Summer Guide Cultural Events

Wherefore Art Thou, I Let’s begin with what started it all—Shakespeare in the Park . This year’s first show is Romeo and Juliet (June 5–July 8)—this’ll be the first time in 19 years the Public is producing the play at all, and the first time in 39 years the play will be running at the Delacorte. “Six Feet Under” star Lauren Ambrose has been cast in the role of fair Juliet, and Oscar Isaac—he was the handsome fellow who scorched the Delacorte two years ago with his acting in the musical Two Gentleman of Verona—will be that romantic Romeo. In addition, Emmy-winner Camryn Manheim is making her return to the New York stage as the Nurse, and the rest of the cast includes George Bartenieff, Michael Cristofer and Austin Pendleton, with Michael Greif (Rent, Grey Gardens) in the director’s chair. After that: director Daniel Sullivan’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Aug. 7-Sept. 9).

Wherefore Art Thou, II Shakespeare in the Park isn’t the only way to catch those quibbling Montagues and Capulets bitterly duking it out over love. The adorably well-monikered Shakespeare in the Parking Lot will rev up its 14th season with its own take on Romeo and Juliet (July 12-28). Directed by Tim Demenkoff, this version of the classic romantic tragedy is going to be a bit more barebones in the design department than what you’ll discover in the greenery of Central Park—the play is being performed in the municipal parking lot at Ludlow and Broome streets on the Lower East Side, a block or so south of Delancey. Even amidst the grimy urban grit, though, people always turn Shakespeare in the Parking Lot into a celebration, hauling out their lawn chairs and toting plenty of beer (and, er, other divertissements). The company’s second free Shakespeare this summer will be director Kathy Curtiss’ production of Much Ado About Nothing (Aug. 2-18).

Wherefore Art Thou, III So, you think you still need some more R&J in your life? The Classical Theater of Harlem dares to do yet another interpretation. Look for it first in Brooklyn (July 27-28 at Von King Park) and then later taking up in Harlem (Aug. 3-4 at Marcus Garvey park). You’ll just have to check it out for yourself to see how they’ve decided to challenge the Bard’s star-crossed lovers.

Like a Prayer The old adage “spring forward, fall back” has absolutely nothing on the imagination of Rising Phoenix Repertory . Next month, it will produce Daniel Reitz’s play Fall Forward (June 18–30) both in and around the John Street United Methodist Church (44 John St.) which sits northeast of the financial district. Directed by Daniel Talbott, the play’s action focuses on a sexually ambiguous, BlackBerry-obsessed young broker; a grief-stricken woman who debates the point of her own continued existence; and a reunited couple reminiscing about the past. Some of the action occurs indoors at the church (ostensibly the oldest Methodist church in the city), but some of the play—including its conclusion—occurs in the church’s exquisite outdoor courtyard. As Rising Phoenix’s last piece was set in two adjoining bathrooms, this might get interesting.

Losing Love’s Labour’s? Due north of the Delacorte Theater (by about 40 blocks or so) is the site where the ambitious New York Classical Theatre puts its dramatic wares on display two times every summer. Except this company doesn’t perform in just one place, preferring to gently shuttle its audience members from location to location as the action of the play unfolds. To see the performance—this year’s first show is Love’s Labour’s Lost (May 31-June 24)—you meet just off the entrance to Central Park, at West 103rd Street and Central Park West. Bring some comfortable shoes, because from there you will be led through grassy fields and concrete outcroppings as Shakespeare’s early comedy tells its tale. What’s particularly unusual about NYCT, by the way, is its very inspired choice for a second summer show: George Farquhar’s rarely revived comic masterpiece The Recruiting Officer (Aug 2-26). Shades of current events, anyone?

It’s Not Where You Start… Another tack taken by free-theater companies is to make productions transportable, setting up shop in different parks in each of the five boroughs and thereby earning chits with communities in which not a lot of live theater goes on. This is just one of the reasons why the Boomerang Theatre Company has earned such a loyal fan base; another reason is that the shows are exquisitely well performed. This year, Boomerang has announced its summer show: All’s Well That Ends Well, with June and July dates in Central Park still waiting to be announced. It’s not clear as yet whether Boomerang will move its production once more into the outer boroughs, but one be sure that people in the outer boroughs will certainly be on the lookout for them.

To Be or Not to Be Indoors This year, the great irony of the free-theater summer season is that the company that helped create the current renaissance, Gorilla Rep , is actually doing its current production—Hamlet, text uncut—indoors at the Roy Arias Studio (300 W. 43rd St.). This is a prelude to a formal run of the great Dane’s tragedy that will reopen in Washington Square Park later on this summer, dates to be announced.

An Odd End For a solid year beginning on Nov. 13, 2002, playwright Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog, Fucking A) wrote a play of varying length—though always short—every day, mostly to see if she could. The result of this experiment in obsessive-compulsive creativity is a fascinating yearlong festival called 365 Days 365 Plays, with each of the play being performed virtually every day in New York City as well as a slew of locations around the nation. And, hint hint, all performances of any of the plays are free of charge. Visit the project’s website for a list of companies performing some of the plays—both outdoors and indoors—and where and when.