As You Like It
Opening Night: July 9, 2015
Closing: July 25, 2015
Theater: The Clemente
The Clemente is thrilled to host Hamilton Clancy and The Drilling Company in their new summer home at The Clemente. After 20 years performing free bare bones Shakespeare on the Lower East Side, the company lost their eponymous parking lot to an ever changing neighborhood. Their first season in their new space features “As You Like It,” directed by Hamilton Clancy and Macbeth, directed by Jesse Ontiveros. Bring your own chair (or come by early to grab one of ours) and enjoy this free NYC institution.
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July 13, 2015
I’ve rarely been so happy to see a messy play. Last year, 20 seasons after it first began, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot lost its Lower East Side home when the municipal lot it had commandeered was closed for redevelopment. Admirers of this gutsy troupe (and I’ve long counted myself among them) fretted over the possible disappearance of one of this city’s grittiest treasures. Yay for us: This free series has relocated to the outdoor parking lot behind the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center, a few blocks from its former home. Though it’s a working lot, complete with graffiti and cracked asphalt, a recent performance included none of the traffic of the old space. That’s either an improvement or a letdown, depending on your fondness for watching actors dodge cars that move across the stage. Location changes aside, “As You Like It,” the program’s first play this season, still finds the company offering performances that range from clumsy to excellent. In the tale, banished lovers meet in the forest amid disguises, danger and a motley collection of oddballs. It’s a standard Shakespearean comedic setup, with an added helping of philosophy — a few of these characters are also deep thinkers.
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