Shakespeare in the Park

Joe Papp amid construction of the Delacorte Theater in 1961. (Photo Courtesy of The Public Theater)

The Delacorte Theater. (Photo: Joseph Moran)

Waiting in line for tickets is part of the Shakespeare in the Park experience. (Photo courtesy of The Public Theater)

George C. Scott as Shylock in the 1962 Shakespeare in the Park production of The Merchant of Venice, the first production at the Delacorte Theater. (Photo: George E. Joseph/The New York Public Library)

Morgan Freeman and George Guidall in the 1990 Shakespeare in the Park production of The Taming of the Shrew at the Delacorte Theater. (Photo: Martha Swope/ ©The New York Public Library)

Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline in the 2001 Shakespeare in the Park production of The Seagull at the Delacorte Theater, directed by Mike Nichols. (Photo: Michal Daniel)

Patina Miller and Tribe in the 2008 Shakespeare in the Park production of HAIR at the Delacorte Theater, directed by Diane Paulus. (Photo: Michal Daniel)

Susannah Flood and Will Rogers in the Shakespeare in the Park production of As You Like It, directed by Daniel Sullivan, running as part of The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park season in Central Park. (Photo: Joan Marcus)