The Flea Presents THE SHAKES: ROMEO & JULIET, 1/31-3/2

The Flea Theater will continue it's tradition of late-night offerings with The Shakes: Romeo and Juliet. Five teams of actors helmed by five Flea Resident Directors each perform an act from Shakespeare's most tragic love story. Cast from The Flea resident Acting Company, The Bats, Romeo and Juliet follows the inaugural Shakes, The Honest Whore by Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton. The Shakes: Romeo and Juliet will be performed in one-act installments until the play is complete.

Shakespeare's iconic Romeo and Juliet is more than just a balcony scene. By tackling one act at a time The Flea will provide a unique audience experience of this well-known text - giving greater perspective to the circumstances and citizens of divided Verona. The late-night format and encouraged audience participation gives way to an invigorating atmosphere, and will create a truly "Flea" event.

Romeo and Juliet plays Thursday through Saturday at 11pm. Act 1 will be performed Jan 31, February 1-2; Act 2 on February 7-9; Act 3 on February 14-16; Act 4 on February 21-23; Act 5 on February 28, March 1-2.

All tickets are only $12.50 (available online and at the door) and include a free drink.

Created by Flea Resident Directors Danya Taymor and Kristan Seemel, in collaboration with Flea Artistic Director Jim Simpson. Modeled after the infamous serialized act-by-act Pyramid Club Titus Andronicus from the 1980s, part of the thrill comes from the radically divergent thrust of each act in approach and delivery as the different artistic teams make the most out of their part of the play.

The Bats are the resident Acting Company members of The Flea Theater. Each year over a thousand actors audition for a place in this unique company. The Bats perform in extended runs of challenging classic and new plays. The Bats have recently appeared in World Premieres by A.R. Gurney, Will Eno, Adam Rapp, Beau Willimon, Mac Wellman, Elizabeth Swados, Thomas Bradshaw, Itamar Moses, Sheila Callaghan, Julian Sheppard, Ken Urban, Tommy Smith, Jonathan Reynolds, Trista Baldwin, Laurel Haines, Qui Nguyen and Sean Graney.

The Flea Theater, under Artistic Director Jim Simpson and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, is one of New York's leading off-off-Broadway companies. Winner of a Special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement, Obie Awards and an Otto for political theater, The Flea has presented over 100 plays and numerous dance and live music performances since its inception in 1996. Past productions include the premieres of Anne Nelson's The Guys, seven plays by A.R. Gurney (O Jerusalem, Screenplay, Mrs. Farnsworth, Post Mortem, A Light Lunch, Office Hours and Heresy), Cellophane and Two September by Mac Wellman, Ashley Montana Goes Ashore... and The Oldsmobiles by Roger Rosenblatt; JABU and Kaspar Hauser by Elizabeth Swados; Return of the Chocolate Smeared Woman by Karen Finley, Bingo with the Indians by Adam Rapp, Oh, The Humanity and other exclamations by Will Eno, Dawn and Job by Thomas Bradshaw, Love/Stories (or But You Will Get Used to it) Itamar Moses, The Great Recession, Girls in Trouble by Jonathan Reynolds, Parents' Evening by Bathsheba Doran, Looking at Christmas by Steven Banks, the Drama Desk nominated She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen, the Drama Desk nominated These Seven Sicknesses by Sean Graney, I Hate f-ing Mexicans by Luis Enrique Gutiérrez Ortiz Monasterio, and Restoration Comedy by Amy Freed.

The Shakes: Romeo and Juliet runs, one act a night, January 31 through March 2, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 11pm. Check www.theflea.org for the full performance schedule. The Flea is located at 41 White Street between Church and Broadway, three blocks south of Canal, close to the A/C/E, N/R/Q, 6, J/M/Z and 1 subway lines. Tickets are $12.50 and are available in advance online and at the door beginning 1 hour prior to each performance. Each ticket purchase includes a free drink.