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Shakespeare in the Parking Lot
This space reserved for Shakespeare
Henry V (Photo: Federico Rodriguez-Caldentey)
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As Shakespeare wrote, “all the world’s a stage…” and the Drilling Company takes Will’s words quite literally, proving the adage again with their sixteenth summer of free outdoor theater, performed in the unique environs of an unassuming Lower East Side parking lot!
Thursday through Saturday (July 9 through August 15), as the sun heads West to set and the concrete begins to sweat out the heat of summer, a patch of asphalt—67 parking spaces large—is transformed by lawn chairs unfolded along the parking lines into aisles and actors in modern dress taking their places on the “stage.”
The delightful downtown alternative to the other Bard-focused festival, long-running Central Park staple, Shakespeare in the Park, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot attracts hundreds rather than thousands, but demand is still high and audiences grow with each passing year. Thankfully, on Ludlow street you’re not likely to incur the long lines or swarms of picnicking Upper East Siders with Zabars take-out that throng Central Park, though limited provided seats motivate some eager audience members to arrive up to an hour early. However, they’re typically noshing on pizza and tallboys. In the parking lot, props consist of cardboard cutouts and occasionally solid furniture that looks as though it was dumpster dived; costumes are Elizabethan-free; refreshments are minimal. Despite the pared-down staging, the productions are compelling enough to draw crowds out to the simple lot for two-hour performances. Best to be prepared and bring your own chair—a truly necessary supplement to an inevitably too-thin blanket. It’s lot, not lawn, after all!
The simple setting is not without its challenges, however. City sounds compete with the performers for attention, cars continue to enter and exit the active lot, and the actors work to maintain focus while the audiences eyes occasionally wander, distracted by the passing cast of characters, and the confused reactions of those who happen upon the scene.
This year’s artistic directors Hamilton Clancy and Kathy Curtiss ensure you’ll be too captivated to mind the surroundings. Recognizing that theater fans have a lot of choice when it comes to where they get their summer Shakespeare fix, Clancy and Curtiss present two classic comedies, beginning the season with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, followed by Measure for Measure.
So if you find yourself downtown at dusk, seek out the municipal lot for a hassle-free Shakespeare in the Park alternative. And, needless to say, parking is available!