Joan Marcus
Shakespeare in the Park
Free Shakespeare in the Park is a cherished annual favorite!
Shakespeare in the Park is an annual event held at the Delacorte Theater featuring large-scale productions of famous works. Since its inception over 45 years ago, the Theater has hosted over five million people from across the globe.
Notable performances have included James Earl Jones in Othello, Meryl Streep in The Taming of the Shrew, and Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice.
2024 Shakespeare in the Park
Free Shakespeare in the Park will not take place at the Delacorte Theater this year while it undergoes its most significant revitalization in its 62-year history. The theater will reopen in the summer of 2025.
Instead, this year the Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will offer free programming for all with "GO PUBLIC!" - a festival of Free Shakespeare in the Park, featuring an array of free summer programming taking place across all five boroughs.
"GO PUBLIC!" brings back The Mobile Unit’s joyful, bilingual musical adaptation of "The Comedy of Errors," plus outdoor screenings of the acclaimed 2019 production of "Much Ado About Nothing," as well as other opportunities to enjoy encore performances at home.
The Comedy of Errors will play across the boroughs at locations such as Hudson Yards and in front of The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in collaboration with Bryant Park.
Kenny Leon's 2019 production of Much Ado About Nothing will be showing on screens across the city.
There will also be free at-home streaming of Thirteen's Great Performances on PBS of Shakespeare in the Park productions.
See More Info and the 2024 Schedule
How to Get Tickets to Shakespeare in the Park (in 2025)
Shakespeare in the Park tickets are FREE and are distributed in a variety of ways across all five boroughs:
- In-person distribution in Central Park
- In-person lottery at The Public Theater
- In-person distribution in the boroughs
- Digital lottery with TodayTix
- In-person standby line in Central Park
- Become a supporter of The Public Theater with a gift of $300 or more to access reserved seating (limited to keep the majority of tickets accessible to all).
Please note that The Public Theater reserves the right to deny tickets. Including tickets to future performances this season and in future seasons, to anyone participating on a secondary market in the selling or obtaining of tickets that The Public Theater offers for free, and to revoke such tickets or to deny admission to anyone found in possession of such obtained tickets.
Where is Shakespeare in the Park?
Shakespeare in the Park performances take place at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
The theater is accessible by entering at 81st Street and Central Park West or at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.