PRESS ROOM
Press Access
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THE WINTER'S TALE
PRESS RELEASES
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Casting Announced for Free Shakespeare in the Park's THE WINTER'S TALE
Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan returns to Free Shakespeare in the Park with a spellbinding new production of THE WINTER’S TALE. When the King of Sicilia becomes convinced his pregnant wife has been unfaithful, the royal baby is smuggled to the coast of Bohemia where an old shepherd finds her and renames her Perdita. Sixteen years later, Perdita falls in love with another young shepherd, Doricles, who turns out to be a prince in disguise. Honesty is a fool and true love the only answer in this mysterious, romantic tale of defiance and destiny.
The cast of THE WINTER’S TALE includes Heschel Bay (Ensemble), Marsha Stephanie Blake (Paulina), Teagle F. Bougere (Camillo), Chuck Cooper (Old Shepherd), Peter Douskalis (Musician), Matthew Eby (Mamillius/Time/Ensemble), Raúl Esparza (Leontes), Isabela Ferrer (Perdita), Katie Griffith (Mopsa/Ensemble), Alex Hernandez (Cleomenes/Ensemble), Michael Khalid Karadsheh (Young Shepherd), Denise Kolodja (Ensemble), Daniel Kyri (Florizel), Everett Lonergan (Ensemble), Aubie Merrylees (Archidamus/Ensemble), Jennifer Mogbock (Emilia/Ensemble), Gilbert Owuor (Polixenes), Violeta Picayo (Ensemble), Lily Rabe (Hermione), Bianca Rogoff (Ensemble), Matt E. Russell (Dion/Ensemble), Steven Skybell (Antigonus/Autolycus), Michael Thanh Tran (Ensemble), and Jackson Whitman (Ensemble).
PUBLIC WORKS' PUBLIC RECORD
PRESS RELEASES
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
The Public Theater's Public Works returns to The Delacorte Theater
New Yorkers from all five boroughs are coming together to create a live album—on stage, in real time. PUBLIC RECORD, based on a concept by Dan Canham and Emily Lim, brings Public Works community members, musicians, and dancers into a cast of over 100 to capture how our city sings, moves, and tells its story in this moment. Written by Lisa Sanaye Dring, with music supervision by Michael Thurber, direction by Emily Lim, and co-direction and choreography by Dan Canham, this electrifying new production stands as an act of collective hope, joy, and resistance. The album will be preserved by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts forever, ensuring that long after summer fades, it will remain a powerful reminder that the true record of a city isn’t just its headlines—it’s the sound of neighbors standing side by side.
The cast of PUBLIC RECORD includes dancers Amanda Castro, Niall Jones, Lysis, Alora Tonielle Martinez, Raechelle Manalo, William Roberson, and Niki Saludez; musicians Louis Cato, Arturo O’Farrill, Arun Ramamurthy, and Mireya Ramos; DJ Papi Juice; vocalist Maya Margarita; and 100 Public Works community members from all five boroughs.
FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK
FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park is one of the cornerstones of The Public Theater’s mission. Since 1962, over six million people have enjoyed more than 160 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals. Conceived by founder Joseph Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Public’s Free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be the bedrock of the Company’s mission to increase access and engage the community.
In 2018, The Public Theater, in partnership with Central Park Conservancy and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, embarked on a much-needed revitalization of the 62-year-old Delacorte Theater in Central Park to ensure the longevity of Free Shakespeare in the Park for many years to come. The Delacorte Theater reopened in August 2025 with a production of TWELFTH NIGHT. For more information on The Delacorte’s revitalization, visit thepublic.nyc/Delacorte-Revitalization.
THE PUBLIC THEATER
THE PUBLIC continues the work of its visionary founder Joe Papp as a civic institution engaging, both on-stage and off, with some of the most important ideas and social issues of today. Conceived over 60 years ago as one of the nation’s first nonprofit theaters, The Public has long operated on the principles that theater is an essential cultural force and that art and culture belong to everyone. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public’s wide breadth of programming includes an annual season of new work at its landmark home at Astor Place, Free Shakespeare in the Park at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the Mobile Unit touring throughout New York City’s five boroughs, Public Works, and Joe’s Pub. Since premiering HAIR in 1967, The Public continues to create the canon of American Theater and is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Their programs and productions can also be seen regionally across the country and around the world. The Public has received 64 Tony Awards, 197 Obie Awards, 63 Drama Desk Awards, 66 Lortel Awards, 36 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, 72 AUDELCO Awards, 6 Antonyo Awards, and 6 Pulitzer Prizes. publictheater.org
The Public Theater stands in honor of the first people and our ancestors. We acknowledge the land on which The Public and its theaters stand--the original homeland of the Lenape people. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory. We honor the generations of stewards and we pay our respects to the many diverse indigenous peoples still connected to this land. The Public Theater honors and celebrates the people and legacy of Seneca Village, one of the earliest free Black communities in New York City, which was located in what is now Central Park from 1825–1857.
