See Shakespeare in the Parks This Weekend Like You’ve Never Seen It Before — Masked and Socially Distanced

William Shakespeare lived through his own pandemic — the bubonic plague — so he would understand the precautions that some thespians are taking in putting on his work this weekend.

A masked socially distanced performance of As You Like It is scheduled to take place in Central Park and Riverside Park this coming weekend and next, performed by a new theater troupe called Idle Playthings. The seating will also be socially distanced the troupe tells us. Here’s the gist of the play:

“Set in the not too distant future, when quarantine life and face masks around strangers has become commonplace in courtly life, two young would-be lovers are cast aside by their families. They run away from society with their friends and companions to find refuge in the forest of Arden. There, they happen upon a small collective of radical faeires and all find not only refuge, but their true selves in the sanctuary of nature.”

Here are the times and locations (the King Jagiello Monument is around 79th Street just East of the center of the park):

Friday September 4: King Jagiello Monument in Central Park @ 6:15 PM

Saturday September 5: 105th St Dog Run in Riverside Park @ 2:00 PM

Sunday September 6: Billings Lawn in Fort Tryon Park @ 2:00 PM

Saturday September 12: King Jagiello Monument in Central Park @ 2:00 PM
Sunday September 13: King Jagiello Monument in Central Park @ 12:00 PM

So pay some love to Shakespeare. He wrote some of the world’s greatest plays, while living in the shadow of a terrible illness. All you did was learn to make sourdough. (Kidding, we’re all just trying to cope!)