FRIGID New York presents the 3rd annual Little Shakespeare Festival at UNDER St. Marks. This year the Little Shakespeare Festival is doing Shakespeare (and Shakespeare-inspired) performances that celebrate or center gender diversity in the Bard's canon. These might be shows where roles traditionally played by cis men are opened to all genders; where male characters have their gender changed, bent or broken; or where non-male characters usually left to the sidelines are brought into the spotlight.
Shrew You!
Presented by Hamlet Isn’t Dead
A fast and funny reimagining of Taming of the Shrew with 4 actors. These actors will play versions of themselves and work towards "fixing" Taming of the Shrew. The roles are gender swapped as well in the hopes of reexamining the importance of gender in the original text. It is fast, funny and rooted in the pillars of Hamlet Isn't Dead; accessibility, joy and musically vibrant.
Double Bill: Shakespeare's Deaths & Shakespeare's Ladies at Tea
Presented by First Flight Theatre Company
The First Flight Theatre Company will present a Shakespearian double bill! In Shakespeare’s Deaths 5 actors will act out all the deaths found in the plays by William Shakespeare in 15 minutes, maybe 10. Shakespeare’s Ladies at Tea is a sketch of what might happen if eight Shakespearean ladies were to get together for tea. Each character is only able to speak the lines the Bard gave her, and the women are at first embarrassed and uncertain what to say at all, but Cleopatra is fearless and Lady Macbeth keeps things rolling along pretty well: in all the party is a triumph.
Lady Capulet
Presented by Barefoot Shakespeare Company
What caused the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets? This prequel to Romeo and Juliet follows the story of Rose from country girl to lady of Verona and explores the betrayal, revenge and manipulations that set the houses of Capulet and Montague against one another in a time when the influence of family, money, power and gender determine everything. Using evocative language, Lady Capulet asks large questions about women’s place in culture today through a Shakespearean lens.
As You Will
Created by Conor D Mullen, David Brummer & George Hider
Friends, foes, fools! Do you ever bemoan the fact that the 884,647 words William Shakespeare wrote have been performed already? Do you yearn for the experience of seeing The Bard's works for the first time? Then celebrate the glad tidings of As You Will and our Unscripted Shakespeare Show! These Shakespearean Scholars are here to present all the monumental works the immortal Bard would've written if he hadn't gone and died. With just the title given by the audience the players of As You Will bring a Shakespearean comedy to life complete with Shakspeare's themes, language, poetic verse and some scholarly footnotes thrown in for good measure. As You Will have performed such classics as Eight Merry Spiders, That Doth Not Go There, 1601: A Space Odyssey and though those shows will never be seen again, there’s always a Shakespearean world premiere in our makeshift Globe Theatre.
Wheel of Fortune
Presented by Djingo Productions
This two-act comedy play draws inspiration from Shakespeare's works, transporting the themes and characters into the digital age of loners, online communities and mass shooters. A "problem play" that Shakespeare might write about in this day and age if he was still alive. Our dark comedy explores contemporary themes of isolation, modern day human connections and how one person's show of kindness could prevent someone's possible violent acts.
THE ROOM of Falsehood
Presented by C.A.G.E. Theatre Company
The cult classic film now becomes Shakespearean, as the love story of the ages is adapted for the stage. The story involves Johnny the businessman dealing with the betrayal of his wife Lisa and his best friend Mark.
