Cinephiles have plenty of excuses to spend the summer in city parks, starting with Films On The Green and Movies Under The Stars. But if you’ve sworn off going to the movies in favor of #Netflixandchill, there are plenty of other excuses to enjoy our public greenery, starting with the following free events dedicated to The Artist and The Bard.
The Artist
Wednesday would have been Prince’s 59th birthday and our own Erotic City is celebrating it. Get yourself to the Coney Island boardwalk at the Parachute Jump (which will turn purple) at 6pm to honor Mr. Sex himself by dancing to a DJ and a setting sun until 9pm.
The Bard
The Drilling Company is also getting political with this year’s installment of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. Artistic director Hamilton Clancy told us the company thought Richard III would be “a bit too obvious,” so they went with All’s Well That End’s Well— “a play that features a woman who holds tremendous magic because of her tremendous love,” Clancy said, “because in our time we see the same: People are stepping forward with tremendous love and trying to be a cure for the disorganization and disorientation of our lacking leadership.” The production will be mounted Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm from July 6 through July 22 at The Clemente parking lot on the Lower East Side.
Later this summer, the Drilling Company will bring Twelfth Night and The Tempest to Bryant Park on the weekends. And at 7pm on Thursdays, Friday and Saturdays from July 27 until August 12, they’ll return to The Clemente parking lot with Henry VI, Part 3, the prequel to Richard III that introduces Shakespeare’s quintessential rogue.