Brooklyn Shakespeare Festival returns to Industry City with Measure for Measure and local arts market

Staff

Brooklyn Shakespeare Festival returns to Industry City with Measure for Measure and local arts market
Alexander Reed as Angelo and Zaria Bunn as Isabella in Measure for Measure, with The Haberdashery performing in the background during the Brooklyn Shakespeare Festival at Industry City.

The Brooklyn Shakespeare Festival returned to Industry City August 8–10, filling the Bandshell Courtyard with theater, music, and an artisan marketplace.

Co-directed by Jessica Bathurst and Anthony Noto, the centerpiece production was a staging of Measure for Measure featuring original compositions and live music by The Haberdashery, which includes James Bathurst, Phil Catelinet, and Michael LoPorto, with additional contributions from Stephen Gracia and Therina Bella.

Between performances of Measure for Measure, the Thorn & Petal Stick Improv Troupe entertained audiences with unscripted Elizabethan comedy.

More than 30 vendors from around the city showcased art, food, and handmade merchandise.

Katie Morse-Gagné of Adventure Supply Store sold goods forged at Industry City’s Nazz Forge. Morse-Gagné, who said she “had a dream of knifemaking,” began with a one-year apprenticeship at the forge before moving on to craft her own work for markets and fairs.

HanaKyle Moranz, who lives on 56th Street, brought her ceramics line Vessels by HanaKyle to the market. Also a massage therapist and personal trainer, she usually sells her work at Grand Army Plaza. She admitted she had mixed feelings about Industry City when it was first developed. “I didn’t know if it would bring long-lasting jobs to the neighborhood and if it was truly development with the neighborhood in mind or if it was just going to be another symbol of gentrification—and I feel like maybe it’s a little bit of both,” she said.

Even so, she found the event inviting. “It feels like it’s fairly accessible to a wide range of people here and therefore I was like, I’ll do this market, let’s see how it goes.” The short travel time from her home was appealing, and she noted that this was her first “renaissance fair-type” event.

For Jieer, a Sunset Park local who usually sells her colorful macrame, soaps, and candles on her Etsy shop, Yanzett, the fair was an opportunity to try vending in person for the first time. “I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing,” she joked. “But I’ll just enjoy the ride.”

Tracey, a 21-year resident of Sunset Park attending with her husband and child, saw the festival as both an arts outing and a neighborhood celebration. “We came to see Measure for Measure and hang out in the neighborhood,” she said. “It’s great to have some place to bring kids and some place to see other neighbors.” While she hadn’t yet run into anyone she knew, she remained hopeful.

Founded in 2006 by Anthony Marino and the late Tom Kane, brooklynONE productions (bkONE) is a 501(c)(3) based at Industry City dedicated to inclusive arts programming. The festival began in Bay Ridge’s Owl’s Head Park in 2012 and moved to Industry City in 2022, continuing to serve as a hub for South Brooklyn arts. “This is a real place for arts,” Marino said.

Full festival program: View here