The Public's Free Mobile Shakespeare Unit Kicks Off COMEDY OF ERRORS Tour Today

Continuing its commitment to bringing free Shakespeare to the community and strengthening audience engagement with the arts, The Public Theater mounts its MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT again this month with a free three-week tour to the five boroughs of Shakespeare's THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. The free Mobile Unit tour (today, October 9, through October 29) will bring free Shakespeare to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts by visiting correctional facilities, homeless shelters, social service organizations, and other community venues, including stops at our Public Works community partner venues: Brownsville Recreation Center in Brooklyn and DreamYard Project in the Bronx.

Following the Mobile tour, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS will have a sit-down run at The Public Theater from Sunday, November 1 to Sunday, November 22, with an official press opening on Thursday, November 5.

The complete cast of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS features Matthew Citron (Officer, Musician); Bernardo Cubria (Antiphoulus of Syracuse, Antiphoulus of Ephesus); Flor De Liz Perez (Luciana, Second Merchant); Christina Pumariega (Adriana); Lucas Caleb Rooney (Dromio of Syracuse, Dromio of Ephesus); David Ryan Smith (Egeon); and Zuzanna Szadkowski (Solina).

Tickets priced at $20 for THE COMEDY OF ERRORS at The Public are available now. Tickets can be purchased by calling (212) 967-7555, visiting www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at 425 Lafayette Street. All tour performances are free, but performances at Pelham Fritz Recreation Center, Highbridge Recreation Center, Brownsville Recreation Center, Faber Park Field House, and Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center are also open to the general public via RSVP at www.publictheater.org. To further the mission and reach of the MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT, tickets for each performance of the limited run at The Public Theater will be given to community organizations that cannot host a visit from the tour.

The Public Theater's MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT, part of The Public Theater's long-standing commitment to making Shakespeare accessible to all, returns for its sixth year with THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Mistaken identity leads to delightful mayhem in the Bard's classic play about two sets of twins separated by stormy seas. When one pair dares to trespass into a foreign city to find the other, the comedy of errors begins and the long-lost brothers must overcome wrongful imprisonment, angry wives, and hilarious confusion on their journey to a joyful reunion.

MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT, now in its sixth year, is a reinvention of Joseph Papp's Mobile Shakespeare program, which began in 1957 to bring Shakespeare to the masses, evolving into the New York Shakespeare Festival and ultimately becoming The Public Theater. Recent Mobile Shakespeare Unit productions include Measure for Measure; Richard III; Much Ado About Nothing; Pericles, Prince of Tyre; and Macbeth. MOBILE SHAKESPEARE UNIT will also present educational workshops at selected tour venues, expanding The Public's existing community outreach and education program. This program continues the expansion of The Public's Shakespeare Initiative, which includes the recent Public Works productions of The Odyssey, The Tempest, and The Winter's Tale staged at the Delacorte Theater for free; Free Shakespeare in the Park; and The Public's other affordable productions at its downtown home at Astor Place, all reinforcing the Company's commitment to the ongoing exploration of Shakespeare's canon.

TOUR DATES WILL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING VENUES (October 9 - 29):

Pelham Fritz Recreation Center, Manhattan, is a NYC Parks and Recreation center located in Harlem (October 9).

Highbridge Recreation Center, Manhattan, a NYC Parks and Recreation center located in Washington Heights (October 10).

Lenox Hill Women's Mental Health Shelter at the Park Avenue Armory, Manhattan, provides short-term, safe, and supportive environments to address immediate needs for mentally ill homeless women (October 12).

Brownsville Recreation Center, Brooklyn, a Public Works community partner, is a NYC Parks and Recreation center located in the Brownsville Playground with extensive resources for youth and seniors. The center offers a vibrant space to tap into pursuits artistic and athletic alike (October 14).

ICL Personalized Recovery-Oriented Services, Brooklyn, is a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation program for adults with serious mental illness (October 15).

Queensboro Correctional Facility, Queens, is a minimum security prison in Long Island City (October 16).

Faber Park Field House, Staten Island, is a NYC Parks and Recreation center located in Staten Island (October 17).

DreamYard Arts Project, Bronx, a Public Works community partner, uses project-based arts learning to ignite the transformative spirit (October 19).

Eric M. Taylor Center, Rikers Island - Built in 1964, EMTC houses nearly 2,000 adult and adolescent males sentenced to one year or less (October 20).

Rose M. Singer Center, Rikers Island - Built in 1988, RMSC houses more than 1,700 adult and adolescent females (October 21).

Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, is a U.S. federal administrative detention facility, which holds male and female prisoners of all security levels (October 22 and October 26).

Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center, Bronx, is a NYC Parks and Recreation center located in the Bronx (October 24).

Taconic Correctional Facility, Westchester, is the largest maximum security prison for women in New York (October 28).