Still from Hip to Hip’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Credit: Hip to Hip
Aug. 13, 2024 By Shane O’Brien
Free Shakespeare in the Park is coming to Queens this week with two performances at Sunnyside Gardens Park.
The Hip to Hip Theatre Company is bringing the hugely popular event to Sunnyside with a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream to take place tonight, Aug. 13, before a performance of The Winter’s Tale on Wednesday, Aug. 21, with both productions kicking off at 7:30 p.m.
Hip to Hip will also host “Kids & the Classics” starting at 7 p.m. both evenings, allowing children aged five to 12 to take part in interactive workshops. The workshops give kids a chance to interact with the text by previewing the story and by creating links between the text and their own lives through theater games.
Anyone interested in attending either production is encouraged to bring a blanket or low chair and picnic fare. No tickets are required for either performance, although seating is first come, first served.
Hip to Hip has been performing free Shakespeare plays in New York City parks for the past 17 years, producing 28 of the 38 plays that Shakespeare is believed to have written during his lifetime.
The theater company uses a repertory theater system, which refers to the practice of one acting company rehearsing multiple plays and then performing them on a rotating basis.
Joy Marr, a co-founder of Hip to Hip, said the company is “keeping rep alive.”
“It’s a feat of memorization and talent to see the actors change from show to show. This year is especially amazing because each actor plays multiple roles within each show, which means they are preparing four to five Shakespearean roles at once,” Marr said in a statement.
Marr added that the repertory system provides up-and-coming actors with opportunities to work alongside more experienced professionals, pointing out that actors who formerly worked with Hip to Hip have been featured in the newly-released “Mean Girls” musical film and “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.”
“It’s an honor to be a part of these young actors’ journeys.”
Jason Marr, who directs Hip to Hip’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, said the combination of The Winter’s Tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream will provide Sunnyside audiences with a treat.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare’s most popular play for a reason,” Jason Marr said. “This is my fifth time working on it and I’m still discovering new layers of brilliance. Pairing it with The Winter’s Tale offers audiences an added treat because the plays compliment each other so well. Beyond the summer-winter contrast, they provide thematic echoes such as love and marriage, personal freedom, magic and the healing power of nature.”
David Frederick, director of The Winter’s Tale, said audiences are often captivated by the story.
“It’s a decades-long journey of personal and political reconciliation and redemption,” Frederick said. “I am thrilled to finally have a chance to direct this play, which has intrigued me since I first saw it over 30 years ago.
“It is an artistic joy to explore the play’s psychology, emotional pain, and multiple storylines about the power of love.”
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