FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2015
Contact: Mary Riley, Producing Artistic Director, 347-665-8067,
mriley@merciaentertainment.org
Mercia Entertainment
proudly presents the
Spontaneous Shakespeare Players
Romeo & Juliet
Directed by Mary Riley
As You Like It
Directed by Mary Riley
Sat., August 1st @ 2:00pm
Sat., August 8th @ 2:00pm
Sun., August 2nd @ 2:00pm
Sun., August 9th @ 2:00pm
Central Park’s Summit Rock (approx. 83rd St. directly off of Central Park West)
This August, Spontaneous Shakespeare Players (“SSP”) are back to bring the Bard's Romeo & Juliet and As You Like
It to New York City—the way Shakespeare’s own players performed it.
Romeo & Juliet and As You Like It marks the 7th annual FREE Shakespeare productions that SSP has shared with New
York audiences at Central Park's Summit Rock and the 3rd year of being produced by Mercia Entertainment. Dedicated
to bringing the Shakespeare of olden times to modern audiences, SSP uses original Elizabethan performance techniques—
involving audience interaction, cue scripts-in-hand and LOTS of spontaneity—to bring Shakespeare's words to life in a
thrilling and hilarious way. This is seriously entertaining Shakespeare, the like of which you have never seen before,
performed by actors trained in Original Practice rehearsal techniques. Romeo & Juliet and As You Like It will be
performed outdoors for FREE, so pack your picnic blankets and Central Park friendly lunches. It’s fun for the whole
family!
Romeo and Juliet is one of the great tragedy themed plays by William Shakespeare. This is the famous story of the "starcrossed" young lovers Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. The themes running through the play address the issues of the
consequences of immature blind passion, hatred and prejudice. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are young teenagers
who fall deeply in love but their families are bitter enemies. Regardless of the feud between their families they marry in
secret. They make every effort to conceal their actions but the story ends in tragedy when Romeo, Juliet, Tibalt, Mercutio
and Paris all die. As You Like It is one of the great comedy plays by William Shakespeare. The heroine, Rosalind, is one
of his most inspiring characters and has more lines than any of Shakespeare's female characters. Rosalind, the daughter of
a banished duke falls in love with Orlando the disinherited son of one of the duke's friends. When she is banished from the
court by her usurping uncle, Duke Frederick, Rosalind takes on the appearance of a boy calling herself Ganymede. She
travels with her cousin Celia and the jester Touchstone to the Forest of Arden, where her father and his friends live in
exile. Themes about life and love, including aging, the natural world, and death are included in the play. New friends are
made and families are reunited. By the end of the play Ganymede, once again Rosalind marries Orlando. Orlando and
Rosalind, Oliver and Celia, Silvius and Phebe, and Touchstone and Audrey all are married in the final scene. Oliver
becomes a gentler, kinder young man so the Duke changes his ways and turns to religion and so that the exiled Duke,
father of Rosalind, can rule once again.
Watch our bold and magnificent actors perform the First Folio Style with cue scripts in hand, all while interacting and
entertaining the audience in ways you could never have imagined. Shakespeare should always be this fun!
DETAILS: Free admission; no tickets required.
We strongly encourage you to bring blankets, cushions or chairs for picnic style seating.
Location: Central Park’s Summit Rock
(approx. 83rd St. directly off of Central Park West)
Enter at 85st St. and follow the hill up to the right.
centralpark.com/pages/maps.html
MerciaEntertainment.org/Spontaneousshakespeare.org ###
Subway Information: Take the B or C train to the 86st St.
stop.
Running Times: Both shows run approximately 2.0 hours
with 1 intermission