“The purpose of playing... to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.”
Smoking Mirror Theatre Company is launching:
by William Shakespeare​
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​502 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019
Mezzanine Theatre
Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre
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August 27 thru September 7
Wednesdays thru Saturdays at 7:30 pm & Sundays at 2:30 pm
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​​This follows last year's successful production of
The Tempest
at The Gural Theatre, NYC
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The Smoking Mirror Theatre Company is primarily dedicated to producing Shakespeare’s plays in the New York City area.
The mirror described in Hamlet by which alert audience members can see themselves in the psychology exhibited by the action of the play, can in turn can be simultaneously experienced or witnessed by alert actors in their own psychology. Thus, both actors and audience members are enabled to see and be seen through the two-way “portal” of the play.
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The idea of a mirror as a two-way portal is embodied in the ancient Mesoamerican deity described as "Smoking Mirror," from which this theatre takes its name. The image of a mirror with smoke emanating from it symbolizes the permeability through which the divine witnesses and communicates with humanity and through which humanity can communicate with the divine.
Link to Poem: Smoking Mirror
Our overall goal is to establish a Shakespearean acting company that fosters these aspirations and as a corollary to provide acting classes that provide the necessary training.