MERRY WIVES, TWELFTH NIGHT and TEMPEST Coming to Bryant Park This Summer

Beloved theater troupe The Drilling Company, best known as the presenters of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot, are celebrating their fourth year as the company-in-residence for Bryant Park Presents Shakespeare. 2017's performances include six performances of The Merry Wives of Windsor in May and June, three performances of Twelfth Night in late July and six performances of The Tempest in August and September.

The season kicks off on April 21, Shakespeare's observed birthday and day of passing, with a cavalcade of classic villainous monologues from the best known plays of The Bard, including Angelo from Measure for Measure, Regan from King Lear, Iago from Othello, Lord and Lady Macbeth, Aaron the Moor from Titus Andronicus and Drilling Company regular Alesandro Colla's Richard the III. The evening will close with a traditional jazz funeral procession, complete with marching brass band.

Performances take place in Bryant Park's Upper Terrace, located directly to the rear of The New York Public Library, between the Bryant Park Grill and The Bryant Park Cafe. All shows are free and open to the public; Bryant Park's open space guarantees no lines to enter, great sight lines and no crowding.

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Special Opening Night Show:
Shakespeare's Villains
Friday, April 21 at 6:30 pm
Staging in Fountain Terrace in Bryant Park

Celebrate Shakespeare's 453rd birthday with the beasts and scoundrels that the world loves to hate or emulate. From Iago and Lady Macbeth to Shylock and Richard III, The Drilling Company's actors portray some of the greatest monsters, busybodies, political outcasts, and social misfits ever written.

The Merry Wives of Windsor
Fridays and Saturdays from May 19 to June 3 - All shows at 7:00 pm
Staging in the Upper Terrace in Bryant Park

Shakespeare's first sitcom, featuring the classic misadventures of Falstaff and two neighborhood wives, set in an Upper West Side Co-op.

Twelfth Night
Friday July 28, Saturday July 29, and Sunday July 30
Showtimes on Friday the 28 and Saturday the 29 at 7:00 pm; Sunday the 30 at 3:00 pm
Staging in the Upper Terrace in Bryant Park

All is not what it seems in this cross-dressing comedy. Lost travelers Viola and brother Sebastian chaotically search for each other after ending up ashore with hilarious results.

The Tempest
Fridays and Saturdays from August 25 through September 9
All shows at 7:00 pm
Staging in the Upper Terrace in Bryant Park

Love and revenge on Prospero's magical island in the Bard's last play. Songs from Natalie Smith and Andrew Gombas lead the comical journey through dazzling spells and devious plots.

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Inspired by great jazz artists of the 1950s, The Drilling Company discovers, develops, and produces new works by emerging American Playwrights that represent a diverse community of ideas and cultures and explores different perspectives on the universal themes that define us as individuals and communities. Each summer, the company embraces the work of the finest original playwright, Shakespeare, in the most American of settings - a parking lot, continuing a downtown tradition known as Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. The company is a home for professional theatre artists - actors, directors, playwrights and musicians - as diverse as the works they portray and as committed to their ideas as they are to their craft.

Bryant Park Corporation (BPC), a private not-for-profit company, was founded in 1980 to renovate, finance and operate Bryant Park in New York City. BPC is funded by income from events, concessions and corporate sponsors, as well as an assessment on neighboring properties, and does not accept government or philanthropic monies. In addition to providing security and sanitation services and tending the park's lush lawn and seasonal garden displays, BPC provides public amenities and activities, including movable chairs and tables, cafe umbrellas, restaurants, food kiosks, world-class restrooms, and a wide range of free events throughout the year. The Midtown Manhattan park is visited by more than six million people each year and is one of the busiest public spaces in the world. BPC's website, bryantpark.org, is available for more detailed information and a schedule of upcoming events.

TNT's Will is the 2017 season sponsor of Bryant Park Presents Shakespeare. The new television series portrays a contemporary version of Shakespeare's life, played to a modern soundtrack that exposes all his recklessness, lustful temptations and brilliance. On June 27th, join the cast and producers of Will in Bryant Park for an exclusive screening of the show. Then check out the television premiere of the series July 10th on TNT.

Follow Bryant Park at www.bryantpark.org, on Twitter: @BryantParkNYC, Instagram: @BryantParkNYC and Facebook: facebook.com/BryantParkNYC.

Location and Directions:Bryant Park is situated behind the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan, between 40th and 42nd Streets & Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Take the B, D, F, or M train to 42nd Street/Bryant Park; or, take the 7 train to 5th Avenue.

Photo Credit: Lee Wexler

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