Reading Series

We launched our reading series in Spring 2018. The program expands the playable pre-1900 canon, increases New York audiences’ exposure to World Theatre treasures, and connects NY Classical with cultural immigrant communities. These events, in partnership with local service organizations, present previously underproduced English-language translations and unpublished adaptations from classical texts.

cover photo by Shane Drummond, courtesy of Brookfield Properties

an Artistic Focus Group reading of

Three Sisters

adapted by Libby Appel
from literal translations by Alison Horsley
with dramaturgy by Kate Powers

Veteran NY Classical Associate Artists and fan favorites gathered online for a special creative development event! Our audience IS our mission. This professional performance of a dramatic masterpiece gave us a new, safe way for our loyal audience members in NY City Council District 6 to share their feedback on our work.

This program specifically connects us with Council Member Helen Rosenthal’s constituents! And, we’re thrilled to present a fresh female-led variation of Chekhov's timeless script.

Details

Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Exclusively presented as an Online Program via performance link.

Cast

Ian Antal†•, Kristen Calgaro†•, Connie Castanzo†•, Stephen D'Ambrose•, Vivia Font•, Ian Gould†•, Michael Hammond•, Barbara Kingsley•, M. Scott McLean†•, Kevin Orton†•, Andy Paterson†•, Nick Salamone†•, Tina Stafford•, and Clay Storseth†•

†NY Classical Associate Artist
•appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

Dramaturgical Packet

Click HERE to download background information for this reading

Click HERE for a brief biographical video about Anton Chekhov

More from Libby Appel

Click HERE to learn more about Libby Appel’s Five Chekhov Plays contemporary American translations, and buy a copy of the script of your own!

Click HERE to rent a streaming documentary about Libby and her work.

Acknowledgements

Sponsored by Council Member Helen Rosenthal & the NY City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Special Thanks to the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and Actors' Equity Association.

In association with Voza Rivers New Heritage Theatre Group
and David Heron's Sure Thing Productions

THE AFRICAN COMPANY PRESENTS RICHARD III
by Carlyle Brown

Details

Monday, March 2nd, 2020
at Williams Institutional CME Church
2239 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd at 132nd Street

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020
St. Bart's community house
109 East 50th Street btw Park & Lexington

Cast

Maechi Aharanwa*, Lincoln A.M. Brown*, Nixon Cesar*, Ian Gould*, David Heron*, Candice McKoy* and John Michalski*

*appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

Program Book

Click HERE to download the “digital playbill” program book for this reading

Synopsis

Set in 1821, the play is based on the true story of the first African-American theatre company in New York City. It dramatizes the conflict that arises when free African-American, William Henry Brown, organizes a production of Shakespeare’s Richard III for a predominantly black audience. The show challenges leading New York City producer Stephen Price, who is presenting an all-white version of the same title just a few blocks away. As Brown fights for the right to present Shakespeare, his African Grove Theatre Company—comprised exclusively of domestic workers and former slaves—fights among themselves as they question the racial implications of African-American actors performing English drama.

Further Info

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation post about The African Grove Theatre
Interview with playwright Carlyle Brown about "The African Company Presents Richard III”
Carlyle Brown on a Working in the Theatre panel discussion with David Grimm, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Lucy Thurber

Media Coverage

Jamaica Observer Heron Takes on RICHARD III
BroadwayWorld NY Classical Theatre to Present Staged Reading of THE AFRICAN COMPANY PRESENTS RICHARD III
Talkin’ Broadway Full Casting Announced for THE AFRICAN COMPANY PRESENTS RICHARD III Staged Reading

Acknowledgements

Sponsored by Council Member Bill Perkins & the New York City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative.

The New York City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative
and Arts Brookfield present

Force of Habit (La fuerza de la costumbre)
by Guillén de Castro y Bellvís

Translated by the UCLA Working Group on the Comedia in Translation and Performance

Paul Cella, Nitzaira Delgado-García, Barbara Fuchs, Mar Gómez Glez, Laura Muñoz, Juan Jesús Payán, Payton Phillips Quintanilla, Kathryn Renton, Veronica Wilson

Details

Monday, November 4th, 2019
at Brookfield Properties’ Tata Innovation Center
11 East Loop Road, Roosevelt Island

Tuesday, November 5th, 2019
Hudson Eats at Brookfield Place
230 Vesey Street, Lower Manhattan

Cast

Juan Arturo, Mariem Diaz, Dan Domingues, Michael Earle Fajardo, Monica Rae Summers Gonzalez, Priscilla Lopez, Alan Mendez, Simone Policano, Luis Quintero, and Mark Torres

performance photos by Jeremy Gordon,
courtesy of Brookfield Place New York

Synopsis

Can gender be learned and unlearned? Félix and Hipólita, two siblings separated at birth, are brought up in the habits of the opposite gender. Kept close by his mother’s side, Félix is sensitive. Hipólita, trained by her father on the battlefield, is fierce. When the family is reunited, the father insists on making the siblings conform to traditional gender roles. Helped along the way by their respective love interests, the two gradually assume traditional positions, but their journeys expose the limitations of the gender system.

Dramaturgy Packet

Compiled by Rhonda Sharrah with an introduction by Laura Muñoz and Payton Phillips Quintanilla

Media Coverage

Broadway World New York Classical Theatre Presents Staged Reading of FORCE OF HABIT
Talkin’ Broadway NY Classical Theatre presents free reading of Force of Habit with all Latinx cast as part of its Diversifying the Classics series
Consulate General of Spain in New York The Force of Habit by Guillén de Castro y Bellvís

Acknowledgements

Sponsored by Council Member Ben Kallos & the New York City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative.

Leonora
by David Stallings

presented in association with Voza Rivers New Heritage Theatre Group and David Heron's Sure Thing Productions

inspired by Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play A Doll's House

Based on a concept by director Antonio Miniño

Details

June 3, 2019
Williams Institutional CME Church
2239 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd

Cast

Nehassaiu deGannes, Brad Fraizer, David Heron, Oneika Philips, Lisa Tharps, Aya Spence, and James Duke Walker. Stage Directions read by Triple 5.

Synopsis

Four months after Hurricane Charlie destroys Jamaica in the grim summer of 1951, Leonora is heedlessly celebrating Christmas with her family. As a black Jamaican woman polished from a young age to marry into a white family, she's used to living a sheltered life. Over the course of three balmy winter days, the shingles of Leonora's life will be rattled one by one; starting with the arrival of her childhood friend Kalisa, and ending in a tempest of self discovery she cannot ignore.

Acknowledgements

Sponsored by Council Member Bill Perkins & the New York City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative.

Media Coverage

Caribbean Life News ‘LEONORA’
Jamaica Observer Heron has a date with Leonora
Caribbean News Weekly Caribbean actors and actresses dominate new play in New York
Harlem World magazine Full Casting Announced For Staged Reading Of NY Classical’s Leonora In Harlem
Broadway World New York Classical Theatre, Voza Rivers/New Heritage Theatre Group And David Heron To Present LEONORA

Women & Servants
by Lope de Vega

a reading of a new translation by Barbara Fuchs, PhD

Details

December 10, 2018
Church of the Epiphany
1393 York Avenue

Cast

Luis Moreno, Gabriel Sloyer, Frankie Alvarez, Gisela Chipe, Zoe Sofia Garcia, Gilbert Cruz, Mark Torres, Michael Earle Fajardo, Guadalís Del Carmen, Alexandra Lin Holden

Synopsis

Eavesdrop on “women and servants” as they plot to outsmart fathers and masters to marry those they love. Lope de Vega's Women and Servants (Mujeres y Criados, c. 1613-14) was recently rediscovered in an overlooked 17th Century manuscript in Madrid's Biblioteca Nacional, the comedia emerges from its 400-year sleep with a remarkable freshness: it presents a world of suave self-fashioning and accommodation, where creaky notions of honor and vengeance have virtually no place. 

The Widow of Valencia
by Lope de Vega

a reading of a new translation by the UCLA working group for the Comedia in Translation and Performance

Details

June 18, 2018
Church of the Epiphany
1393 York Avenue

Cast

Ceci Fernandez, Elizabeth Ramos, Gerardo Rodriguez, Michael Earle Fajardo, Keith Contreras, Gilbert Cruz, Mariana Newhard, Jose Luaces, Carlo Alban, Gabriel Sloyer, Jack Mastriani

Synopsis

Hers is a balancing act of appearances and disappearances, aspirations and desires. How long can she keep everyone in the dark? The Widow of Valencia introduces audiences to Leonarda, a young woman intent on protecting the freedom afforded by her husband’s death. Though she rejects her suitors by day, she makes her own arrangements by night, selecting a lover but keeping her identity a secret.

Acknowledgements

Sponsored by Council Member Ben Kallos & the New York City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative

THIS PROGRAM IS SUPPORTED, IN PART, BY PUBLIC FUNDS FROM THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY COUNCIL.

Special Thanks to the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Actors' Equity Association, the Church of the Epiphany, and the UCLA Diversifying the Classics project!