Shakespeare in the Parking Lot

Solidly excellent. Far from perfect, but close enough to go back and see it a second time. It’s Shakespeare and — at least to me — that makes it hard to understand (harder when the actors are sometimes facing away from you and unamplified), but it makes the story so much better when you piece it together.
If you want your stories handed to you already digested, you’re welcome to go to the movie.
If you want some culture, come sit on the asphalt with me and enjoy a grand evening.

Your butt hurts after sitting for 2+ hours on the asphalt. Your view is partially obscured. You miss half of the dialogue through a combination of the actors not projecting and a family of beer bottle gatherers going about their business on the curb.
And still.
It’s Shakespeare, right? And it’s free. And the actors and audience are all just so happy to be there, watching/​performing before a shower curtain backdrop. Sheakespeare in the Parking Lot is a paragon of accessibility, and in some ways, bringing Shakespeare to the people like this is far more noble than whatever the Royal Shakespeare Company is doing by reconstructing the Globe Theatre in the Park Ave Armory and charging a billion dollars for it.

I swung by unknowningly, saw Henry V here and left after 5min. OK, so these ‘actors’ wear red button downs, black pants, have name tags taped to the back of their shirts, and have a projector against the wall of a parking lot. While they act you have people weaving in and out of the muni parking lot here. At least they actually have a paper with the program on it if you ask for it. Regardless, Not exactly my idea of a good time. Heck, they don’t even wear mics. So what if it’s free. Stop being a cheapass and buy real tickets.

STELLAR… why?
Lets just say I’m not really a Shakespearean type of lady. There will be no Shakespeare in the Park for me, but a parking lot. I’m there! I saw the Twelfth Night last month. We never read this Shakespeare story in high school so I wasn’t familiar, but surprisingly I was able to follow along. The actors were diverse, talented and fun to watch. I totally recommend this urban interpretation for anyone who is a Shakespeare fanatic (don’t worry it’s still full of integrity) to people who can’t even spell Shakespeare (I’m thanking god for spell check).
Tippy: Seating starts to fill up about a half hour before the show, so be prepared to sit on the ground or bring your own chair. Oh, and don’t worry about the cars, they’ll just take a brief intermission when someone needs to get out :)

At first i was not so sure i could muster 5 stars for this admittedly tepid production of Romeo and Juliet, but when i consider a few factors (below) i realize it just had to get full marks.
1) its free!
2) its a great idea — ha! take that Topeka, and your silly Shakespeare in the park, we’re NYC and this is how WE roll…
3) despite the difficult blocking and ‘set’ design (a van) the actors do a good job pulling it off
4) there is a café across the street, so if you get bored/​thirsty you can have a beer and watch (provided you don’t need to hear — but who does not know the play anyway)
5) forget Bryant Park, this is my new summer dinner-​picnic location
bring pillows and or comfy seating — 2hrs+ is a long time to sit on the asphalt