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Mobile Unit

MOBILE UNIT is a modern reimagining of Joseph Papp’s Mobile Theater. Mobile Unit reaches across economic and geographic barriers to the arts by meeting our communities where they are—staging free and accessible professional theater productions and programs in local neighborhood venues such as parks, correctional facilities, and community centers across all five boroughs of New York City.  
Mobile Unit has served thousands of audiences with critically acclaimed productions, including a 2018 National tour of Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play SWEAT. In 2020, Mobile Unit received a Special Drama Desk Award for its program. Since 2021, Mobile Unit has experimented with expanding its scope to perform in outdoor venues across the city, at times gathering more than a thousand neighbors.
 

Upcoming Productions

Mobile Unit's AS YOU LIKE IT | The Public Theater

Mobile Unit's AS YOU LIKE IT

By William Shakespeare  
Directed by Emma Rosa Went

Free tour across all five boroughs
June 4 - June 28

Bringing free Shakespeare to parks and correctional facilities across the city, The Public’s acclaimed Mobile Unit will tour in 2026 with a joyful new production of AS YOU LIKE IT. When Duke Frederick exiles her father, Rosalind and her cousin Celia flee to the forest. Disguised as a young man, Rosalind encounters the heart-sick Orlando, who is desperately seeking none other than Rosalind. While the two young lovers role-play their way back into each other's arms, the forest of Arden is abuzz with lovelorn shepherds, pining jesters, and battling brothers. True lovers, strange capers, and fools in the forest go heart-in-heart in Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy, directed by Emma Rosa Went. 

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Watch Our Work

WHERE WE GO

Every year, the Mobile Unit partners with dozens of organizations across the five boroughs to bring our tour to the people of New York City. From libraries to correctional facilities to parks, we bring free theater that meets people where they are.

(Please note: not all Mobile Unit tours visit every partner organization. Visit the show page for the most current list of tour stops.)

NYC Parks

  • Astor Place Plaza (Manhattan)
  • Brownsville Rec Center (Brooklyn)
  • Wolfe's Pond Park (Staten Island)
  • J. Hood Wright Park (Manhattan/Washington Heights)
  • Roy Wilkins Rec Center (Queens/Jamaica)
  • ARROW Field House (Queens/Astoria)
  • Maria Hernandez Park (Brooklyn)
  • St Mary's Park (Bronx)
  • Traver's Park (Queens)
  • Prospect Park (Brooklyn)
  • Sunset Park (Brooklyn)

Correctional Facilities

  • Metropolitan Detention Center (Brooklyn)
  • Rikers (Queens)

Shelters

  • Lenox Hill Neighborhood House/Women's Mental Health Shelter (Manhattan)

Service Organizations

  • St. Paul's Chapel/Trinity Church Justice & Reconciliation Program (Manhattan)
  • Fortune Society(Manhattan)
  • Island Voice/Canvas Institute @ PS 57 (Staten Island)
  • DreamYard Arts Center (Bronx)
  • Cathedral of St John the Divine (Manhattan)

Community Centers

  • The LGBT Center (Manhattan)
  • North Brooklyn YMCA/ LDC East New York (Brooklyn)
  • Einstein Community Center Co-Cop city (Bronx)

Libraries

  • Queens Public Library - Central Branch (Queens)
  • Performing Arts Library (Manhattan)
  • New York Public Library at Bryant Park (Manhattan)

Sponsors

Leadership support for Mobile Unit is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, JetBlue Airways, and The Tow Foundation. Generous support for Mobile Unit is provided by Gina Maria Leonetti, The McLaughlin Children’s Trust, Felice Zwas & Sarah Gallen, and an anonymous donor.

Header Photo: Desireé Rodriguez in Mobile Unit’s The Comedy of Errors, 2024. Photo credit: Peter Cooper