New York Shakespeare Festival

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New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Public produces shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theater near Astor Place in downtown Manhattan and, for a time, at Vivian Beaumont and Mitzi E. Newhouse Theaters in Lincoln Center. For some years the official name of the company was "The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival." Under new re-organization and branding, the Public has dropped "NYSF" from its name, and has labelled its Delacorte operations as simply Shakespeare in the Park. The phenomenon of free Shakespeare in New York was pioneered and brought into being by the visionary entrepreneur Joseph Papp, who founded the Festival.

"Shakespeare in the Park" is an annual theater festival held in the summer in New York City's Central Park. All tickets to Shakespeare in the Park are free, which contributes to the popularity of the event. Long queues for free tickets are common sights near the Great Lawn of Central Park, particularly during the last weekend of a show's run and during productions with big name stars. Patrick Stewart, Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Jimmy Smits, Allison Janney, Oliver Platt, Sam Waterston, Jesse L. Martin, Kevin Kline, Anne Hathaway and Al Pacino are among the actors who have graced the Delacorte stage in recent years.

It was announced in February that the 2013 Season will feature Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Hamish Linklater as the twins Dromio and Antipholus in a new production of The Comedy of Errors directed by Daniel Sullivan. The summer will also feature a new musical adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost featuring songs by Michael Friedman and book and direction by Alex Timbers, the writers of the Tony Award Nominated musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. It will be the first original musical adaptation of Shakespeare's work at the Delacorte since Two Gentlemen of Verona in 1971.[1]

Contents

History of the Festival [edit]

The festival was originally conceived by director—producer Joseph Papp in 1954. Papp began with a series of Shakespeare workshops, then moved on to free productions on the Lower East Side. Eventually, the plays moved to a lawn in front of Turtle Pond in Central Park. In 1959, parks commissioner Robert Moses demanded that Papp and his company charge a fee for the performances to cover the cost of "grass erosion." A court battle ensued. Papp continued to fight Moses, winning his enduring respect and the quote "well, let's build the bastard a theater." Following this, Moses requested funds from the city for the construction of an amphitheater in the park. In 1961, the Delacorte Theater was built. The first performance held in the theater in 1962 was Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, starring George C. Scott and James Earl Jones.

The plays [edit]

Works by Shakespeare are always included in the festival's seasonal lineup; generally three productions with two-week runs. However, other playwrights have been featured, including Anton Chekhov, Gilbert and Sullivan, Eric Bogosian, Sam Shepard, and Samuel Beckett. The 2006 season featured Mother Courage by Bertolt Brecht. The festival has also show musical productions including the Tony Award Winning revival of Hair and the 2012 season will feature Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods.

A notable exception came in the year a dispute occurred between Joseph Papp and the City of New York over public funding for his productions at the Delacorte. In a dramatic move of independence and zest, Joseph Papp denied the city any Shakespeare at the Delacorte for a summer, instead moving the Public's production of Pirates of Penzance to the uptown location. There have been few altercations between the city and the Public since, though the Public relies heavily on private funding. In 2005, the theater company was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.[2][3]

Partial production history [edit]

Year Show Director Notable Actors
1956 Julius Caesar
The Taming of the Shrew Joseph Papp J.D. Cannon, Colleen Dewhurst
1961 Much Ado About Nothing Joseph Papp J.D. Cannon, Nan Martin
1962 The Merchant of Venice James Earl Jones, George C. Scott
The Tempest Richard Jordan, Kathleen Widdoes
King Lear Frank Silvera
1963 Antony and Cleopatra Colleen Dewhurst
As You Like It Sam Waterston
1964 Othello James Earl Jones, Julienne Marie
1968 Henry IV: Part II Sam Waterston
Romeo and Juliet Martin Sheen
1971 Two Gentlemen of Verona Mel Shapiro Raul Julia, Carla Pinza, Jerry Stiller
1972 Hamlet Gerald Freedman Colleen Dewhurst, James Earl Jones, Stacy Keach
1973 King Lear James Earl Jones, Paul Sorvino
1975 Hamlet Sam Waterston
1976 Henry V Michael Moriarty, Peter Phillips, Meryl Streep
Measure For Measure Meryl Streep, Sam Waterston
1978 The Taming of the Shrew Meryl Streep
1979 Coriolanus Gloria Foster, Morgan Freeman
Othello Frances Conroy, Raul Julia
1980 The Pirates of Penzance Kevin Kline
1981 The Tempest Raul Julia
1982 A Midsummer Night's Dream Christine Baranski, William Hurt
1983 Richard III Kevin Kline
1984 Henry V Kevin Kline
1985 The Mystery of Edwin Drood Donna Murphy
1987 Julius Caesar Stuart Vaughan Al Pacino, Martin Sheen
1988 Much Ado About Nothing Blythe Danner, Kevin Kline
1989 Twelfth Night Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer
Titus Andronicus Keith David, Kate Mulgrew
1990 Richard III Denzel Washington
The Taming of the Shrew Morgan Freeman
1991 Othello Raul Julia, Liev Schreiber, Christopher Walken, Jeffrey Wright
1993 Measure For Measure Lisa Gay Hamilton, Kevin Kline, Blair Underwood
1995 The Tempest George C. Wolfe Patrick Stewart
1997 On the Town Jesse Tyler Ferguson
1998 Cymbeline Michael C. Hall, Liev Schreiber
The Skin of Our Teeth John Goodman
1999 The Taming of the Shrew Jay O. Sanders
2000 Julius Caesar Jeffrey Wright
2001 Measure for Measure Mary Zimmerman Sanaa Lathan, Billy Crudup
Chekhov's The Seagull Mike Nichols Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, John Goodman, Marcia Gay Harden
2002 Twelfth Night Brian Kulick Zach Braff, Julia Stiles
2003 Henry V Mark Wing-Davey Liev Schreiber
2004 Much Ado About Nothing David Esbjornson Sean Patrick Thomas, Sam Waterston
2005 As You Like It Mark Lamos Lynn Collins
Two Gentlemen of Verona Kathleen Marshall Rosario Dawson, Norm Lewis
2006 Macbeth Moisés Kaufman Liev Schreiber
Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children George C. Wolfe Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep
2007 A Midsummer Night's Dream Daniel Sullivan Martha Plimpton, Jay O. Sanders
Romeo and Juliet Michael Greif Lauren Ambrose, Camryn Manheim
2008 Hair Diane Paulus Jonathan Groff, Patina Miller, Will Swensen
Hamlet Oskar Eustis Lauren Ambrose, Margaret Colin, Sam Waterston
2009 Euripides' The Bacchae JoAnne Akalaitis Jonathan Groff
Twelfth Night Daniel Sullivan Anne Hathaway, Audra McDonald
2010 The Merchant of Venice Daniel Sullivan Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jesse L. Martin, Al Pacino, Lily Rabe
The Winter's Tale Michael Greif Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jesse L. Martin
2011 All's Well That Ends Well Daniel Sullivan Annie Parisse, Tonya Pinkins
Measure For Measure David Esbjornson Annie Parisse, Tonya Pinkins
2012 As You Like It Daniel Sullivan Oliver Platt, Lily Rabe
Sondheim's Into The Woods Timothy Sheader Amy Adams, Donna Murphy, Denis O'Hare
2013 The Comedy of Errors Daniel Sullivan Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Hamish Linklater
Love's Labour's Lost, A New Musical Alex Timbers TBA

Popularity and acclaim [edit]

Many plays from the summer festival have gone on to Broadway, including Wilford Leach's staging of The Mystery of Edwin Drood from the 1984–1985 season and The Tempest from the 1995–1996 season. The festival has also attracted many well-known actors, such as Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Martin Sheen, and Al Pacino – the latter two of whom appeared as Brutus and Marc Antony in a toga-clad historical production of Julius Caesar, directed by Stuart Vaughan in 1987, in the first of the NYSF's Shakepeare Marathon – Papp's endeavor to present all of Shakespeare's works over a period of years.

Since its inception, the festival has become popular with both New York natives and visitors to the city, and while the Delacorte Theater has 1,872 seats [1], prospective theatergoers can expect to sit in line for hours before the early afternoon ticket distribution. Approximately 80,000 people attend Shakespeare in the Park every year.[2].

Staging and casting [edit]

The New York Shakespeare Festival was known for years as a means to develop new talent, and many actors, including Meryl Streep, attribute their performances at the Delacorte as a key bolt in their rise to stardom. There have been times where casting will rely heavily on known names in the film and theater industries, as a means to attract audience and sponsors. This has resulted in occasional miscasting, and not all film actors are adept at live performance.

A variety of arrangements have been employed to modify the Delacorte Theater stage over the years. In recent years, the Public has been known for its elaborate sets at the Delacorte, with broad metaphors and reference to contemporary events. While they have rarely strayed from the Shakespearean script, such staging and costuming has riled traditionalists. The current trend at the Delacorte has been away from original Elizabethan costuming and sets, and more toward a directorial impression of how a show can be re-interpreted. Depending on the show, this trend has led to mixed critical reviews.

Sponsorship of other theatres [edit]

Over the years, the New York Shakespeare Festival supported other theatre companies throughout New York, helping to foster the growth of Off Broadway, as well as specific theatre programs and projects. Among these companies that benefited from NYSF during critical periods of their development was the Theatre for a New Audience. The Theatre for a New Audience developed a number of productions sponsored by the NYSF, including A Midsummer Nights Dream, presented at the Ansbacher Theatre, and through this sponsorship, the company was able to grow and expand its outreach to new audiences. Another such company was the Riverside Shakespeare Company. The Festival, under Papp's leadership, sponsored several Riverside Shakespeare Company productions at a critical stage in its development, beginning with Riverside's New York premiere production of Brecht's Edward II in 1982 at The Shakespeare Center on the Upper West Side (dedicated by Joseph Papp in 1982), followed by Equity parks tours of free Shakespeare throughout the five borroughs of New York City – much as the NYSF had done for years before. Riverside Shakespeare Company summer parks tour of Free Shakespeare sponsored by the NYSF began with A Comedy of Errors in 1982, followed by The Merry Wives of Windsor, featuring Anna Deavere Smith in her New York stage debut as Mistress Quickly, Romeo and Juliet, and The Taming of the Shrew. During the NYSF period of support, the Riverside Shakespeare Company expanded greatly, offering for the first time The Shakespeare Project in 1983, and serving a wide range of audiences in the five borroughs.

Most of this kind of developmental support by the NYSF came under the initiation of Joseph Papp – as part of his commitment to foster the development of theater in New York, from revenues derived from successful NYSF productions, such as the Broadway production of A Chorus Line, which had been developed at the NYSF and transferred to Broadway for the longest run of a Broadway musical up till then.

Location and allure [edit]

Main article: Delacorte Theater

The Delacorte Theater is an open-air amphitheater located on the southwest corner of the Great Lawn in Central Park, closest to the entrance at 81st Street and Central Park West. It was built in 1961 and named for George T. Delacorte, Jr., who donated money for its creation. Belvedere Castle and Turtle Pond provide a backdrop for the shows at the Delacorte. As shows at the Delacorte begin in the early evening, shows usually start in daylight; as the play rolls on, the sun sets and the audience is drawn into the illuminated action on the stage. Since 1962 the Public has had the privilege of its exclusive use.

Ticket distribution [edit]

Awaiting tickets

Tickets are given out at 1 pm, two per person, at the Delacorte Theater. People begin to queue at dawn, and snaking lines are prominent every show day.

Tickets are also distributed on selected days in the other boroughs of the city. In 2009, the Public tested distribution online through a Virtual Line and a Senior Line, but the majority of tickets are still distributed at Delacorte, according to their FAQ.

Tickets cannot be exchanged in the event of a rainout. Late seating is at the discretion of the director, and permission for late seating may not be granted until 30–40 minutes into the show.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

Notes
  1. ^ http://www.playbill.com/news/article/174955-Jesse-Tyler-Ferguson-and-Hamish-Linklater-Plus-Love39s-Labour39s-Lost-Musical-Set-for-Shakespeare-in-the-Park
  2. ^ Sam Roberts (July 6, 2005). "City Groups Get Bloomberg Gift of $20 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2009. 
  3. ^ "Carnegie Ccorporation of New York Announces Twenty Million Dollars in New York City Grants". Carnegie Corporation of New York. July 5, 2005. Retrieved January 4, 2009. [dead link]


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External links [edit]

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