Daring the curse for two performances will be Shakespeare in the Square, a student group at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, who will perform Macbeth, rain or shine, in Washington Square Park’s Holley Plaza (west of the fountain), Saturday, October 29 at 2:00 and 5:00 p.m.
Free Performances of “The Tragedy of Macbeth” at 2:00 and 5:00 p.m.
Actors believe that Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth, which tells the tale of a regicide and its aftermath, is cursed and will not speak the play’s name out loud offstage but instead will refer to it simply as “the Scottish play.” One of the many examples cited down through the centuries as evidence of a curse is Manhattan’s Astor Place Riot of 1849, which was caused by two competing performances of Macbeth.
Daring the curse for two performances will be Shakespeare in the Square, a student group at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, who will perform Macbeth, rain or shine, in Washington Square Park’s Holley Plaza (west of the fountain), Saturday, October 29 at 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. Subway: A,B,C,D,E,F,M (W. 4th St.). The performances are free and open to the public. Seating is not provided.
The action of the play begins when three witches prophesy the rise to power of Macbeth, Thane of Glamis. Urged on by his wife, Macbeth follows a course of murder, betrayal, and witchcraft. Macbeth is produced and performed entirely by NYU undergraduate students. The production team comprises: co-directors Rose Bochner and Sabrina Jaglom; producers Dan Hasse and Spencer Kennard; Morgan Sitzler, costume design; and Chris Dubrow and Sarah Cowell, music directors.
Cast members are: Chris Bellant, Rose Bochner, Hal St. Louis Farrelly, Scott Groffman, Dan Hasse, Jon Hess, Chris Kappel, Taylor Myers, Anthony Pape-Calabrese, Levente Pusztai, Caleb Shomaker, Charles Sherwood Rudish, James Swanson, Lelia Symington, and Noam Tomaschoff.
Shakespeare in the Square was co-founded last November by Bochner, who is also artistic director, and Hasse, who is the executive director. The two freshmen set out to provide the only opportunity to watch and perform Shakespeare's work as it was intended—“under the sun and in front of a loud, standing, possibly distracted audience.”
