My Shows
News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

Brave New World Repertory Theatre Presents Free Family Festival to Celebrate Shakespeare's Birthday

By:

Brave New World Repertory Theatre Presents Free Family Festival to Celebrate Shakespeare's Birthday Image

Brooklyn's Brave New World Repertory Theatre announces Shakespeare on Stratford, a FREE family friendly birthday bash in honor of Will Shakespeare on Sunday, April 28th 2-4pm. In a h/t to Shakespeare's birthplace Stratford Upon Avon, the celebration is set to take place on Brooklyn's Stratford Road in Ditmas Park/East Flatbush.

The multi-faceted Shakespeare on Stratford festival will encourage attendees to wander from porch to porch (along Stratford Road from Cortelyou Road to Slocum Place), to hear 18 costumed actors perform some of the Bard's celebrated and lesser known sonnets (2pm) followed by a madrigal singalong (3pm) in the middle of the street with performers and audience members singing one of the period's most famous madrigals, Now is the Month of Maying. The festival culminates at 3:40pm with "courtly line dancers" filling the street and quickly evolving into Afro-Haitian dances celebrating Spring and re-birth.

Brave New World Rep's SHAKESPEARE ON STRATFORD Spring Festival takes place on Sunday, April 28 from 2-4pm.

Brave New World's Shakespeare on Stratford festival will take place one block from their longtime headquarters in Ditmas Park, a lovely tree- and porch-lined neighborhood that floods every spring with pink cherry blossoms, tulips and daffodils. Rain date is Sunday, May 5th.

"We're here both to celebrate spring and bridge the cultural, economic divide of the communities on either side of Flatbush Avenue," says BNW Producing Artistic Director/co-founder Claire Beckman. "Everyone should have access to theatre, music and dance so we hope our neighbors in Ditmas Park and East Flatbush will come together for this free secular celebration of spring."

For the Shakespeare on Stratford festival, Beckman will direct the sonnets, many performed by professional actors/company members. Music director for the madrigals is Nancy Shankman, of NYU Steinhardt where she serves as Director of NYU Steinhardt's Adult Chorus and was former director of the NYU Modern Madrigal Singers. Dance director-choreographer is Haitian-American multidisciplinary artist Sheila Anozier, currently on faculty at the Mark Morris Dance Center.

Theater Fans' Choice Awards
2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats
Best Sound Design - Top 3
1. Adam Fisher - The Lost Boys
36.2% of votes
2. Tony Gayle - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
10.7% of votes
3. Kai Harada - Ragtime
7.2% of votes

Don't Miss a Brooklyn News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...


Videos


Gems of Bollywood in Brooklyn Gems of Bollywood
Chappaqua Performing Arts Center (6/14-6/14)
Ariana Grande in Brooklyn Ariana Grande
Barclays Center (7/18-7/18)
Women Laughing Alone With Salad in Brooklyn Women Laughing Alone With Salad
ClayHouse Theater (6/05-6/07)
Free Move Night at The Intrepid Museum: Top Gun in Brooklyn Free Move Night at The Intrepid Museum: Top Gun
Intrepid Museum (5/22-5/22)
Matt Koff: CAT MAN Comedy Special Release Party in Brooklyn Matt Koff: CAT MAN Comedy Special Release Party
littlefield (5/19-5/19)
Therapy Gecko in Brooklyn Therapy Gecko
The Bell House (8/29-8/29)
Ariana Grande at Barclays Center in Brooklyn Ariana Grande at Barclays Center
Barclays Center (7/12-7/19)
A Taste of Ireland - The Irish Music and Dance Sensation in Brooklyn A Taste of Ireland - The Irish Music and Dance Sensation
Reg Lenna Center For The Arts (6/21-6/21)
Acting Idol in Brooklyn Acting Idol
The RAT NYC (5/19-5/19)
Kingdom Faire in Brooklyn Kingdom Faire
Putnam County Veterans Memorial Park (5/23-5/31)