Children’s Shakespeare Opens
Shakespeare’s Unfinished Masterwork – Timon of Athens –
on Labor Day Weekend
Performances
Friday and Saturday August 30, 31, 7pm at Antrim Playhouse at the Manse Barn,
Tappan
Fri. September 13, 7pm at Palisades Presbyterian Church
Sat. September 14, 6pm outdoors at Harmony Hall, Sloatsburg
Nyack, NY – Children’s Shakespeare Theatre brings its modern dress production of Timon of Athens to three different performance venues in Rockland County. The production opens August 30, as a unique way to celebrate the Labor Day Weekend: picnicking on the grounds of the Manse Barn in Tappan and then walking inside to enjoy the show in the air-conditioned luxury of the new Antrim Playhouse. Performances there are Friday, August 30 and Saturday August 31 at 7pm with picnicking starting at 5:30pm.
Performances and picnicking continue on two dates in September–Friday September 13 at CST’s traditional performance home, Palisades Presbyterian Church 117 Washington Springs Rd, Palisades with picnicking starting at 6pm on the grounds; and a special outdoor performance at 6pm on Saturday Sept. 14 in front of beautiful Harmony Hall, in Sloatsburg. With this earlier curtain time and the fact that this performance will be outdoors, audience members for the Harmony Hall performance can picnic either before or after the show. Audiences are encouraged to bring their own picnic dinners or pre-purchase a picnic online when booking tickets at childrensshakespeare.org.
Timon is the story of the fall from power of one of Athens’ richest and most popular citizens and the ramifications this has for the whole society. In Greek, the word timos translates as both ‘personal honor’ and ‘value’.
This play is Shakespeare’s only play never performed during his lifetime. All of Shakespeare’s other plays were written for and performed by his company, the King’s Men, and shaped by those performances before an audience. Timon of Athens was found and published after his death. The social satire of the play makes it a cross between a Saturday Night Live sketch and a great tragedy.
CST’s teen company – the Rogues – will ‘finish’ Shakespeare’s play by bringing it into a modern context of popularity, privilege and social media. They have developed this production in a unique way, during CST’s Summer Sessions, with the cast as co-collaborators on all production elements. The production features Beatrice Gunther as the rich and generous Timon, Emilia Falkner as the social critic Apemantus, Silas Bobrow as Athens’ military man who feels he has been wronged, Alcibiades, and Jack Bieger as Timon’s faithful servant Flavius. It also features Nora Maloney, Orion Murphy and Myla Zimbler in multiple roles.
Beatrice Gunther (Timon) recently received a Best Supporting Actor in a Drama for her portrayal of Edgar in Shakespeare’s King Lear at CST from the Eastern Student Artists Guild honoring non-musical plays on High School stages in the lower Hudson Valley.
The festivities of the play start with a grand party and audience members are welcome to their bring or pre-purchase their picnic ‘party’ on the grounds of any of the three performance venues before the shows. Tickets and picnics can be purchased at childrensshakespeare.org.
The play is directed by CST Managing Director Grey Johnson assisted by Katy Bolger and with costumes by Manhattan milliner Guy Carsone. Brady Amoonclark is CST’s Artistic Director.
The cast and company of Children’s Shakespeare Theatre come from New York and New Jersey and include home schooled students, along with students from Nyack High School, North Rockland High School, South Orangetown Middle School, and Green Meadow School. CST is dedicated to providing a nurturing and enriching environment through the performance of classical theatre, allowing children to explore, in a safe and supportive educational setting, what it means to be human.
Children’s Shakespeare Theatre is extremely proud to be the recipient of a generous grant from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. Support also comes from sponsors including the Jerome Robbins Foundation and Orange & Rockland, and our many individual donors.
Tickets for all performances are $20 for adults, $15 for children under 18. Group rates are also available. Teachers can see Timon of Athens for free.
Tickets and more information about Children’s Shakespeare Theatre can be found on our website www.childrensshakespeare.org
