SHAKESPEARE FOR THE CITY
FREE. FOR ALL. FOREVER.
SUMMER 2027
Join us next next summer for the annual festival of free theater lighting up all of New York City!
SHAKESPEARE FOR THE CITY, presented by Citizens, includes Free Shakespeare in the Park's HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2, performed together at Free Shakespeare in the Park for the first time since 1968; Free Shakespeare in the Park's New York Times' Critics Pick COUNTING AND CRACKING by S. Shakthidharan; a new Mobile Unit touring production directed by Lori Elizabeth Parquet; and Public Works’ A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, adapted by composer in residence Michael Thurber and Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali.
Every performance and event is completely free and open to all! Join us in celebrating the joy, power, and human connection of live theater all summer long!
Citizens joins lead sponsor, the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, in support of Free Shakespeare in the Park.
Free Shakespeare in the Park's HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
The Free Shakespeare in the Park season will open with HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2, staged as one epic story at The Delacorte for the first time in nearly 60 years. At the heart of the story is Prince Hal who is struggling to find his place in the world, torn between rising to his father’s royal expectations and spending his days in the tavern with Falstaff—one of Shakespeare’s greatest and most beloved characters—and his raucous band of friends. The prince must learn to integrate these two worlds, which together form the widest representation of society in any Shakespeare play. Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin directs this study on the true cost of a crown.
Free Shakespeare in the Park's COUNTING AND CRACKING
எண்ணிக்கை, இல்லையேல் கையோங்குගණන් නොගන්නේ නම් ගණන් කරන්න
Presenting a Belvoir St Theatre & Kurinji Co-Production
Written by S. Shakthidharan with Eamon Flack
Directed by Eamon Flack with S. Shakthidharan
Belvoir St Theatre’s COUNTING AND CRACKING, from the creative team of S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack, returns to New York after critically acclaimed productions at NYU Skirball and in Australia and the United Kingdom. The sweeping, episodic play features 19 performers from across the globe on a multi-generational journey of a Sri Lankan-Australian family from 1956-2004. Radha fled Sri Lanka with her unborn child as the nation struggled with conflict. Two decades later, her son Siddhartha, now an Australian man who knows little of his family’s background, receives a call from the past that changes everything he thought he knew, and who he thought he was. Named a New York Times’ Critic’s Pick, COUNTING AND CRACKING is a joyous, epic story of family, forgiveness, the ghosts we leave behind, and the power of love.
Public Works' A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Written by William Shakespeare
Music and Lyrics by Michael Thurber
Adapted and Directed by Saheem Ali
Public Works celebrates its 15th anniversary and closes the summer with a city-sized celebration of imagination and collective creation. Professional artists perform alongside a large, multigenerational ensemble of New Yorkers, transforming Shakespeare’s comedy into a joyful act of community. Inspired by The Public’s history of bringing theater directly to the people, this A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM asks what becomes possible when everyone has a place in the story.
When two pairs of mismatched lovers flee into the woods, the mischievous fairy Puck meddles and chaos ensues. With music and lyrics by Michael Thurber and adapted and directed by Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali, this Public Works production is a love letter to The Delacorte Theater and New York City, capturing the magic of making theater together in Central Park.
Mobile Unit
The Public Theater’s MOBILE UNIT is a modern reimagining of Joseph Papp’s Mobile Theater, celebrating 70 years since founder Joseph Papp’s original Mobile Theater in 1957. 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 in local neighborhood venues such as parks, correctional facilities, and community centers.
Mobile Unit will tour a free Shakespeare production directed by Lori Elizabeth Parquet across all five New York City boroughs in Summer 2027; further details will be announced at a later date.
