TIMESPACE

Visionary director Jeremy X. Halpern tames this four-hundred year old diatribe on male-female relationships. TimeSpace's Producing Artistic Director, Paul Casali will star as "Petruchio", and Lance Windish (formerly of Cirque du Soleil) will be featured as his manservant Grumio. This production proudly introduces Anna Lewis as the fiery hellion Kate, and also stars company member Maria Alegre as her sultry younger sister Bianca. Living Theater star Isaac Scranton will fulfill Bianca's dreams as the handsome Lucentio.

Mr. Halpern is using techniques combined from the work of Anne Bogart and Jerzy Grotowski to create a radically new ensemble-based approach to this legendary romantic work of theatre.

Shakespeare's immortal comedy pits the plucky but honorable Petruchio against the wild and merciless Kate, and, as Petruchio predicts, "where two raging fires meet together, they do consume the thing that feeds their fury". Kate's younger sister Bianca is forbidden by their father to marry any of her many suitors until her shrewish older sister Katherine is married. And only Petruchio is willing to take on that challenge. With the aid of his occasionally trusty servant Grumio, Petruchio guides "Kate the Cursed" into a true loving partnership of trust and passion.

The production will be performed in Central Park on the East shore of the picturesque Turtle Pond, in the shadow of the statue of the King of Poland. (Use the entrance at East 79th Street. Proceed past the South end of the Met Museum, pass under the arch and make a left at the sign for the Great Lawn.) Admission is free to all; donations will be gratefully accepted at the show and online at thefield.org.

Jeremy X. Halpern is the sole proprietor of 1-800-Weirdos, and founder the multimedia performance group Verge. At 1-800-Weirdos, he performs live on www.weirdos.tv every night at midnight, and mixes random callers to the 800 number into the show while traveling rapidly into the future. As an actor, he has worked with such notables as Anne Bogart, Jerzy Grotowski, and Eugenio Barba, and performed recently at P.S. 122 in the NTUSA's acclaimed show, "Chautauqua!". He also performed for many years in Central Park as Caliban in the Faux-Real Theatre Company's annual production of "William Shakespeare's Haunted House." As a director with Verge, he has masterminded such bizarre epics as "Speak of the Devil (A Satanic Cabaret)" and "Battle of the Dead Celebs" (A comic dance of historical significance).

TimeSpace Theatre Company was founded by Paul Casali with a mission to present sociopolitical theatrical works which are relevant to our society with a focus on the human story, inhabiting time and space with many facets and perspectives of humanity. Past productions include Iphegenia at Aulis, Love Letters, Dessert with Durang, and The False Servant.

Where: East shore of Turtle Pond in Central Park (entrance at East 79th Street).

When: Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1 with shows at 3 and 6 pm both days.

Admission: Donations accepted at the show and on the web site

Subway: 4, 5, or 6 to 77th Street