SUMMER 2026
Rome to Right Now:
Announcing Civics Programming Around Julius Caesar
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, New York Classical Theatre is pairing its 2026 production of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar with a season of civics programming exploring questions about power, persuasion, and democracy. In partnership with Civics is Sexy, this initiative will invite audiences to reflect on the play’s themes through student programs, public conversations, family events, and open rehearsals in Central Park—creating space to explore how rhetoric, leadership, and political violence have shaped republics from ancient Rome to the present day.
GALA 2026
A Celebration To Support Free Theatre For All
Join us on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at the stunning Manhattan Penthouse for New York Classical Theatre’s annual Gala
—an unforgettable evening inspired by the grandeur and intrigue of ancient Rome.
While the world around us feels increasingly uncertain, one thing remains clear: access to art and culture should not be a luxury. At a time when one in four New Yorkers is struggling to afford basic necessities, New York Classical Theatre offers something increasingly rare: the chance to experience world-class theatre—for free, in the heart of the city.
WHO WE ARE
New York Classical Theatre creates and reinvigorates audiences for the theatre by presenting free productions of popular and forgotten classical plays in public spaces throughout New York City. We are also committed to developing and producing new plays by living playwrights that enrich and expand our understanding of what defines a classic.
APRIL 15, 2026
Next on Vino & Verse
Coriolanus with Dr. Miles Grier
The time has come to talk about Coriolanus’s facial hair. During what his mother describes as his “comely” youth, he is Rome’s champion—“with his Amazonian chin… driv[ing] / The bristled lips before him,” as his commander boasts. What does this beardless allure reveal about the character’s later rigidity and disdain for perceived femininity? In this bold and thought-provoking lecture, Dr. Miles Grier argues that Coriolanus is not simply a straightforward misogynist, but a figure vexed by change itself—troubled by an incomplete gender transition from male to male. Through close attention to the transformative fragmentation of both bodies and texts, Dr. Grier invites us to reconsider one of Shakespeare’s most politically volatile Roman plays through a striking contemporary lens.
