The creators behind The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit: The Comedy of Errors discuss the process of adapting a classic Shakespeare tale into an English-Spanish musical.

From May 28 to June 2, The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit will be presenting their bilingual, musical version of William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors in front of The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. The show’s creators, Julián Mesri and Rebecca Martínez, discuss their process reimagining one of Shakespeare’s most loved plays with The Public Theater’s Director of New Work Development, Amrita Ramanan.

Presented in partnership with The Public Theater.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Rebecca Martínez (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary theatermaker and the Cohort Collaborations Director for One Nation/One Project. Rebecca co-adapted and directed the 2023 touring production of The Comedy of Errors (The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit) that was featured on PBS’ documentary Great Performances | Making Shakespeare: The First Folio. Recent projects: Bite Me (WP Theater / Colt Coeur), It Happened in Key West (Fulton Theatre), Sancocho (WP Theater), Living and Breathing (Two River), Randy’s Dandy Coaster Castle (Egg & Spoon Collective), Songs About Trains (Working Theater and Radical Evolution). Rebecca has developed new work with The Public Theater, Amas Musical Theater, the O’Neill, Latinx Playwrights Circle, the Sol Project, NAMT, INTAR, Working Theater, The Playwrights Realm, Radical Evolution, among others. Affiliations: Obie winning-Sol Project Collective member, Co-facilitator of the WP Directors Lab, 2021 TCG Rising Leaders of Color, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, INTAR’s Unit52, New Georges Affiliated Artist, Drama League Fellow, member of SDC. Awards: Colorado Henry Award for Directing; four Portland, Oregon Drammy Awards; Lilla Jewel Award for Women Artists. Rebecca is originally from Colorado with deep ancestral roots in the Southwest. rebeccamartinez.org

Julián Mesri is a New York-based Argentinean-American playwright and composer who makes multilingual plays and musicals in the U.S. and around the world. He is a member of the 2020-2023 Public Theater Emerging Writers Group and a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Fellow. He received an EST/Sloan Commission in 2021 for his musical Favaloro: A Heart in Pieces. Recent work includes Telo (O’Neill NMTC finalist), Bartolomé de las Casas Ruins My Pool (O’Neill NPC finalist), and Immersion (Columbia/Roundabout finalist, BAPF semi-finalist). Other work includes music directing and arranging Songs About Trains with Radical Evolution and music directing and co-orchestrating Brian Quijada’s Somewhere Over the Border (Syracuse Stage, Geva Theater). Mesri has been an Emerging Artist of Color Fellow and Usual Suspect at NYTW and a Van Lier fellow at Repertorio Español. He has also translated dramatic works for the Lark U.S./Mexico Exchange and PEN World Voices. He received his MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University.

Amrita Ramanan is a multidisciplinary artistic leader with specialized experience in the areas of dramaturgy, creative producing, artistic administration, and community engagement. She holds the essential values of equity, access, anti-racism, and anti-colonialism at the core of her practice. She considers herself a professional advocate for writers and a lifelong lover of the arts. In June 2022, Amrita was appointed the Director of New Work Development at the Public Theater. Through this role, she oversees all new work commissions, readings, developments, residencies, and writers’ groups at the Public. In addition, Amrita provides holistic dramaturgical support to a range of Public Theater projects, including new musicals and award-winning plays. Amrita is a board member for the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. She is a National Advisor for the New England Foundation for the Arts National Theater Project. Amrita is founder of Vidya Productions LLC, a consulting firm dedicated to script and story development across theater, television, and film.

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ACCESSIBILITY

In-Person | Assistive listening devices and/or hearing loops are available at the venue. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template. This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs. 

Livestream | Captions and a transcript will be provided. Media used over the course of the conversation will be accompanied by alt text and/or audio description. You can request a free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation by emailing your request at least two weeks in advance of the event: email accessibility@nypl.org or use this Gmail template.

CONNECT

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LIVE from NYPL is made possible by the continuing generosity of Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund, and the support of Library patrons and friends.

Courtesy Rebecca Martínez
Courtesy Julián Mesri
Courtesy Amrita Ramanan