling, often with actors changing their personas purposefully in full view of the audience. Juan Luis Acevedo, for instance, plays the rebellious Northumberland, only to then personify law and order as the Lord Chief Justice.

Some originally male parts are also adjusted to be played by women. Anique Clements plays Ned Poins, now transformed into Bess Poins, as well as Edmund (now Countess) Mortimer. Carine Montbertrand plays the Earl of Worcester (also transformed into a Countess in this version) as well as the tavern keeper Mistress Quickly. One of the best female roles in the play is Hotspur's wife, Lady Katherine, played by Briana Gibson Reeves, who is this production also doubles as Bardolph.

Frequently, when companies combine the two parts of Henry IV, they basically just do Part One, and then a couple of scenes from Part Two. While this adaptation heavily leans on the first play, it also includes key scenes from the sequel sometimes left out of productions. These include the mourning of Lady Katherine and the politic maneuvers of Hal's younger brother John (played by Damian Jermaine Thompson, who also plays Hal's foil Hotspur).

The show is still in previews, but is scheduled to run until June 30th in Central Park. Then, it will be playing from July 2nd through 7th in Carl Schurz Park and July 9th through 14th in Battery Park. See it if you can!

Best Plays of 2022

As the end of the year approaches, I am once again making my list of the best productions I saw in New York City that opened this year.

If I were being just, I would include My Fellow Americans due to the amazing performance of Rebecca Ana Peña, but as the play's author, I'm probably a bit too close to it, so I'm disqualifying it.

Also disqualified is the virtual production of Kew Gardens as well as the live and virtual versions of A Christmas Carol at Passage Theatre Company. They weren't in New York City, anyway, nor were the productions of King Lear and Only Fools and Horses I saw in London.

Last year was rather lackluster in New York, though a couple good shows rose to the top of my list, including The Alchemist and The Streets of New York. It seems 2022 wasn't quite the year that theatre in this city got back into full swing, but at least there were a lot more good shows opening than there were in 2021.

So without further ado, here is my top-ten list in reverse order:

10. Cymbeline - New York Classical Theatre's outdoor production of Cymbeline was a blast, in large part due to Aziza Gharib, who played the show's heroine, Imogine.

9. Richard II - Another enjoyable outdoor production of Shakespeare was Hudson Classical Theater Company's Richard II at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Riverside Park. Nathan Mattingly played the title role.

8. Made By God - Ciara Ni Chuirc's new play that opened at Irish Rep at the beginning of this year has stayed with me. This meditation on the changing law regarding abortion in Ireland doesn't run away from tough issues of faith and society's shared responsibility for all of its members.

7. As You Like It - Generally, this is one of my least favorite Shakespeare plays, but Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery's musical adaptation was a delight this summer in Central Park. The songs perfectly captured the goofy, conflicted nature of the play's characters. I'd like to see regional theatres pick this one up for the future.

6. Ohio State Murders - Adrienne Kennedy finally made her Broadway debut this year, with help from the star power of Audra McDonald. Playing Suzanne Alexander, a fictionalized version of the playwright herself, McDonald takes us on a harrowing journey where small things take on terrifying aspects by pointing toward much darker ends. (Still playing!)

5. Candida - Gingold Theatrical Group's magnificent production of one of Bernard Shaw's most delightful comedies did not disappoint. Avanthika Srinivasan starred in the title role, while R.J. Foster and Avery Whitted played the two very different men who are in love with her. The production also featured the best set I saw in New York all year, wonderfully crafted by Lindsay Genevieve Fuori.

4. A Touch of the Poet - Irish Rep scored another hit with their revival of Eugene O'Neill's powerful exploration of one moment in American history. Robert Cuccioli was brilliant as Con Melody, but the real discovery was Belle Aykroyd, who played Con's daughter Sara. I'll have a full analysis of the production coming out next year in The Eugene O'Neill Review. The author never saw the play performed in his lifetime, but I think he would have appreciated this staging of it.

3. Downstate - In the past, I've not been a fan of the work of Bruce Norris, but Downstate, still playing through January 7th at Playwrights Horizons, deserves to be seen. The cast, including Glenn Davis, K. Todd Freeman, and Francis Guinan as convicted sex offenders living together in a group home in downstate Illinois while overseen by a parole officer (portrayed brilliantly by Susanna Guzman), is absolutely excellent. Even more important, though, is the way Norris interrogates a culture of victimhood and portrays what it might look like for people to truly take responsibility for their actions.

2. Leopoldstadt - Tom Stoppard's latest play is more conventional than most of his work, but it packs an emotional wallop, especially in these times of rising ethnic nationalism. I spoke about the production on CUNY TV, sharing my long-time love of Stoppard's plays. Though the storytelling is mostly straightforward, its enormous cast of characters would be impossible to follow were it not for the deft direction of Patrick Marber, who makes sure we understand the steady march of time through the most terrifying decades of the 20th century. Tickets are currently on sale until the beginning of July, so if you haven't seen it yet, go.

1. Paradise Square - My top choice will no doubt be controversial, but in spite of its many problems, Larry Kirwan's reimagining of Five Points during the infamous Civil War draft riots captured what contemporary theatre can be if it has the courage to try. Choreographer Bill T. Jones did an exceptional job, and Joaquina Kalukango brought down the house singing the brilliant number "Let It Burn." The music, which is inspired by the work of Stephen Foster, deserves the cast recording we've been promised, but alas, the financial mismanagement of producers could mean this show never again sees the light of day. That would be a shame, as it deserves a much larger audience than it received during its abbreviated run on Broadway.

Here's to an even better year in 2023!

Cymbeline, By Jove

Last night I saw New York Classical Theatre perform Cymbeline in Central Park. Last summer, the company performed Nahum Tate's adaptation of King Lear, but now they are back to sticking (more or less) to Shakespeare's original text.

The plot of Cymbeline is intentionally complicated, blending together legendary history with one of the folk tales that appears in The Decameron. This production has the potential to add to the confusion by having a small cast double in multiple roles.

Fortunately, the doubling adds to the production rather than taking away from it. In some productions, the actor who plays Posthumous doubles as the villain Cloten. That was how the Public Theater did it in 2015 when Hamish Linklater played both roles. In this case, however, Brandon Burk plays both Posthumous, Imogine's husband, and Guiderius, her long-lost brother. The delightfully comic Evan Moore-Coll instead plays Cloten, as well as assorted other roles.

One of the highlights of the show is when Aziza Gharib, who plays Imogine, appears in Posthumous's dream as (according to the stage directions) "Jupiter descends in thunder and lightning, sitting upon an eagle." Unlike the Jacobean stage, Central Park is not equipped with machinery to lower giant eagles from the Heavens. Instead, Gharib appears with huge wind-swept pieces of fabric, while two other cast members hold them out and provide other-worldly sound effects.

The supporting cast is in fact quite good. Jenny Strassburg plays the evil queen, a delicious role, though the character disappears toward the end of the play. Perhaps to compensate for that, she also plays Belarius, who fosters the king's lost sons. (The second son is played by Christian Ryan, who doubles as the deceitful Iachimo.) Terrell Wheeler (who also appeared in The Assembly's wonderful production of That Poor Dream) plays the important supporting roles of Pisanio and Caius, while the king himself is played by Nick Salamone.

If you want to see the production, it will be in Central Park until June 26th, after which it will move to Carl Schurz Park, and then Brooklyn Commons Park at MetroTech.

Best Productions of 2021

New York City theatre isn't completely back yet, especially with omicron scares cancelling shows right and left, but at least things are better than last year, when I had to write a list of the top 10 shows I did NOT get to see.

So now I'm back to my annual tradition of coming up with a list of the top shows I saw that opened this year in New York City. Obviously, my own adaptation of A Christmas Carol doesn't count, since it was in Trenton, and neither do virtual performances, though some of them were quite fun.

Here are my picks, in reverse order:

10. The Alcestiad - Magis Theatre Company lived up to its name with this magical outdoor production on Roosevelt Island this summer. Thornton Wilder's take on a Greek myth involving death and plague came alive with the ruins of a smallpox hospital providing the backdrop. It was a joy to behold.

9. King Lear - New York Classical Theatre decided to do William Shakespeare's most depressing tragedy this year, but with the happy ending rewritten by Nahum Tate. Once again, the outdoor setting added to the experience, though it also meant that my first two attempts to see the show were cancelled due to rain. The third time was a charm, and this show was nothing if not charming.

8. The Book of Moron - Robert Dubac's one-man show was closer to a stand-up comedy routine than your typical Off-Broadway fare, but it rose beyond simple jokes to become an engaging and thought-provoking piece of theatre. This was in part due to flawless direction by comedy legend Garry Shandling and a surprisingly innovative set designed by Melissa Burkhardt Moore. I'm glad I saw it.

7. Trouble in Mind - Alice Childress at last made it (posthumously) to Broadway with Roundabout's production of her most famous play, a backstage drama about actors rehearsing a dreadful script by a conveniently absent playwright. During intermission, I overheard one audience member say, "Chuck Cooper makes everything he's in even better." How true! Cooper's performance in the play is not to be missed, so if you haven't seen it yet, get your tickets. It's still playing, but only through January 9th!

6. Merry Wives - Jocelyn Bioh's adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor was the Public Theater's sole offering at the Delacorte this summer, but it was worth seeing, if for no reason other than Jacob Ming-Trent, who played the larger-than-life character of Falstaff. Bioh appropriately adjusted the text to make Shakespeare's comedy of rural life in England work when reset among African immigrants in contemporary Harlem. The sight of Ming-Trent as an overgrown man-child playing video games was not only a witty sight gag--it was amazingly appropriate for the character of Sir John Falstaff.

5. Flying Over Sunset - When James Lapine has a new play, it's usually worth seeing, and when it's got music by Tom Kitt and lyrics by Michael Korie, you definitely want to be there. This imagined meeting of Aldous Huxley, Clare Boothe Luce, and Carey Grant at a rented Malibu beach house where they go on LSD trips together delivers both soaring melodies and beautiful stage pictures. It also features innovative choreography by tap master Michelle Dorrance. Harry Hadden-Paton, Carmen Cusack, and Tony Yazbeck all provide stellar performances that go beyond mere impressions of celebrities. This show is still playing at Lincoln Center, so get your tickets while you can!

4. Mrs. Warren's Profession - Gingold Theatrical Group scored again with their production of Bernard Shaw's devastating comedy about capitalism and prostitution, which turn out to be pretty much the same thing in this play. Karen Ziemba was able to shine in the title role, even when sharing the stage with other acting stalwarts like Raphael Nash Thompson and Robert Cuccioli. The more challenging roles in the play, however, go to the younger performers playing Vivie and Frank. Nicole King made her Off-Broadway debut as Vivie Warren, a "New Woman" whose enigmatic intelligence Shaw explored but thankfully never tried to solve. She was complimented by David Lee Huynh as Vivie's caddish love interest, Frank. Director David Staller made certain this production was just as charming as GTG's 2019 offering, Caesar and Cleopatra.

3. The Disciple - Thirdwing is a relative newcomer to NYC theatre. Their productions--which are sometimes live, sometimes virtual, and sometimes both--can be hit or miss. The Female Genius, a series of filmed shorts by Rachel Carey, provided the basis for this full-length play about author and philosopher Ayn Rand and her devoted much younger lover, Nathaniel Branden. Unlike some other plays about sexual exploitation by the famous and powerful, The Disciple finds nuance, in part by flipping traditional gender politics on their head, and showing a woman who is willing to be just as selfish and brutal as any man. Maja Wampuszyc is perfect as Rand, and Cameron Darwin Bossert plays Branden with both humanity and humor. Alas, the in-person show came and went without much fanfare, but fortunately, you can still see a filmed scene from it streamed through Thirdwing's website.

2. The Alchemist - The funniest new play of 2021 was Ben Jonson's old Jacobean comedy The Alchemist, made new again in a brilliant adaptation by contemporary dramatist Jeffrey Hatcher. Red Bull Theater Company, which has been remarkably active online during the pandemic, thankfully returned to the live stage with this side-splitting production directed by Jesse Berger. The cast featured Jacob Ming-Trent--who was so hilarious as Falstaff in this summer's Merry Wives--as well as Manoel Feliciano, Reg Rogers, Teresa Avia Lim, Nathan Christopher, Carson Elrod, Allen Tedder, Louis Mustillo, and Jennifer Sanchez (who literally shimmered in a costume designed by Tilly Grimes). Jonson's play is hysterical, but its cast of 12 (plus assorted extras) makes it difficult to produce for a professional company. Hatcher did a great job getting to the core of the humor while also reducing the cast size and making the play feel topical for those of us living through the plague of the 21st century.

1. The Streets of New York - Of all the New York companies that took their work to the virtual world to keep theatre alive during the pandemic, none were more prolific and innovative than Irish Repertory Theatre, which experimented boldly with the online format, and frequently with great success. I intensely looked forward to their return to the live stage, though, and was greatly pleased when they announced that they would be performing Dion Boucicault's The Streets of New York, especially after they had done such a magnificent revival of the same author's comedy London Assurance. What I was not expecting was for the show to be a musical! Director Charlotte Moore provided a number of delightful songs to transform Boucicault's classic melodrama into a holiday treat. She couldn't have done it, however, without a delightful cast that includes Ben Jacoby, David Hess, Justin Keyes, Jordan Tyson, Ryan Vona, Delaney Westfall, and (most winningly) Amanda Jane Cooper. It's still playing until January 30th, so be sure to grab tickets.

That's my list! Honorable mentions go to Blackbird, Radium Girls, and The Overcoat. Let's hope the virus recedes soon, and we can have a more robust season in 2022!

Tate in the Park

After two rained-out attempts, I finally got a chance to see New York Classical Theatre perform King Lear, as written by William Shakespeare and refinished by Nahum Tate.

In 1681, Tate "fixed" Shakespeare's most devastating tragedy by introducing a love story between Cordelia and Edgar, and by having the good characters all get to live in a bizarre happy ending.

For the most part, New York Classical has stuck with text Shakespeare wrote rather than following Tate's changes. Tate completely cut the fool, for instance, and this version not only retains that part, but like the recent Broadway production with Glenda Jackson, also double casts the role with that of Cordelia, even going so far as to explicitly have the fool be Cordelia in disguise.

But the production does keep Edgar's romance with Cordelia, and (most spectacularly) Tate's happy ending. Perhaps "happy" is too strong a word, since even when he's saved, Lear is painfully apprehensive. At one point in Tate's script, he says to Albany: "Com’st thou, inhuman Lord, to sooth us back / To a Fool’s Paradise of Hope, to make / Our Doom more wretched?"

Cordelia reigns as Queen at the end, and even blind Gloucester gets to live, adding his blessing to the marriage of Edgar and the new queen. After the Restoration, audiences who had recently been through the chaos of civil unrest, tyrannous leadership, and a nasty plague probably couldn't take the bleak ending Shakespeare provided. Well... New Yorkers today can relate, so thank you, New York Classical, for providing this magnificent respite!

The production is playing until August 8th in Battery Park, just outside Castle Clinton. There are chairs available, but I recommend bringing a blanket instead and having a picnic on the grass before the play starts. Showtime is at 7:00 pm, and while tickets are free, you will need to make a reservation.

Tonight, the weather was perfect for outdoor theatre, so go while you can. It isn't often you get to see a feel-good King Lear!

Cataracts and Hurricanoes!

Tuesday, I was supposed to see New York Classical Theatre Company's production of King Lear in Central Park. I was particularly excited because rather than doing the classic version by William Shakespeare, they promised they would be performing the happy ending by Nahum Tate!

Well, unfortunately, they called off the show due to weather. I had already walked down to the park, so I ended up getting drenched on the way home. Fortunately, the company offered to reschedule my reservation for a different date. I asked them to rebook me for Saturday, tonight.

Well, they got through quite a bit of the play this time, bur as Lear was calling out "You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout / Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!" the audience was feeling drops of rain start to come down on us. It wasn't too much, so the actors soldiered on. Gloucester got his eyes gouged out, and then the director made an announcement: The show was canceled. As I walked home, I got drenched yet again.

Is the third time a charm? Well, Lear didn't have much luck with his first two daughters, and then along came Cordelia... so... maybe?

I've made a reservation to see the show when it will be playing in Castle Clinton later this month. Come to think of it, the last time I saw New York Classical perform King Lear, it was also at Castle Clinton, but that was with the original ending. I want the happy ending, dang it!

New York Classical isn't the only company performing free Shakespeare in the parks this summer. Classical Theatre of Harlem is doing an adaptation of Richard III by Will Power called Seize the King, Greenhouse Ensemble is doing a production of Twelfth Night, and the Public Theater is doing Jocelyn Bioh's adaptation of The Merry Wives of Windsor. In addition, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot is doing Shakespeare's collaboration with John Fletcher, The Two Noble Kinsmen.

Outdoor theatre is always a challenge, but I'm hoping the rains let up so I can see at least some of these upcoming shows!

Top Plays of 2019

I've come up with this year's list of the top plays I saw that opened in New York in 2019.

Of course some plays didn't qualify, like What the Constitution Means to Me, which opened last year Off-Broadway, or Timon of Athens, which I actually saw in England.

Last year, Travesties and Twelfth Night topped the list, and this year included pieces produced by Roundabout and The Public Theater as well. Here's this year's top ten, in reverse order:

10. Antony and Cleopatra - Hudson Warehouse provides a mixed bag of free classical theater in Riverside Park, but this year's modernized production of one of the great tragic love stories of all time was definitely worth seeing.

9. The Importance of Being Earnest - Another great free outdoor production this year was New York Classical Theatre's clever take on Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. This year they performed the play in both traditional and gender-swapped versions.

8. Midsummer: A Banquet - Food for Love Productions turned Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream into a tasty treat with this immersive production directed and choreographed by Zach Morris. The Art Nouveau aesthetic worked brilliantly, but it was the remarkable acting that sold the show.

7. Cyrano - Yes, this musical adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac by the New Group was all over the place, but it still managed to make me cry... a lot. If they end up releasing a cast album, definitely buy it. And yes, Peter Dinklage can sing. (We already knew Jasmine Cephas Jones and Grace McLean could.)

6. King Lear - Glenda Jackson gave a performance of a lifetime in this Broadway production of Shakespeare's bleakest tragedy. Sam Gold's direction was problematic at times, but a supporting cast including Jayne Houdyshell and Ruth Wilson made up for it, and the production was thoroughly enjoyable, if rather long.

5. Caesar and Cleopatra - Gingold Theatrical Group scored a hit again this year with their Off-Broadway revival of an epic historical comedy by George Bernard Shaw. Director David Staller's imaginative staging featured seven amazing actors and one hysterical puppet. I'm looking forward to seeing what GTG does next year!

4. Hillary and Clinton - Lucas Hnath's play about the 2008 presidential primary had already been making the rounds before landing on Broadway this year. His writing is always clever, but Broadway audiences had the added benefit of seeing Laurie Metcalf and John Lithgow in the title roles.  The play succeeded by eschewing historical accuracy in favor of a more metaphorical truth.

3. Much Ado About Nothing - The stand-out Shakespeare production of the year was undoubtedly The Public Theater's production of Much Ado About Nothing in Central Park. Director Kenny Leon assembled an incredible cast, and fortunately their performance was recorded and aired on PBS to be shared with the entire nation. If you missed it in the park, make sure you see the recorded version.

2. Scotland, PA - A lot of people have been crowing about Hadestown, which I saw both Off-Broadway and in London, though I have not yet seen in its new Broadway incarnation. The best new musical that I saw this year was Adam Gwon's Scotland, PA, a brilliant adaptation of the 2001 film, which was itself based on a certain Scottish Play. Alas, Roundabout has closed this production, but it deserves to have a longer life elsewhere.

1. Juno and the Paycock - Though I'm not a huge fan of Sean O'Casey, this spring Irish Repertory Theatre presented his three Dublin plays in rep, which is an opportunity not to be missed. Of the three, Juno and the Paycock is O'Casey's best play, and this production was masterfully directed by Neil Pepe to navigate the layers of comedy and tragedy for maximum effect. Irish Rep has a great line-up of shows for the coming year, including Dion Boucicault's classic farce London Assurance, which is running now.

I'm looking forward to that and lots of other great shows in 2020!

Grateful

On this day of giving thanks, I am grateful for some of the wonderful theatre companies in New York City that keep going in spite of the difficulties of this day and age.

I am grateful for Gingold Theatrical Group, which has managed not only to keep its Project Shaw reading series going in lean times, but to continue to produce excellent fully staged work as well. This fall's production of Caesar and Cleopatra brought an epic to life on a shoe-string budget. We need more work like that: dedicated, daring, and filled with enthusiasm.

Though I didn't get out there as much as I would have liked to this year, I'm grateful that Irish Repertory Theatre is still with us, too. Their production of Sean O'Casey's trilogy of Dublin plays was not to be missed, and I particularly loved Juno and the Paycock. They'll soon be opening one of my favorite under-produced plays, London Assurance by Dion Boucicault. Thank you yet again, Irish Rep!

Theatre in the parks is always hit-or-miss, which is why I'm particularly grateful to New York Classical Theatre for consistently providing quality outdoor theatre for the masses. This summer's production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest was a delight. I hope what they have to offer us next summer will likewise entertain and provide food for thought.

Finally, I'm grateful to Urban Stages for bringing new work to life and being one of the few New York theatres left to take unsolicited scripts. It's a pity we don't have more theatres in this city with the type of open-door policy that has helped Urban Stages discover truly new voices.

Some of the larger theatre institutions in New York frequently get applause for their good work, but it's smaller companies like these that really keep New York theatre alive and vibrant!

The Importance of Being in the Park

This year, The Public Theater is producing three big-budget plays at the Delacorte in Central Park: Much Ado About Nothing, Coriolanus, and a stage adaptation of the Disney movie Hercules, the last of the three done as part of the theater's Public Works program. However, there are plenty of other great shows to see in the parks this summer, including New York Classical Theatre's delightful new production of The Importance of Being Earnest.

Last night, I saw the classic Oscar Wilde comedy at the north end of in Central Park. Ushers greet you at the entrance at 103rd Street and Central Park West. Bring a blanket or a low folding chair, but make sure it's easy to carry, as you'll be moving from place to place. Each act is performed at a different location around the pond.

And be prepared for a potential surprise. I saw the show with the manly Ademide Akintilo playing Algernon while the charmingly feminine Connie Castanzo played Cecily. However, every other performance, they switch roles, so he plays Cecily, and she plays Algernon. All the other cast members switch roles as well, so every other performance is gender-swapped, which must be rather interesting, to say the least.

The Importance to Being Earnest is only playing until June 16th in Central Park. From June 18th to 23rd, the production will move to Brooklyn Bridge Park at Pier 1. Then, from June 25th through 30th, they'll be at Carl Schurz Park at East 86th Street in Manhattan. You can get more information and sign up for rain cancellation notices here.

Wherever you see it, and whether with a traditional cast or with the roles reversed, do make sure you get to the show. The cast, which includes Jed Peterson and Kristen Calgaro as Jack and Gwendolen, and Tina Stafford and Clay Storseth as Miss Prism and Dr. Chasuble, is excellent. I saw Kate Goehring as a wonderful Lady Bracknell and John Michalski as a deadpan Merriman, but they might be just as good when they switch roles!

William Shakespeare is a perennial favorite for outdoor productions, and tomorrow night Hudson Warehouse is opening a new production of Antony and Cleopatra at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Riverside Park at 89th Street. As is the case with New York Classical Theatre, they pass a basket, and it's pay-what-you-can. Starting July 4th in the same location, Hudson Warehouse will be putting on a stage adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel The Man in the Iron Mask, and in August they'll be back to Shakespeare with The Merry Wives of Windsor.

If Coriolanus and The Merry Wives of Windsor aren't your cup of tea, and you're looking for more familiar Shakespeare territory, Black Henna Productions is doing Hamlet, Viking Prince of Denmark in parks throughout Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn this month. Also, Smith Street Stage will be doing Romeo and Juliet in Carroll Park, and starting in July Hip to Hip Theatre Company will be doing traveling productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Richard III.

For those who are tired of work by that upstart crow Shakespeare, The Classical Theatre of Harlem is doing a real classic, The Bacchae by Euripides this July in Marcus Garvey Park. Last summer, they did a great job with Sophocles's Antigone, so it should be worth seeing, and once again, donations are appreciated, but there is no admission charged. For those who complain that theatre is too expensive in New York, this summer offers an appropriate response.

Theatre in the Parks

Outdoor theatres are always fun (in good weather). This summer, the Delacorte in Central Park hosted fine productions of Othello and Twelfth Night, and the Richard Rogers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park was used for a compelling Antigone.

However, it can sometimes be even more enjoyable to see an outdoor play in a space that isn't designed for theatre at all. The best such play I saw this summer was Romeo and Juliet, performed in the north end of Central Park by New York Classical Theatre. The production used only six actors and LOTS of doubling. I remember seeing the young woman playing Sampson at the beginning and thinking, "She's brilliant! She's totally wasted on a small role like Sampson!" Well, she ended up also being Juliet.

Sadly, that production is no longer running, but if you hurry, you can still see Torn Out Theater's production of The Rover, playing through August 26th at the Music Pagoda in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The production uses selective nudity to bring out the raunchiness in the Aphra Behn classic. As the characters indulge in the festive Carnival, the masks come on and the clothing comes off. This is particularly revealing for the character of the beautiful courtesan Angelica, played in this production by Colin James Ferguson. Seeing him play Angelica as a woman, even after all of the trappings of femininity have been torn away, makes a not-so-subtle point about the arbitrary nature of gender.

Tonight, I saw Hudson Warehouse's production of Hamlet at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Riverside Park. The monument's steps provide seating for the audience, but unfortunately some of those steps are unavailable due to a chainlink fence keeping people away from the monument until the city can scrape up the money to make needed repairs. As a result, some members of the audience are invited to sit on benches to the side of the playing area. I did this, which made me reflect on how in past centuries, wealthy lords were sometimes invited to sit on the stage, being seen as well as seeing. I was warned not to sit too near to the edge of the bench, however, lest I get splashed by stage blood.

New York's parks are filled with spaces that while not built to be theatres can still easily play host to a stage production. It would be nice to see even more of them utilized!

THE RAINBOW coming to Philadelphia

Mark your calendars! On September 17th and 18th, my short play The Rainbow will be performed by 21st Ward Theater Company in Philadelphia.

The play is set outside in a park, and the production will be site-specific, outside in Philly's Gorgas Park. Nicole Miller Marks, founder of 21st Ward Theater Company, has been inspired in part by New York Classical Theatre, which brings free theater to New York City parks in the summer. Now, Philadelphia audiences will have access to something similar, but 21st Ward's first production will involve contemporary plays rather than classics.

The performance on Saturday, September 17th is scheduled for 6:00 pm. The performance on Sunday, September 18th is scheduled for 2:00 pm. Cast and crew have not been announced. Two other plays will also be performed with The Rainbow. Which ones? Find out later! (The company might still be arranging for the rights to the other plays, but trust me--it sounds like The Rainbow will be in good company.)

By the way, Dev Bondarin directed the original production of The Rainbow at the American Globe in 2012. The play is included in the anthology The Best American Short Plays 2012-2013 published by Applause.

There's another even bigger announcement coming up, but papers aren't signed yet. Keep reading this blog, though, to find out about an upcoming World Premiere next spring!

Summer Shakespeare

Tomorrow is the solstice, marking the official beginning of summer, which means lots of open-air productions of Shakespeare!

I've already seen The Public Theater's all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew, which honestly, I found rather disappointing. After building up Katherina as a really interesting character capable of change and adaptation, the production cops out, going for gags at the end instead of finding some sort of emotional core.

Still, I remain hopeful for the Public's second production in Central Park, Troilus and Cressida, which opens July 19th. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, the company's go-to director for classy productions of classics, it promises less gimmick and more substance. Sullivan directed the Public's joyous production of Cymbeline last year as well as their superb King Lear two years ago.

The Public isn't the only game in town, and Hudson Warehouse is currently performing Much Ado About Nothing at the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Riverside Park. I haven't seen this production yet, but hope to get to it sometime this week. Hudson Warehouse will also be doing Othello starting July 28th, also at the Soldier's and Sailors' Monument.

Unfortunately, this looks like the last year for free Shakespeare in Inwood Park, as outdoor grilling seems to take precedence over outdoor theatre. A farewell production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona (complete with canine performers) closes June 25th.

Should you want to cross the Hudson into New Jersey (no passport needed), The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is doing a production of Coriolanus starring my old classmate Greg Derelian in the title role. This one, however, is indoors.

New York Classical Theatre is currently performing A Midsummer Night's Dream at the north end of Central Park, but I'm more interested in their production of The Winter's Tale opening in Battery Park on July 18th.

Why? Because I already have a ticket to see Midsummer at Shakespeare's Globe in London in August! Before I go, though, I'll have to see Shakespeare in the Parking Lot's new steampunk production of As You Like It.

Hip to Hip will be doing a rival production of As You Like It, as well as a production of Julius Caesar. I loved their version of The Merchant of Venice last year, so I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

So if you're looking for Shakespeare this summer, you're in luck! Just remember to bring the bug spray.

Top Comedies After 1737

I previously wrote about the effects of the Licensing Act of 1737, which brought broad censorship to the British stage in the 18th century, and continued to hold back playwrights well into the 20th century.

Comedies like John Gay's The Beggar's Opera and the rollicking satires of Henry Fielding had drawn the ire of Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister. He was determined to make sure he would not be made fun of onstage. The Licensing Act silenced the laughter, and comic writing migrated from the stage to the novel.

In the wake of this massive new censorship law, what comedies were produced? Now that political theatre was effectively banned, what could the playhouses of the Georgian era actually stage? What were the comic plays they put on, over and over again, which proved to be the most popular? The answer is: virtually nothing new.

From 1737 to the end of the eighteenth century, all of the top ten most performed comedies in London were (with one important exception) revivals from earlier eras. I recently came across a list of these comedies, and I found some of the names on it quite unexpected. Here they are in reverse order:

10. The Alchemist by Ben Jonson. Jonson's reputation once exceeded that of Shakespeare, though his works are seldom performed today. Personally, The Alchemist is my favorite of his, and in the 18th century it out-ranked all of his other comedies, as well as all but two comedies by Shakespeare.

9. As You Like It by William Shakespeare. One of the Bard's two comedies to top Jonson was this perennial favorite. Now that women could perform on stage, Rosalind was a wonderful opportunity for actresses to show off their legs in perhaps the greatest cross-dressing role of all time.

8. School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. That's right - Sheridan's classic play was the only new comedy to break into the top ten, and it didn't premiere until 1777. For 40 years, the comic well ran pretty dry for the British stage, and even Sheridan barely made it onto the list.

7. The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar. This 1706 comedy tones down some of the bawdiness of the Restoration, but still has plenty of laughs. I saw New York Classical Theatre do the show a few years back, and I can attest that it still works.

6. The Busy Body by Susanna Centlivre. For those who think there were no female playwrights before Wendy Wasserstein, this 1709 play should be a wake-up call. Though Centlivre is not performed much today, she once outranked Sheridan!

5. The Tempest by William Shakespeare. This late Shakespearean comedy has always been a favorite. Some recent productions in New York have occasionally missed the mark, though I rather enjoyed this summer's production by The Classical Theatre of Harlem.

4. The Provoked Husband by Colley Cibber and John Vanbrugh. You haven't heard of this 1728 play? I can't say that I'm surprised. I've never read it myself, but it once outranked all of Shakespeare's comedies!

3. The Beaux' Stratagem by George Farquhar. This 1707 play is probably Farquhar's best known, so it should come as no surprise it ranked so high. It received 419 performances in London from 1737 to 1800. As You Like It by comparison received only 264 over that same time period.

2. The Conscious Lovers by Richard Steele. This sentimental comedy edged out The Beaux' Stratagem with 434 performances in London from 1737 to 1800. It was no match for the era's top play, however.

1. The Beggar's Opera by John Gay. In spite of the Licensing Act, a ballad opera savagely attacking Robert Walpole and his policies remained (by far) the top comedy in the wake of the new censorship law. The Beggar's Opera had 875 London performances from 1737 to 1800, far more than any other comedy. Though the play was one of the chief causes of the Licensing Act, Walpole couldn't stop performances. It was already an audience favorite.

Something Rotten and Something Fresh

On Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to win the online lottery for $35 seats to see Something Rotten! on Broadway. As a fan of both Shakespeare and musical theater, I had a blast.

From the moment a minstrel wandered on stage to sing the opening number "Welcome to the Renaissance" I was hooked. As the Elizabethan actor Nick Bottom, Brian d'Arcy James has a wonderful song called "God I Hate Shakespeare" in which he rolls out all the criticisms current-day audiences have of the Bard. Meanwhile, the other players respond with an incredulous "How can you say that!?!"

If you watched the Tony Awards on Sunday, you saw the cast perform the show-stopping number "A Musical." Well, it literally did stop the show. The audience gave them a standing ovation after that song, and it was only half way through the first act!

Christian Borle, who plays William Shakespeare as a rock-star-like celebrity, clearly earned his Tony for featured actor in a musical. If you see the show, look at the backdrop for the scene where Shakespeare gives a reading in the park. You'll see a Tudor building that looks suspiciously like Belvedere Castle, a clear reference to the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.

Though the second act gets a little silly, with about every egg joke you could possibly imagine (yes, egg jokes), I still thoroughly enjoyed it. After seeing a lampooning of Shakespeare, however, it was only fitting that I go see an actual Shakespeare play. The next evening, I did just that, taking in New York Classical Theatre's production of The Taming of the Shrew.

I usually enjoy NYCT's productions, but I had a special reason for seeing this one, as it starred my old classmate from Drew University, Amy Hutchins, as Kate. Amy is a superb Shakespearean actor (as well as a talented singer) and it is always a pleasure to watch her perform.

Even setting aside its charismatic star, however, the production was remarkably fresh and interesting. The Taming of the Shrew is done quite frequently, so I've seen a number of productions, but this one continued to surprise me.

NYCT decided to keep the Christopher Sly framing device, which is often dropped from productions. Another version of the play, an anonymous piece titled A Pleasant Conceited Historie, called the taming of a Shrew, flushes out the Christopher Sly framing device. Scholars are divided over the origin of that text, but Alexander Pope included the extra Sly scenes when he edited Shakespeare's play.

While this production seems to have used some lines from the alternate version (and apparently some lines from David Garrick's adaptation Catherine and Petruchio) it came up with its own ending for the Sly subplot, which, whether you agree with it or not, is worth seeing.

New York Classical Theatre is performing the play in Central Park until June 28. There will also be special performances in Prospect Park from June 23 through July 1, and in Teardrop Park from July 8 through July 12. For more information, visit NYCT's website here:

New York Classical Theatre