No fewer than seven American flags fly from the awnings of white picket fences as a shirtless skater with floppy hair weaves around families lugging coolers. Dudes in sunglasses slow-ride to the melancholic trance of "What is Love" as waves crash in the distance.
These are the environs of the amphitheater plopped between the sidewalk and boardwalk at Beach 94 in Rockaway Beach, but for a few hours this weekend it will transform into the estate of a 16th century Italian Governor for Shakespeare on the Rocks’ rendition of "Much Ado About Nothing."
The show is pure-grade community theater: an alchemic mixture of the professional rigor required to memorize an entire Shakespearean play brought to life by the delight and devotion of everyday New Yorkers. To many of the Rockaway residents involved in the show, it represents the fruits of a growing, hyper-local DIY scene; these locals credited the energy of the performance to a sense of solidarity produced in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.