Street Theater for the New City, the East Village

Photo by myself on East 10th Street and Second Avenue, in the East Village.

Free theater is brought out to the streets by an exciting award-winning group, Theater for the New City, performing their summer show, 'Gone Fission'.

Mark and I stumbled upon a performance on East 10th Street, a pretty, tree-lined street in the East Village. The street was blocked off from traffic, and a stage was in the middle of it.

There were lines of props and costumes behind the stage, which itself was complicated; it had various backgrounds, step and ramps. Large speakers directed sound to the audience, seated in the middle of the street. A sound crew was there, too.


The audience sat transfixed, in the middle of the street.

I'm not sure what the play was about, but it was so great to see people of all ages and walks of life entranced by the show. People who might not otherwise go to the theater were there, because the theater was going to them.

You could hear the sound of the play from a block away. At first we thought it was another dull street fair but were happily surprised by this production. The Theater for the New City's headquarters is located on this block.

'Gone Fission' will be performed throughout the streets of Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens this summer. Performances are free to the public.

For the schedule and more about this exciting group, click here.



Related posts: Performing Free in Bryant Park, Bright Lights at BAM and Painting by Numbers.