PUBLIC FORUM returns! The Public Theater brings back its vibrant series of live conversations, debates, and performances. PUBLIC FORUM is a space where art, ideas, and action collide. Join us this summer at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
On select Monday evenings, The Delacorte opens its doors to New Yorkers, artists, thinkers, and public voices to gather under the stars and take on the questions of our time. From love and Shakespeare to immigration, democracy, and the future of American culture, Public Forum is a theater of ideas. Free. For all. Forever.
SUMMER 26
June 15
Actors will present an excerpt of Shakespeare's story of the play's four young lovers in all their lovestruck comic confusion, sparking a conversation with Kwame Anthony Appiah, James Shapiro, Ayanna Thompson, and Logan Ury, about why and how we do so many crazy, inspired, devoted, disloyal things in our friendships and love affairs.
June 22
A special evening featuring live performance excerpts and conversation with artist Amy Sherald and director Zhailon Levingston, joined by an extraordinary group of collaborating artists, including James Ijames, Anna Deavere Smith, and more, exploring the evolution of her acclaimed work for the stage.
June 29
Documentary theater artists Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen present developing work drawn from firsthand interviews with communities impacted by a major ICE operation in Minnesota. This evening will feature a sneak peek of this urgent work in progress and discussion around how cities and civilians respond in moments of crisis.
August 10
Michael Sandel, the Harvard professor and globally acclaimed "rock-star philosopher," will return to The Delacorte Theater for a night of public philosophy, engaging an audience of New Yorkers in a spirited conversation about meritocracy, dignity, and where we go from here.
August 17
As part of its annual Summer at the Library programming, The New York Public Library invites New Yorkers to join a summer book club and read N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became together. The book club will culminate in a marquee event at The Delacorte Theater featuring readings, commissioned performances, and public conversation inspired by and celebrating the book.