Public Theater Presents Three Summer ShakeUp Days This Summer

For the sixth consecutive year, The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Interim Executive Director Joey Parnes) will present Summer ShakeUp, a special workshop on Shakespeare for New York City students, presented for free as a part of The Public Theater's Shakespeare Initiative. Led by Shakespeare Initiative Director Barry Edelstein, the first free Summer ShakeUp will take place on Friday, July 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Participants in the Summer ShakeUp on Friday will get to speak on the world famous stage of the Delacorte Theater. Snacks and prizes will be provided.

Two additional Summer ShakeUp events, presented in collaboration with the NYC Parks Department and the City Parks Foundation, will be presented on Saturday, July 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Crotona Park in the Bronx, and on Saturday, July 23 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Queensbridge Park in Queens.

A limited number of New York Yankee tickets will be provided to individual registries for the Crotona Park event, and the first 47 individual registries for the Queensbridge Park event will win a pair of tickets to attend the New York Mets on September 9.

Individuals, groups and classes can register for these three special events by visiting www.shakespeareinthepark.org. Summer ShakeUp is free and open to all students in New York City, in the 6th grade and up.

"Everyone at The Public is passionate about Shakespeare and the Summer ShakeUp is one of our favorite ways to share that passion," said Shakespeare Initiative Director Barry Edelstein. "It's just a fun, joyous day of games and revelry, all designed to spark the imaginations of our city's school kids and turn them on to this playwright we so revere."

Generously supported by Bank of America, Summer ShakeUp will be held in conjunction with The Public Theater's current Shakespeare in the Park repertory productions of Measure for Measure, directed by David Esbjornson, and All's Well That Ends Well, directed by Daniel Sullivan. Shakespeare in the Park runs thru Saturday, July 30 at the Delacorte Theater.

Open to all students in New York City in the 6th grade and up, Summer ShakeUp is a fun, vivid, and exciting introduction to Shakespeare and live theater. Held at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, Crotona Park in the Bronx, and Queensbridge Park in Queens, students will get to work with Public Theater Teaching Artists who will lead workshops, games, exercises in music, acting, and writing, as well as conduct crafty projects all focused on Shakespeare's world, words, and works. Professional actors from The Public's Shakespeare Lab will perform and demonstrate the techniques used to bring Shakespeare to life in the theater. The Shakespeare Initiative will also be hosting A Midsummer Day's Camp, another Shakespeare program for teens, August 1-13, 2011.

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Joey Parnes, Interim Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals and productions of classics at its downtown home and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public Theater's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through extensive outreach programs. Each year, more than 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public Theater's productions have won 42 Tony Awards, 158 Obies, 42 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. Fifty-four Public Theater Productions have moved to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; For Colored Girls...; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Passing Strange; the revival of HAIR; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Merchant of Venice. www.publictheater.org.

Summer ShakeUp will be held on Friday, July 15 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park; Saturday, July 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Crotona Park in the Bronx; and Saturday, July 23 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Queensbridge Park in Queens. The events are free and open to all students in New York City 6th grade and up. Individuals, groups, and classes may register by visiting www.shakespeareinthepark.org.

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