{"id":4801,"date":"2013-08-14T02:36:32","date_gmt":"2013-08-14T06:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myparkingsign.com\/blog\/?p=4801"},"modified":"2025-02-21T06:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-21T11:13:13","slug":"shakespeare-in-a-parking-lot-ny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myparkingsign.com/blog\/shakespeare-in-a-parking-lot-ny\/","title":{"rendered":"Shakespeare finds an unusual stage — an NYC parking lot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAll the world\u2019s a stage,\u201d wrote Shakespeare. Little did he know that one day his plays would be performed in a Lower East Side parking lot. For\u00a0more than a decade<\/a>,\u00a0The Drilling Company has been staging the bard\u2019s plays in parking lots. This year, they are performing \u201cRichard III,\u201d a decision made after the king\u2019s bones were found<\/a> under a parking lot in Leicester, UK.<\/p>\n

\"'Richard

A scene from a Richard III performance in the parking lot (image by Jonathan Slaff).<\/p><\/div>\n

Why perform in a parking lot?<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt is a tremendously accessible gathering place in the heart of the city. Like most companies that do Shakespeare, we are following the spirit of Joseph Papp<\/a>. But putting our own spin on it by placing it in a parking lot, making an urban wrinkle,” says<\/a> Hamilton Clancy, the company\u2019s producing artistic director.<\/p>\n

Performances are free, so \u201cwe pass the hat around<\/a> the audience rather than charge Broadway-style prices,\u201d says Rob Wilson, Clancy\u2019s adviser. Audience members, who are encouraged to bring chairs, sit on rows of plastic chairs placed around the makeshift stage on the concrete.<\/p>\n

Performances (which start at 8 PM this year) often pause to let parked cars drive away. Actors come to a halt and the audience picks up its chairs, just like a show would stop for rain in Central Park. On average, 150-200 people attend a performance.<\/p>\n

Now the NYDOT is being a spoilsport<\/h2>\n
\"Christine

Christine Quinn (image by David Shankbone<\/a>).<\/p><\/div>\n

This year, the New York Department of Transportation asked the troupe to pay for eight spaces<\/a> at the parking lot per performance. At $8 for a spot, that works out to $64 a performance, or $1,152 for a total of 18 performances. The city also asked the company to buy automobile liability insurance, so the group paid $2,400 in total. It raised this amount from donations and members.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a steep sum, considering its annual budget obtained by fund-raising, donations, and grants is just $15,750. \u201cWe’ve always performed in unused parking spaces. Some nights there are very few cars in the lot. It\u2019s not like we\u2019re taking away business,\u201d says Clancy.<\/p>\n

Help is at hand in the form of Christine Quinn, the City Council speaker and mayoral candidate. \u201cShakespeare in the Parking Lot represents the creative spirit that fuels New York City\u2019s innovation, energy and greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her office has contacted the DOT <\/a>and has \u201casked them to consider reversing course, and grant the waiver that the group has applied for,\u201d says Quinn\u2019s spokesman, Jamie McShane. In case that doesn’t work out, she has a back-up plan.<\/p>\n

Quinn has roped in Jonathan Sheffer, an ex-officio member of Lincoln Center\u2019s board of directors, to pay the bill if the city does not agree. \u201cThe city should be doing all that it can to encourage the creation of art at the grass roots level, not hinder it,\u201d\u00a0he says.<\/p>\n

Martin-Smith, who performs Shakespeare in a park, agrees<\/a>. \u201cShakespeare in the Parking Lot is a fixture of New York,” he says. “It’s going to stay there and they know that. I really feel that they are taking advantage of a New York City treasure.”<\/p>\n

\"Custom<\/a>

Customize a sign like this here<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

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