Shakespeare in the Parking Lot offers free summer Shakespeare productions in New York City. It utilizes a parking lot venue that makes classical theatre accessible to both theatre patrons and urban passersby. Audiences often bring blankets, lawns chairs and picnic baskets, although others may simply drop in after hearing actors shouting in verse. It was originally produced by Expanded Arts under the direction of Jennifer Spahr through her retirement in 2000. From 2001 to 2005, The Drilling Company began co-producing the productions with an organization formed by Leonard McKenzie, Ludlow Ten. In 2006, the tradition continued under the sole production of The Drilling Company. The parking lot productions began in 1995 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with a production of Midsummer-Night's Dream in a municipal parking lot on the corner of Ludlow and Broome Street. After losing the space in 2014, the company began a search for a new venue. They eventually moved to another space three blocks from the original space in the parking lot behind Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center, 114 Norfolk located on the east side of Norfolk Street between Delancey and Rivington Streets.
