"Bare boards and a passion." - Peter O'' Toole
Our Mission
Our mission is to create a warm, friendly environment where actors and audience can come together and experience classical theatre in an easily accessible, and engaging way. With Shakespeare as our foundation, we bring the timeless themes of classic works that have defined and redefined humanity to life through intimately staged productions and acting workshops.
Who are we?
Classics on the Rocks is a classical theatre company based in NYC. Our mission is to get the truth of classical works by telling the stories simply.
We launched successfully in 2013 with a dream – to get rid of the stuffy stigma that so often surrounds classical theatre, instead, making it fun and accessible. We present simple clean shows and host rocking post show receptions where the audience can mingle with cast, talk about the Shakespeare, and have a blast. We’ve found a receptive audience here in NYC. In our first two years, we produced two staged readings, two one-night revues, our first summer mainstage production As You Like It, and launched an educational workshop series called Working Classics.
What’s in a name?
Classics on the Rocks was born from two loves – a love for Shakespeare and a love for whiskey.
What makes a whiskey good? When served with little more than “rocks” the depth of its flavors are allowed to stand out in their own “simple complexity.”
Embracing this concept of “simple complexity,” Classics on the Rocks eliminates fluff (fancy costumes), filler (big sets), and exotic concepts, instead, focusing on telling the story plainly and giving the characters room to breathe. We like our classics served “on the rocks.”
