PRODUCTIONS
PRODUCTIONS
Productions are an integral part of what we do at The Shakespeare Forum. Through a shared experience with the audience, we form a community which pivots upon Shakespeare's text and the richness of his characters.
We provide productions which are high in quality, text-driven and affordable to all.
*Appeared courtesy of Actors Equity Association
The Merchant of Venice
Spring 2014
Directed by Sybille Bruun-Moss & Andrew Borthwick-Leslie
Elektra Birchall
Ivan Birchall
Dominic Comperatore*
Bill Coyne*
Lash Dooley
Hannah Rose Goalstone*
Sarah Hankins*
Gabriel Lawrence*
Francis Mateo*
Joseph J. Menino*
Michael Moreno*
Zach Libresco
Imani Jade Powers
John Smiley*
"With its latest production, The Merchant of Venice (MoV), The Shakespeare Forum has established itself as the preeminent small-scale community Shakespeare company in New York." Theater Pizzazz
"The Shakespeare Forum is to be commended for finding an approach to The Merchant of Venice that so strongly emphasizes the contrasting elements of the play." Talkin Broadway
"Our highest recommendation! One of the best productions of the Merchant we’ve ever seen – enjoyable, affecting, and illuminating. The Bard done proud by a great company." Ronald Gross - NY Theater Buying Guide
Love's Labour's Lost
Spring 2013
Directed by Andrew Borthwick-Leslie & Sybille Bruun-Moss
Matt Bernhard*
Maxon Davis*
Whitney Egbert*
Jake Elitzer
David Friedlander*
Tracy Hostmyer*
Kate Kenney
Daniel Krstyen
Francis Mateo*
Tyler Moss*
Tyrien Obahnjoko*
Hannah Rose Goalstone*
Filipe Valle Costa*
Tai Verley
Nate Washburn
Jessika D. Williams*
"At first glance, LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST can seem a sweet but trivial conceit of coincidence and poetry," explain co-directors Borthwick-Leslie and Bruun. "Our production will revel in and reveal the intense passions and provocations that lie underneath. Love, impractical and inconvenient, causes our cast of characters to fail to conceal their true natures. It is through those failures that we understand that Navarre, much like New York City, is not so much a dead and remote ideal, but a direct reflection of how the human spirit cannot be contained. Politics, pride, career, and fame do battle with poetry, desire, dance and beauty. We hope to discover why the labours of love this particular time, lose."
"Who needs big Broadway productions when productions like this exist?"
-JK Clarke, Times Square Chronicles
"Love's Labour's Lost is a play of surfaces and poetry ... which stages a complex and difficult play in a simple and approachable fashion. If the production in Central Park does as much, it will be in good company."
- Aaron Grunfeld, New York Theatre Review
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Winter 2012
Directed by Tyler Moss
David Hywel Baynes
R.J. Foster*
Sam Laakso
Kristina Mueller
Edward Stanley*
Claire Warden*
Whitney Egbert
Aaron Gaines
Brad Lewandowski*
Lauren Sowa*
Joris Stuyck*
R. Scott Williams*
"Where the ensemble really shines is it's ability to showcase the comedy of the piece without overdoing it." -Matt Gordon
The Shakespeare Forum "has gathered a superb cast for this production, deep in talent, giving singularly strong performances in every role." -Eric Minton, Shakespearances.com
"Shakespeare Forum’s version gave us all ... new things to see in the play." -MinorCritics.com
"...simple and beautiful Shakespeare, rooted in text, a true sense of ensemble and simplicity... It's a great representation of this special group of people, what they are about. Smile is guaranteed." -Bill Coyne, Actor
"...one of those all too rare amazing nights in the theatre. Really." -John E. Sims, Actor
Hamlet
Summer 2012
Directed by Sybille Bruun-Moss
Dan De Jesus
Adam Goodman
Erin Keskeny
James Patrick Nelson*
Tom O'Keefe*
Brian Smolin
Pat Dwyer*
Dylan Kammerer
Tyler Moss*
Andrus Nichols
Chris Seiler*
Claire Warden*
"Tyler Moss is to Hamlet what a pianist is to Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto ... tackling his solo parts with a virtuoso’s touch that give unique expression to the score written for him." - Eric Minton, Shakespearances.com
"The clarity extended to the language with such completeness that it felt effortless." - Zelda Knapp
" Their Hamlet is like a master class in the play." - MinorCritics.com
"I've seen Hamlet at the National Theatre with Rory Kinnear, at the RSC with Toby Stephens, at the Old Vic with Ben Whishaw amongst others and I have to say, I had never seen a more truthful, honest and engaging production as I did last night. This is how Shakespeare should be performed...massive congratulations to everyone involved. The plays the thing." - David Hywel Baynes, Actor
"Unbelievable. Wept. A hell of a way to close a show. A resounding triumph." - Amanda Schuckman, Actor