Fed up with exorbitant rents, Brooklyn-based acting duo Paul Marino and Fred Jones have taken their Shakespeare performances to the subway tunnels of NYC. Not only that, the plays are successfully performed inside the moving cars amongst a crowded group of disinterested New York commuters.

The two man troupe, “Popeye and Cloudy,” was recently profiled by the Wall Street Journal for performing excerpts from the climactic scenes of Shakespearean tragedies. Their repertoire includes scenes from Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet and Julius Caesar. Performances are often physical, with the actors re-enacting scenes inside the car. They perform most frequently on the J, M, Z, N, R and L trains, avoiding the crowded 4, 5 and 6 lines. The troupe performs for about twenty hours every week since January, expecting to earn between $5-20 per performance.

Popeye and Cloudy

[via The Measure]