The 1599 Project

In the midst of chaos, we decided to bring back a re-imagined and deconstructed version of our critically acclaimed Shakespeare epic!
The project title, which refers to the seminal year that Shakespeare wrote four of his greatest works, was originally performed in 2016 in a four-hour theater marathon with seven actors portraying more than 70 roles. The 1599 Project will now be a 4-part virtual series, streaming live: Henry V on May 28, Julius Caesar on June 11, As You Like It on June 19, and Hamlet on June 25.

Divided into four separate theatrical experiences, each stream will include a contemporary and adapted representation of each work and artist discussions to explore their personal connection to the work and how the current global situation has changed their own perception and interpretation of the texts.

With works more than 400 years-old being performed over devices primed for the modern times of 2020, Irondale examines the parallels of the mandated changes for the theater community and its undetermined impacts today, and the ways in which theater was changed after Shakespeare was forced to shutter his own theater doors as the local death toll rose in London.

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