By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
After 23 months and $85 million, the beloved Delacorte Theater has reopened, renewed and revitalized for its 63rd season, but preserving what was always best about the iconic experience of the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park: a sense of excitement, shared joy and community, the delight to be dazzled at the creativity of making something spectacular out of a simple open-air stage, and the enchanting backdrop of the Belvedere Castle on a rocky cliff, framed by trees.
The star-studded Public Theater free Shakespeare in the Park production of TWELFTH NIGHT which will run through Sunday, September 14, is the ideal choice among the Bard’s canon to reopen this New York City cultural icon.
But the performance begins with Shakespeare’s quote “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”- famous lines that are not even from TWELFTH NIGHT but from “As You Like It.” But the quote serves to pay homage to Joseph Papp, the founder of the Public Theater and the Delacorte, who began offering free Shakespeare in the Park from a truck and planted his cultural flag on this pastoral patch to claim the site and the culture for the people.
“This theater belongs to you, the people of New York,” writes Oskar Eustis, the Public Theater’s Artistic Director, in the Playbill.”We hold it in trust for you, to serve you. The culture belongs to all of us….We are, together, celebrating what makes us human.”
TWELFTH NIGHT is the perfect selection with which to return Free Shakespeare in the Park to Central Park, with its theme of immigrants – refugees who escape death after a shipwreck – who have to remake themselves to survive as strangers in a strange land, and its gender-bending plot. The production, brilliantly conceived by the Public’s Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali, also stays true to Joseph Papp’s racial blindness – race is erased, irrelevant, while the cultural tapestry of New York is for all to enjoy and appreciate. Joseph Papp, the Public Theater and the Delacorte were “woke” before that was a term, and certainly before the crusade to demean, de-legitimize, and eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion from our culture and society, when it took 60 years to make DEI part of our cultural fabric.
“It’s been one year and 11 months since we closed The Delacorte for much needed renovations that have made the most beautiful theater in the world even more beautiful, safer and infinitely more accessible, and more sustainable, more comfortable and more ready than ever to serve the people of New York,” Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director for the Public Theater, writes in the Playbill. “This is a palace for the people, an infinitely precious New York landmark that money can’t buy, that isn’t gated or reserved for the wealthy, that is the common property of the whole city…
“In the time that The Delacorte has been closed, American democracy has undergone perhaps the greatest challenge it has faced in the last 150 years. … the reopening will certainly help the fight to maintain the vision of America I know we all share, an America that belongs to everyone, where our diversity is our strength, where the common good makes all of us better off, where what we share is infinitely more important than what separates us. The Delacorte Theater is not just a stage. It’s a platform for democracy. A gathering place. A commons. A celebration of what public space can be when it’s shaped by values we all share: access, community, inclusion, and joy.”
The Delacorte has stood as one of New York City’s most iconic and democratic cultural institutions for over 60 years. It was founded on an audacious premise: the richest of cultural jewels presented for free, in a form that New Yorkers’ could identify with and find relevant to their own experience. Since the Delacorte opened in 1962, during JFK’s “Camelot” era, some 6 million people have enjoyed over 160 productions.
A hallmark the Public Theater productions of Shakespeare are the creative ways of preserving the original but making the 400-year old-English plays accessible, relatable and relevant to contemporary society.
Among the fascinating devices:
“What You Will” – the backdrop of open letters that let you see out and performers walk through – is the subtitle for “TWELFTH NIGHT,” which director Ali has honed in on as the “heart of the show… Shakespeare lands these twins on a strange land” where they have to survive. “That’s an immigrant story. Someone coming from somewhere else and seeking a better life, a different life,” he writes in the Playbill.
The interjection of Swahili spoken by Viola and Sebastian makes very clear and real that Viola and Sebastian are immigrants – refugees – in a strange land with a strange culture, having escaped death during a shipwreck, and having to reinvent themselves in order to survive.
Also, the line “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them,” becomes a kind of mantra. I always thought the quote was meant to be heroic, but in this context, it serves to mock Malvolio for his self-importance.
The music and song throughout the play – so unexpected, but provides such an atmospheric, ethereal backdrop for the mythic Illyria– is composed by Michael Thurber and performed by “gender-defiant” singer-songwriter Moses Sumney as Feste– who has the audience transfixed.
Besides an outstanding cast, brilliantly directed, the creative staging is a marvel – indeed, the most significant improvements to the Delacorte are technical, allowing sets and actors to rise out of the floor, with a kind of sleight of hand that adds to the magic and enchantment – if you look away for a moment or are looking in one place rather than another, all of a sudden the scene is changed.
The flamboyant curtain call is itself a coup d’gras, a final slap to the Trump/MAGA WhiteChristoFascist anti-woke crusade, in which the performers dance out in androgynous costumes worthy of the Met Gala.
People always delight in the stars that grace the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park stage and TWELFTH NIGHT is no exception: The star-studded cast, who clearly are enjoying their roles as much as the audience, includes real-life siblings Lupita and Junior Nyong’o playing the twins, Viola and Sebastian, Sandra Oh (Olivia), Peter Dinklage (Malvolio), John Ellison Conlee (Sir Toby Belch), Khris Davis (Orsino), Peter Dinklage (Malvolio), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Andrew Aguecheek), Daphne RubinVega (Maria), Moses Sumney (Feste), b (Antonio), Joe Tapper (Sea Captain/Priest), and Ariyan Kassam (Curio/Ensemble), and a marvelous ensemble of Dario Alvarez, Jaina Rose Jallow, Valentino Musumeci (Chinna Palmer (Ensemble), Sandra Oh (Olivia), Precious Omigie, Nathan M. Ramsey, Jasmine Sharma, Kapil Talwakar, Julian Tushabe, Adrian Villegas, Ada Westfall, and Mia Wurgaft.
TWELFTH NIGHT is cleverly staged, featuring scenic design by Maruti Evans, phenomenal costume design by Oana Botez, lighting design by Bradley King, sound design by Kai Harada and Palmer Hefferan, music composition by Michael Thurber, hair, wig, and makeup design by Krystal Balleza, prop management by Claire M. Kavanah, fight direction by Tom Schall, choreography by Darrell Grand Moultrie. Karishma Bhagani serves as the Swahili dialect coach. Delacorte Veteran Buzz Cohen serves as the Production Stage Manager and Jessie Moore and Luisa Sánchez Colón serve as the stage managers.
The renovation of the 1,864-seat amphitheater dramatically improved the accessibility, sustainability and production facilities, and was funded through a mix of public and private support, including $42 million from the City of New York through the Office of the Mayor, New York City Council, and Manhattan Borough President’s Office; and another $1 million allocation from the New York State Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell.
The $85 million spent on the Delacorte renovation was only a part of the $175 million “Forever Public” fund-raising campaign intended to preserve all that the Public Theater does to promote the arts and access to theater and establish a Fund for Free Theater endowment. These free Shakespeare in the Park performances are what the Public Theater is most heralded for, but the Public Theater does much more to promote the arts and access to the arts.
At its six-venue Astor Place home at 425 Lafayette Street, the Public produces world premiere plays and musicals “giving voice to a diverse range of new and established artists, leading and framing the dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day.”
In addition to Free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte in Central Park, the Public produces theater throughout the boroughs with its Mobile Unit, bringing free performances to correctional facilities, senior and recreation centers, parks with little or no access to the arts; working with partner organizations around the city, community members participate in workshops and classes, attend performances and join in the creation of participatory theater; some 700 shows are presented each year at Joe’s Pub at the Public, giving support to thousands of artists; and the emerging Writers Group, BIPOC Critics Lab and multi-year residences provide support for artists at all stages of their career, offering opportunities for development from idea to full production.
The Public has received 64 Tony Awards, 194 Obie Awards, 62 Drama Desk Awards, 64 Lortel Awards, 36 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, 70 AUDELCO Awards, 6 Antonyo Awards, and 6 Pulitzer Prizes. The Public is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Hell’s Kitchen by Alicia Keys and Kristoffer Diaz. Their programs and productions can also be seen regionally across the country and around the world.
TWELFTH NIGHT is on through September 14. There will be two American Sign Language Interpreted performances on Sunday, August 23 and Tuesday, August 26, at 8:00 p.m; an Open Captioned performance in English on Friday, September 5; an Open Captioned performance in Spanish on Saturday, September 6 and, for the first time this summer, Free Shakespeare in the Park will offer a Sensory Adapted performance on Sunday, September 7. The Audio Described performance will be on Friday, September 12.
For all the improvement, it’s what’s the same about Shakespeare in the Park that is most important – the sense of community, the delight (and story) in how the tickets were obtained (who met while waiting on line, picnicking, how won lottery) – albeit in more comfortable seats (and much, much better bathrooms).
There are five ways to access free tickets for TWELFTH NIGHT:
In-person lottery at The Public Theater
Distribution across all five boroughs
Also, you can become a member of the Public Theater with a donation of $600 or more to be able to reserve two seats. (To keep the majority of seats free and available for New Yorkers, only a limited number of seats are available for members to reserve.)
The “Forever Public” campaign to raise $175 million (there’s a sticker with QR code on the back of the seats) is aimed to keep tickets free for the vast majority of audience-goers. “Shakespeare for the city. Free. For all. Forever.”
You can become a Supporter with a gift of $100 or more which provides benefits including early access and discounted, no-fee tickets to the Astor Place season, dedicated customer service, discounted food and drink at Joe’s Pub and The Library. For a limited time, gifts are being matched by the Howard Gilman Foundation
To learn more, or to make a contribution, call 212-967-7555, or visit publictheater.org.
The full performance calendar and complete distribution details can be found at publictheater.org. (The Delacorte Theater in Central Park is accessible by entering at 81st Street and Central Park West or at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.)
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