The Public's Mobile Unit Returns With Free Jenny Koons Directed A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Continuing its commitment to bringing free Shakespeare to the community and strengthening audience engagement with the arts, The Public Theater will mount its MOBILE UNIT again this fall with a free three-week tour to the five boroughs of Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by Jenny Koons. Now in its ninth year, the Mobile Unit's free tour (October 4-26) brings Shakespeare and other works to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts by visiting correctional facilities, homeless shelters, social service organizations, and other community venues. There will also be a three-week engagement of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at The Public Theater running Sunday, October 28 through Saturday, November 17 with an official press opening on Friday, November 2.

The complete cast of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM features Marinda Anderson (Hippolyta/Titania), Leland Fowler (Demetrius/Flute), Christopher Ryan Grant (Bottom), Merritt Janson (Theseus/Oberon), Carolyn Kettig (Hermia/Starveling), Jasai Chase Owens (Lysander/Snug), David Ryan Smith (Egeus/Quince/Fairy), Natalie Woolams-Torres (Puck), and Rosanny Zayas (Helena/Snout).

"Jenny Koons is an amazing, luminous director, and her Midsummer promises to be a groundbreaking theatrical event," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis.

This fall, a classic New York City block party becomes the enchanted setting where fairies work their mischief in Shakespeare's beloved play A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Acclaimed director Jenny Koons takes you to the royal wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, where a celebratory play is being rehearsed. But the real drama is unfolding in the concrete jungle of fairy King Oberon. There, four young New Yorkers discover the course of true love runs anything but smooth, as supernatural sprites and the lovable Puck conspire to reveal what fools we mortals be, and draw us all into the collective dream of romance and merriment.

"Welcoming Jenny Koons into the Mobile Unit family feels natural and inevitable - the Mobile has long been a home for artists working at the intersection of art and social justice and Jenny is no exception," said Director of Special Artistic Projects Stephanie Ybarra. "She has assembled a magnificent team and they've already demonstrated a deep commitment to creating a joy-filled communal experience tailor-made for New Yorkers."

All tour performances are free, and performances at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center; Pelham Fritz Recreation Center; North Brooklyn YMCA; Brownsville Recreation Center; Queens Public Library, Central Branch; Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center; Island Voice/Canvas Institute; Faber Park Recreation Center; and St. Paul's Chapel are also open to the general public via RSVP at publictheater.org. To further the mission and reach of THE MOBILE UNIT, tickets for each performance of the limited run at The Public Theater will be given to community organizations that are unable to host a visit from the tour.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM features scenic design by Kimie Nishikawa, costume design by Hahnji Jang, and original compositions by Sean Hagerty.

In 2018, THE MOBILE UNIT celebrated the 61st anniversary of its inaugural mobile tour in 1957 which began with a production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Joseph Papp with Bryarly Lee and Stephen Joyce in the titular roles. The 1957 Mobile Unit tour received early support from New York City authorities. Stanley Lowell, then deputy mayor, was an early champion for free theater and mobilized city resources and departments to support Papp's production. The first Mobile Unit rolled up to performance venues across the city in borrowed Department of Sanitation vehicles with a wooden folding stage mounted to a truck bed and portable seating risers to accommodate 700 people per venue. The city's Parks Department permitted performances in local parks across all five boroughs. Subsequent productions included Two Gentlemen of Verona, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew, Ti-Jean and His Brothers, Take One Step, Unfinished Women Cry in No Man's Land While a Bird Dies in a Gilded Cage, and Volpone, among many others. This modern reimagining of The Public Theater's original Mobile Theater is inspired by Ten Thousand Things Theater in Minneapolis, MN. In August 2018, THE MOBILE UNIT announced the national expansion of it's programming with a Midwest Mobile Unit National Tour of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-Winning play Sweat. The tour extends beyond performances with community engagement activities on the issues and conversations most alive in their communities.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos