NEW YORK CLASSICAL THEATRE INC
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Mission Statement
New York Classical Theatre creates and reinvigorates audiences for the theatre by presenting free productions of popular and forgotten classical plays in public spaces throughout New York City. We are also committed to developing and producing new plays by living playwrights that enrich and expand our understanding of what defines a classic.
About This Cause
Since 2000, New York Classical Theatre has presented over 800 free performances for more than 275,000 New Yorkers. we have staged more than 45 evening-length scripts with adaptations of text by writers including: William Shakespeare, Aphra Behn, Molière, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Charles Dickens, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and Alice Scovell. By adapting plays for large open public spaces, we have emerged as an innovative and unique addition to the City's theatrical landscape. Our 2013 production of Jean-Claude van Itallie’s translation of “The Seagull” by Anton Chekhov, transformed the northwest corner of Central Park into a 19th-century Russian country estate, and the Governors Island parade grounds played the role of Agincourt for our 2011 production of Shakespeare's “Henry V”. By presenting all of our programs at no cost to our audience, we attract thousands of people every season from every demographic. We know from surveying: they come from all 5 boroughs, nearly 30% live at or below the New York City poverty line, and over 25% attend with children in Grades K-12. Each of our performance spaces—which over the years have included Gracie Mansion’s front lawn in Carl Schurz Park, Brookfield Place shopping mall’s food court, and Brooklyn Commons at MetroTech—is within short walking distance of mass transit, schools, libraries, and public housing. We provide a valuable cultural and educational programing resource for those venues. For example, working closely with the National Park Service, our adaptation of “The Tempest” helped re-open Castle Clinton National Monument after the flooding due to Hurricane Sandy. Our 2019 reading of Guillén de Castro’s “Force of Habit” was the first arts event at Cornell’s new Innovation Center on Roosevelt Island. NY Classical has received much critical acclaim and positive media attention. The Washington Post's Peter Marks called our production of "Romeo & Juliet" “a wonderful way to claim Shakespeare for new audiences and rekindle it for the more familiar, one beguiled city dweller at a time.” Theatre journalist and performing arts critic Jose Solís said our interpretation of "The Importance of Being Earnest” was “absolutely enchanting, hilarious, and illuminate[d] Wilde’s text in refreshing ways.” PBS-Channel 13, WABC Eyewitness News, WNBC, NY1 News, and Good Day New York have run wonderful features on our productions. We have also been seen in The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Time Out-New York, the New York Daily News, AM New York, and the New York Times.