New York Classical Theatre
Encyclopedia
New York Classical Theatre, founded in 2000, performs plays every season throughout New York City
’s Central Park
(12 acres), Battery Park
and historic Castle Clinton
(25 acres), the World Financial Center
(150,000 square feet) and Governors Island
and Fort Jay
(35 acres). Using the company's signature staging style, Panoramic TheatreTM, these classical scripts are adapted to the specific landscape of each unique venue, giving the impression that the play is taking place in this location. Additionally, at the end of each scene, audience members follow the actors to a new space in the venue, a technique that a New York Times reviewer praised as “elimination of the stage itself with a modern-dress version of Love’s Labour’s Lost that wanders around a pond in the northwest corner of Central Park.” Show Business Inc. wrote that roving through these public venues “has made theatergoing a more interactive experience, allowing audience members to mingle with actors in a way that traditional venues would not allow.”
All performances are free and include Shakespeare, Restoration drama, and plays by such comparatively modern masters as George Bernard Shaw
. Open rehearsals take place in each venue, welcoming passers-by to observe artists transforming timeless works from the written page to a living, dynamic performance. New York Classical also presents free educational family workshops (children age 7-12 and their families) before selected performances. The company's 2010 epic production of William Shakespeare's Henry V, began in Battery Park (England) and, via a free Statue Cruises Ferry, took the audience across the New York Harbor (English Channel) to Governors Island (France).
Stephen Burdman is the founder and artistic director.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
’s Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
(12 acres), Battery Park
Battery Park
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
and historic Castle Clinton
Castle Clinton
Castle Clinton or Fort Clinton, once known as Castle Garden, is a circular sandstone fort now located in Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, New York City, in the United States. It is perhaps best remembered as America's first immigration station , where more than 8 million...
(25 acres), the World Financial Center
World Financial Center
The World Financial Center is a complex of buildings across West Street from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River. This complex is home to offices of companies including Merrill Lynch, RBC Capital Markets, Nomura Group, the Wall Street...
(150,000 square feet) and Governors Island
Governors Island
Governors Island is a island in Upper New York Bay, approximately one-half mile from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel. It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
and Fort Jay
Fort Jay
Fort Jay is a harbor fortification and the name of the former Army post located on Governors Island in New York Harbor. Fort Jay is the oldest defensive structure on the island, built to defend Upper New York Bay, but has served other purposes...
(35 acres). Using the company's signature staging style, Panoramic TheatreTM, these classical scripts are adapted to the specific landscape of each unique venue, giving the impression that the play is taking place in this location. Additionally, at the end of each scene, audience members follow the actors to a new space in the venue, a technique that a New York Times reviewer praised as “elimination of the stage itself with a modern-dress version of Love’s Labour’s Lost that wanders around a pond in the northwest corner of Central Park.” Show Business Inc. wrote that roving through these public venues “has made theatergoing a more interactive experience, allowing audience members to mingle with actors in a way that traditional venues would not allow.”
All performances are free and include Shakespeare, Restoration drama, and plays by such comparatively modern masters as George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
. Open rehearsals take place in each venue, welcoming passers-by to observe artists transforming timeless works from the written page to a living, dynamic performance. New York Classical also presents free educational family workshops (children age 7-12 and their families) before selected performances. The company's 2010 epic production of William Shakespeare's Henry V, began in Battery Park (England) and, via a free Statue Cruises Ferry, took the audience across the New York Harbor (English Channel) to Governors Island (France).
Stephen Burdman is the founder and artistic director.