Shakespeare in the Park's TWELFTH NIGHT to Air on PBS This November

Great Performances is continuing its partnership with The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park by airing the upcoming production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, which is set to open the newly renovated Delacorte Theater this August. The production will officially open on Thursday, August 21, and run through Sunday, September 14. The recording of the production will air Friday, Nov. 14, 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS.

The audience favorite follows the romantic misadventures of shipwrecked twins, starring Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lupita Nyong’o, Sandra Oh, and Daphne Rubin-Vega. The production is directed by The Public’s Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director and Tony Award nominee Saheem Ali. 

This production of Free Shakespeare in the Park’s Twelfth Night will be the seventh time Shakespeare’s classic comedy has been produced at The Delacorte. Previous iterations were produced in 1969 (directed by founder Joseph Papp), 1986, 1989, 2002, 2009, and an adaptation for Public Works in 2018. These actors join the ranks of several celebrated performers who have played these roles on The Delacorte stage including Tom Aldredge, Barbara Barrie, Michael Cumptsy, Jeff Goldblum, Kim Greist, Anne Hathaway, Nikki M. James, Andrew Kober, Hamish Linklater, Peter MacNicol, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Audra McDonald, Kathryn Meisle, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sasha Von Scherler, Fisher Stevens, Julia Stiles, Michael Stuhlbarg, and more.

Since its inception, over six million people have enjoyed more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at The Delacorte Theater. Conceived by founder Joseph Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Public’s Free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be the bedrock of the Company’s mission to increase access and engage the community.