New York Shakespeare Festival

New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place in downtown Manhattan and, for a time, at Vivian Beaumont and Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatres 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.

The 2012 Season begins with Shakespeare's As You Like It starring Lily Rabe and Oliver Platt directed by Daniel Sullivan and Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods starring Amy Adams, Denis O'Hare, and Donna Murphy