Very Serious Theatre
Shakespeare as it was meant to be done.
Without words and all the wrong props.
Messenger Theatre Company proudly presents our first show with the flexibility to be performed anywhere. Very Serious Theater was developed in public parks but lately we’ve been performing in schools. We’ll go anywhere! Anywhere that could do with a little sense of magic and wonder.
The shows are improvised by a company of actors in naïve masks (AKA larval or basal) and a provocateur. Each time they attempt to stage a Very Serious piece of classical theatre, they inevitably fail, much to everyone’s satisfaction. Tybalt rises from the dead. Romeo and Juliet are killed by alligators.
For Phase 1 of the project: Subsidized studio space provided by the A.R.T./New York Creative Space Grant, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Phase 2: Subsidized Studio Space provided by the League of Independent Theater
(Most) Photos by Alexandra Foley
Very Serious Actors: Leigh Akin, Ilyssa Baine, Suzanna Bornn, Julia Cavagna, Maiza Dubhe, Maureen Gonzalez, Mia Hutchinson-Shaw, Mischa Ipp, Ari Itkin, Julia Jaremko, Pamela Karp, Ryan Pater, Stephanie Saywell, Jordan Spoon, Brooke Turner, Colista Turner, Heloise Wilson
Masks by Roxanna Ramseur
Videos by Mischa Ipp