Central Park
Delacorte Theater
September 2-5, free tickets available day of show, 8:00
publictheater.org
In 2013, the Public Theater initiated its Public Works program, an annual free Shakespeare production at the Delacorte that would bring together the community from all five boroughs in unique ways. “Public Works seeks to engage the people of New York by making them creators and not just spectators,” the mission statement explained. “Public Works deliberately blurs the line between professional artists and community members, creating theater that is not only for the people but by and of the people as well.” This year the Public is presenting a musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, directed by actor, playwright, and director Kwame Kwei-Armah (Elmina’s Kitchen, Let There Be Love) and featuring music and lyrics by singer-songwriter Shaina Taub (Old Hats, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812), with choreography by Lorin Latarro (Waitress, Queen of the Night). The cast includes Nikki M. James as Viola, Andrew Kober as Malvolio, Jose Llana as Orsino, Jacob Ming-Trent as Sir Toby Belch, and Taub as Feste, along with some two hundred men, women, and children from primary participants Brownsville Recreation Center, Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, DreamYard Project, Fortune Society, Military Resilience Project, Children’s Aid Society, and Domestic Workers United and cameos by COBU, Jambalaya Brass Band, the Love Show, New York Deaf Theatre, Ziranmen Wushu Training Center, and a United States postal carrier. Free tickets, two per person, will be available beginning at 12 noon at the Delacorte and the Public the day of the show as well as via a daily virtual ticketing lottery online.