Our next production The Sonic Life Of a Giant Tortoise (starting performances at JACK on May 24) will mark PlayCo’s Brooklyn debut! This part of New York City has long been the home to many artists and performance groups. For our first foray into the “Bespoke Borough”, we wanted to offer a look at what we love about some of the surrounding neighborhoods to our soon-to-be current performance space.
Ft. Greene is named for General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island who oversaw the construction of the fort in 1776. Ft. Greene Park, originally named Washington Park, was the first public park in the borough and stands on the site of the fort. There is the Prison Ship Martyr’s Monument which stands above a crypt that houses the remains of more than 11,000 colonial patriots that died aboard British prison ships.
The Prison Ship Martyr’s memorial and crypt in Ft. Green park
Ft. Greene is one of Brooklyn’s largest cultural hubs: home to BAM, The Paul Robeson Theater, The Irondale Center for Theater, Mark Morris Dance Theater, and BRIC Arts Media.
The Peter Jay Sharp Building at BAM in Ft. Greene
Ft. Greene is also a hub for The Brooklyn Flea market, a staple of the borough and the neighborhood. There are over 150 vendors each Saturday at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School on Lafeyette Avenue.
We’ll announce more events soon that celebrate the Ft. Greene neighborhood. To learn more about Ft. Greene, visit their New York Magazine neighborhood profile
