Free Shakespeare in the Park Season Will Include Romeo and Juliet and The Winter's Tale

The Public Theater announced that 2026 Shakespeare for the City presented by Citizens will include Free Shakespeare in the Park productions of Romeo and Juliet and The Winter’s Tale at the newly revitalized Delacorte Theater.

Public Works will return to the Delacorte in August with a show to be announced. The touring Mobile Unit’s As You Like It will start performances in May. This season also marks the return of the Public Forum series, which blends performance, conversation, and culture, on Monday nights.

Tony nominee Saheem Ali (Fat Ham), the Public’s associate artistic director/resident director, will direct Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers.

Tony winner Daniel Sullivan (Proof) will direct a new production of The Winter’s Tale. When the King of Sicilia becomes convinced his pregnant wife has been unfaithful, the royal baby is smuggled to the coast of Bohemia where an old shepherd finds her and renames her Perdita. Sixteen years later, Perdita falls in love with another young shepherd, Doricles, who turns out to be a prince in disguise.

The Mobile Unit, which brings free Shakespeare to parks and correctional facilities across the city, will tour a new production of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy As You Like It directed by Emma Rosa Went (Initiative), the Public’s inaugural Directing Fellow.