News: Shakespeare Downtown Presents Free Performances of New Stage Adaptation of Alexandre Dumas fils' “The Lady of the Camellias” June 15 - June 25

Billie Andersson. Photo by Amy Goosens.

Lower Manhattan’s Shakespeare Downtown, now in its seventh season of producing quality classical theatre accessible to everyone including, including Romeo and Juliet (2016), Richard III (2017), A Midsummer Night's Dream (2018), Hamlet (2019), The Three Sisters (2021), and Saint Joan (2022; read our review here), will present a new adaptation of Alexandre Dumas fils' The Lady of the Camellias this June. Adapted by Billie Andersson, The Lady of the Camellias combines dialogue from Dumas’s novel (considerably different from Dumas’s stage play) with text and structural concepts from the libretto of the opera La Traviata. 

Set in mid-19th century France, this new adaptation, directed by Geoffrey Horne, sees a courtesan suffering from consumption named Marguerite (Billie Andersson) and nicknamed “The Lady of the Camellias" because she wears a red camellia when she is indisposed, and a white camellia when she is available to her lovers, and Armand (Zack Ignoffo), a young bourgeois, fall in love. After Armand convinces her to leave her courtesan life to live with him in the countryside, their plan is interrupted by Armand's father, Georges Duval, who is concerned with the scandal created by the illicit relationship that will destroy his son’s future. Marguerite agrees to sacrifice herself for Armand’s family and leaves him. When Armand shows up at her deathbed thinking that she left him for another man, he pledges to love her even after her death.

The company includes Billie Andersson (Marguerite Gautier), Zack Ignoffo (Armand Duval), Craig Braun (Georges Duval), Chantal van Zyl (Prudence Duvernoy), Sanna Izmirlian (Nanine), Evan Olson (Gaston Rieux), Rickard Claeson (Baron de Varville), Jazz-Ella Reveilleau (Flora Bervoix), Archie Colville (Comte de Giray), and Prabal Panjabi (Doctor Grenvil).

The fully realized production is performed inside the open-air walls of Castle Clinton. The show is free and plays Thursdays-Sundays at 6:30 p.m. from June 15 - June 25, 2023 at Castle Clinton National Monument at The Battery. Tickets are available at the door at 5:45 p.m. on the day of the performance. 

WHAT: The Lady of the Camellias
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 15
6:30 p.m. Friday, June 16
6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 17
6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 18
6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 22
6:30 p.m. Friday, June 23
6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 24
6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 25
WHERE: Castle Clinton National Monument, The Battery (Battery Park) New York, NY 10004
HOW MUCH: Free
TICKETS: Free tickets available the day of the performance at Castle Clinton starting at 5:45 p.m.
RUNNING TIME: 90 mins, no intermission.
WHO: Written by Alexandre Dumas fils; new adaptation by Billie Andersson
Directed by Geoffrey Horne
Set & Costume Design: Amy Goossens
Lighting Design: G. Scott Designs, Inc.
Sound Design: Carlos Ponce
Production Stage Manager: Sofia Mongiello

MORE INFO AT: www.shakespearedowntown.org

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