NZ Musical Antonio! To Premiere In New York

An original queer pirate punk Shakespearean musical

Butch Mermaid Productions invites you to celebrate the joys, frustrations, and rebellions of queer love in the time of William Shakespeare! Written by Ania Upstill (they/them) and William Duignan (he/him), the world premiere of Antonio! will be presented by The Tank, an NYC home for emerging artists, before the company travels to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival.

Antonio! asks: what if The Bard wasn’t just reusing a character name, but was instead inspired by one hopelessly romantic pirate looking for love in all the wrong places? This new punk musical reframes - and reclaims! - characters named Antonio from Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Merchant of Venice, reimagining them all as a proudly queer pirate stealing hearts and booty.

Director, co-creator, and performer Ania Upstill is a self-professed Shakespeare nerd who’s excited about drawing on classic texts to tell modern stories of love and longing. Describing the inspiration for the show, they say, “Shakespeare named a lot of characters Antonio, and they all happen to be some of his most queer-coded characters too. I wanted to explore a world where there was a real Antonio behind them all, perhaps even Shakespeare’s secret lover.”

Co-creator William Duignan from Wellington will be making his NYC and UK debuts in the title role. “It’s a campy, joyous tale of queer love and self-discovery, and I can’t wait for Antonio to share his story with the world.” Rounding out the cast are NYC-based Evan Michael Smith (he/she/they)* and New Zealanders Felix Crossley-Pritchard (he/him) and Andy Manning (they/them), both also making their NYC debuts. Design is by Milo Robinson (they/them), originally from New Zealand and now based in New York.

Producer Jess Ducey (they/them) adds, “We are proud to have received Creative NZ funding for this tour, and we’re thrilled to be putting queer New Zealand artists and stories on the global stage.” Antonio! will be on at theSpace at Surgeons Hall in rep with the gender euphoric musical chaos of A Bit Too Much Hair, which premiered at BATS in 2022, where it was nominated for Best Ensemble and Theatre for Social Change at the Wellington Theatre Awards.

Antonio!, an Equity Approved Showcase, premieres 25-28 July 2023 at The Tank (312 W 36th St, New York, NY, 10018, USA). The final performance will be live streamed at Te Auaha Cinema (65 Dixon Street, Wellington 6011) at 1:30 PM on Saturday 29 July 2023. Run time: 45 minutes, recommended for ages 14 and up. Tickets from $15 at Eventfinda. Livestream-from-home tickets at www.thetanknyc.org.

*this Actor is appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

© Scoop Media