New York Classical Theatre

New York Classical Theatre is the only all-free professional (Off Broadway) theatre in NYC. Founded by Stephen Burdman, the Company has presented more than 600 free performances of works by Shakespeare and other classical playwrights including Aphra Behn, Chekhov, Farquhar, Jarry, Marivaux, Moliere, Schiller, Shaw and Sheridan. Over the past 17 seasons, nearly 200,000 people have experienced 37 free New York Classical productions outdoors in Central Park, Prospect Park, The Battery, Rockefeller Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Carl Schurz Park and on Governors Island, and indoors at Brookfield Place and One Liberty Plaza.

Every season they present two free productions in multiple public spaces across New York City utilizing their signature performance style: Panoramic Theatre. Created by Stephen Burdman and influenced by 19th century staging and single camera cinema techniques, Panoramic Theatre places the audience at the center of the action, promoting an intimate relationship between actor, audience and venue. Breaking down traditional boundaries of theatrical staging, the audience enters the world of the play, journeying with the actors as the story unfolds around them. By using different locations for specific scenes, Panoramic Theatre fosters a deeply immersive theatrical experience—on an emotional as well as physical level. And, what makes these productions particularly magical is that they are staged with spectacular backdrops, such as Castle Clinton, the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, a bucolic lake in Central Park, the Manhattan Skyline and the grand marble interior of Brookfield Place. Open rehearsals take place in each venue. The company's epic production of William Shakespeare's Henry V, began in Battery Park (England) and, via a ferryboat courtesy of Statue Cruises, took the audience across the New York Harbor (English Channel) to Governors Island (France).