NEWSLETTER
By William Shakespeare, Choreographed by Mimi Lieber, Directed by Daniel Sullivan
New York, N.Y. (June 10, 2026) – The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced today full casting for the Free Shakespeare in the Park production of THE WINTER’S TALE at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Veteran director Daniel Sullivan returns to The Delacorte with his 12th production for Free Shakespeare in the Park.
THE WINTER’S TALE has previously been produced four other times at The Delacorte, most recently in 2010. Beginning performances on Saturday, July 25, the production will run through Saturday, August 22, with an official press opening on Tuesday, August 11. As with this summer’s previous production of ROMEO & JULIET, Jerome L. Greene Foundation, lead sponsor, and Citizens, presenting partner, are supporters of FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK.
Tony Award-winning director Daniel Sullivan returns to Free Shakespeare in the Park with a spellbinding 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. Honesty is a fool and true love the only answer in this mysterious, romantic tale of defiance and destiny.
“I’m thrilled to be back at The Delacorte, with old friends and new, putting together THE WINTER’S TALE,” shares director Daniel Sullivan. “It’s one of Shakespeare’s most fascinating and moving creations.”
The complete cast of THE WINTER’S TALE includes Heschel Bay (Ensemble), Teagle F. Bougere (Camillo), Chuck Cooper (Old Shepherd), Peter Douskalis (Musician), Matthew Eby (Mamillius/Time/Ensemble), Raúl Esparza (Leontes), Isabela Ferrer (Perdita), Katie Griffith (Mopsa/Ensemble), Alex Hernandez (Cleomenes/Ensemble), Michael Khalid Karadsheh (Young Shepherd), Denise Kolodja (Ensemble), Daniel Kyri (Florizel), Aubie Merrylees (Archidamus/Ensemble), Jennifer Mogbock (Emilia/Ensemble), Gilbert Owuor (Polixenes), Violeta Picayo (Ensemble), Lily Rabe (Hermione), Bianca Rogoff (Ensemble), Matthew Russell (Dion/Ensemble), Steven Skybell (Antigonus/Autolycus), Michael Thanh Tran (Ensemble), and Jackson Whitman (Ensemble).
“This will be the sixth show I’ve choreographed for Dan at The Delacorte and we always have a great time doing it,” shares choreographer and associate director Mimi Lieber. “Add to that the joy of working with so many friends from over the years—from Shakespeare in the Park to plays I’ve performed in as an actor—plus listening to Shakespeare’s divine language in THE WINTER’S TALE and I’ll be in heaven.”
THE WINTER’S TALE features scenic design by Maruti Evans, costume design by Linda Cho, sound design by Brian Ronan, composition by Tom Kitt, hair and wig design by Tom Watson, sound system design by Mike Tracey, puppet design by James Ortiz, and prop management by Rachel Kenner. Caroline Englander is the production stage manager and Jessie Moore and Luisa Sánchez Colón are the stage managers.
Previous iterations of THE WINTER’S TALE were presented at Free Shakespeare in the Park in 1963 starring James Earl Jones; 1989 featuring Christopher Reeve and Mandy Patinkin; 2000 with Michael Stuhlbarg; and 2010 featuring Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jesse L. Martin, Hamish Linklater, Linda Emond, and Ruben Santiago-Hudson.
ABOUT FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK
Since its inception, over six million people have enjoyed more than 160 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Conceived by founder Joseph Papp to make great theater accessible to all, Free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be the bedrock of The Public’s vision of artistic excellence and free access to culture.
The Public launched “Forever Public,” an ambitious, multi-year capital campaign with a goal of raising over $175 million to secure the transformative mission of free theater for everyone. In addition to establishing the Fund for Free Theater endowment, Forever Public provided capital support to make the Delacorte revitalization possible.
Built in 1962, the theater had not undergone meaningful capital upgrades since 1999. The Public, in partnership with the Central Park Conservancy, NYC Parks, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Ennead Architects, created a design and construction plan that minimized impact on Central Park and foregrounded resilience and sustainability to ensure the longevity of Free Shakespeare in the Park for many years to come.
Following groundbreaking in October 2023, reconstruction of interior spaces and the grandstand layout began with subsequent installation of redesigned lighting towers and the new wood façade made from salvaged NYC water towers. Concurrently, the Central Park Conservancy renovated the Delacorte Restroom. The revitalized Delacorte reopened in summer 2025 and offers a state-of-the-art experience for audiences, artists, and staff alike with improved access for people living with disabilities.
BIOS
DANIEL SULLIVAN (Director). The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park: Coriolanus, Troilus and Cressida, Cymbeline, King Lear, Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, All’s Well That Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Select Broadway Credits: Summer, 1976; The Homecoming; A Moon for the Misbegotten; I'm Not Rappaport; The Little Foxes; Sylvia; The Country House; The Snow Geese; Orphans; Glengarry Glen Ross; The Columnist; Good People; Time Stands Still; Accent on Youth; Rabbit Hole; Morning’s at Seven; Proof; The Sisters Rosensweig; Conversations With My Father; and The Heidi Chronicles. Sullivan served as Artistic Director of Seattle Repertory Theatre (1981-1997) and was a Swanlund Professor in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Illinois, Urbana for 25 years.
MIMI LIEBER (Choreographer/Associate Director). Choreography for The Public Theater: Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors, All’s Well… Broadway: Dances for Merchant of Venice, Act One, Snow Geese. As an actor, selected Broadway credits include Indecent, Act One, Brooklyn Boy, I’m Not Rappaport. Off-Broadway: Distracted. Selected LA: Potestad, Taking Sides, The Greeks, Love Council, Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Regionally, The Guthrie, La Jolla, Kennedy Center, Fords Theater, The Huntington, Humana. 60+ TV series and many films. Choreographer for dozens of commercials.
HESCHEL BAY he/they (Ensemble) is a New York-based actor and theatermaker. Recent credits include Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet with Lucien Theater Company (off-off-Broadway). He is thrilled to be making his Public Theater Debut. He is a founding member of Lucien Theater Company. Training: BFA in Acting from SUNY Purchase. Special thanks to his three moms.
TEAGLE F. BOUGERE (Camillo). Broadway: Oedipus; The Tempest; A Raisin in the Sun; The Crucible. London: West End, Debate (James Baldwin). Selected Television: "Queen America" (series regular); "Law & Order: SVU” (recurring); "The Blacklist;" Bull." The Winter's Tale marks Mr. Bougere's 10th appearance at The Delacorte and his 14th with The Public Theater.
CHUCK COOPER (Old Shepherd). Proud union actor for over 45 years. Credits include 17 Broadway plays and musicals from Shakespeare to Sondheim, two Tony nominations, one win, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Nominations, numerous film and TV guest-starring appearances. Favorite role is Eddie, Alex, and Lilli’s father. Gratefully married to playwright Deborah Brevoort.
PETER DOUSKALIS (Musician) is a multi-instrumentalist specializing in Mediterranean folk traditions including guitar, laouto, mandolin, oud, and more. His recording and performing work spans theater, television, and film. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, is a substitute musician for The Lion King and Hamilton, and held a chair for Water for Elephants on Broadway.
MATTHEW EBY (Mamillius/Time/Ensemble) most recently wrapped the lead role in the independent film Cabbage. OFF BROADWAY: House of McQueen (Young Lee, Mansion at Hudson Yards), According to Howard (Boy Howard, York Theatre). Regional: Finding Neverland (Peter, WPPAC) A Christmas Carol (Young Ebenezer, John W. Engeman Theater), Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Charlie, John W. Engeman Theater). TV: “American Horror Stories” (FX), “The Penguin” (recurring, HBO Max).
RAÚL ESPARZA (Leontes). Television/Film: “A Murder at the End of the World,” “Candy,” “Dopesick,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Hannibal,” “The Path,” “Bojack Horseman,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Medium,” “Hamster and Gretel”, “Dora and Friends,” “A Gifted Man,” “Spin City,” “The Good Fight,” “666 Park Avenue,” “Suspicion,” “The Answers,” Find Me Guilty, Custody, Ferdinand, Elian, My Soul to Take, Trouble in the Heights. Broadway: Leap of Faith, Arcadia, Speed-the-Plow
ISABELA FERRER (Perdita). New York City-born actor of Irish and Puerto Rican descent. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and a proud alumna of LaGuardia High School. Previous credits include It Ends with Us. Having grown up attending shows at The Public Theater, Ferrer is overjoyed to find herself on the other side of the stage at a place she has been dreaming of working her entire life. @isabela.ferrer
KATIE GRIFFITH (Mopsa/Ensemble). Public Theater debut! Broadway: Beetlejuice. National Tour: Beetlejuice. NYC: High Spirits (New York City Center Encores!) and Met Gala 2026. Regional favorites: The Wolves (McCarter Theatre), Unexpected Tenderness (Harlequin Productions), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Music Theatre Wichita). Thank you to Daniel, Mimi, DGRW, and my incredible friends and family. katiemgriffith.com.
ALEX HERNANDEZ (Cleomenes)’s stage credits include Time Alone with Belle Rêve Theatre Company (LA Drama Critics Circle nomination), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Mojada at The Public Theater. Television credits include “The Peripheral,” “UnREAL,” and “Sugar.” He received a BAFTA nomination for playing Lincoln Clay in the video game Mafia III for 2K.
MICHAEL KHALID KARADSHEH he/him (Young Shepherd). Off-Broadway: The Ally by Itamar Moses (The Public Theater), We Live in Cairo (New York Theater Workshop, Lucille Lortel Nomination for Best Ensemble). Regional: Hamlet (St. Louis Shakespeare Festival), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare on the Sound), Tomorrow Will Be Sunday (Chautauqua Theater Company). TV/Film: “Everything’s Trash” (Freeform), Club Kid (dir. Jordan Firstman). Education: Columbia MFA Acting. @m_karadsh
DENISE KOLODJA (Ensemble). Togolese born actress and graduate of NYU’s Graduate Acting program (‘26) and Ithaca College’s BFA program (‘23). So thrilled to be making Public Theater Debut! Sending love to family/friends who push me and inspire me to live and love and feel. So grateful to the teachers and mentors that have helped me learn to fly.
DANIEL KYRI (Florizel), best known as Darren Ritter on NBC's “Chicago Fire,” is thrilled to have his Off-Broadway debut at The Public Theater. The multi-hyphenate wrote, directed, and starred in the made-for-web miniseries “The T” and recently voiced Hamlet in Make-Believe Association's award-winning audio drama adaptation of the play. Kyri has starred in productions at Chicago’s Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, and Goodman Theatre, and was last seen onstage in Tarell Alvin McCraney's 2019 world premiere production of Ms. Blakk for President, where he originated several characters. Kyri is also a recording artist whose debut EP, Childish Games, is available on all streaming platforms.
AUBIE MERRYLEES (Archidamus/Ensemble). Public Theater debut! Broadway: Little Bear Ridge Road, To Kill a Mockingbird, KPOP, BOOP! Other: Wolf Play (Soho Rep), Hamlet in Hamlet (Bedlam), Stupid Fucking Bird (Arden Theatre Company); Barrymore nominations for Hand to God (Philadelphia Theatre Company), The Aliens (Theatre Exile). Film/television: Jules, Souvenir, “The Bite.” Education: Brown University, Yale School of Drama.
JENNIFER MOGBOCK (Emilia/Ensemble) is thrilled to be back at The Public Theater! The Public: Merry Wives. Off-Broadway: The Half God Of Rainfall (New York Theatre Workshop), And Then We Were No More (La MaMa). Selected Regional: Yemandja (Kennedy Center),Toni Stone (Huntington), Antony and Cleopatra (Stratford Festival). TV: “Evil” (Paramount +), “Loves’s Labour's Lost” (PBS), “Designated Survivor” (Netflix), “The Good Fight” (Paramount +), “Lady In The Lake” (Apple TV+). MFA: NYU Grad Acting. For my loves M, T, L. www.jennifermogbock.com.
GILBERT OWUOR (Polixenes). Public Theater: The Brothers Size world premiere, Hamlet. Off-Broadway: The Orphans’ Home Cycle, The First Breeze of Summer. Regional: A Raisin in the Sun, Belleville, The Brothers Size, As You Like it, King Lear. Film: American Solitaire, Emancipation, Montana Story, Mute. TV: “Suits LA,” “Reprisal,” “Goliath,” “True Blood,” “The Newsroom.”
VIOLETA PICAYO (Ensemble) is a bilingual Cuban-American artist. Recently: Are the Bennet Girls Ok? (Bedlam). New York: SITI Company's The Medium (BAM), Evelyn Brown (La MaMa), Sense and Sensibility (Bedlam). She has worked regionally at the American Repertory Theater, Portland Center Stage, Fisher Center, City Theatre; and internationally in Argentina, Chile, England, Greece, India, Scotland.
LILY RABE (Hermione) recently starred in Ibsen’s Ghosts at Lincoln Center (Lucille Lortel Award, Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award nominations). On television, Rabe has appeared in “Shrinking,” “Presumed Innocent,” “Love & Death,” “The Undoing,” “Tell Me Your Secrets,” “The Underground Railroad,” “The First Lady,” and “American Horror Story.” Her recent film credits include A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, The Great Lillian Hall, The Tender Bar, Vice, Pawn Sacrifice, Fractured, and Miss Stevens. On stage, her Broadway credits include The Merchant of Venice, Steel Magnolias, Seminar, The American Plan, and Heartbreak House. Off-Broadway credits include A Doll’s House and Crimes of the Heart. She has performed in The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park productions of Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Cymbeline, and The Merchant of Venice (Drama Desk, Drama League and Tony Award nominations).
BIANCA ROGOFF (Ensemble). Film: The Yellow Tie (with John Malkovich, Ben Schnetzer, and Sean Bean). Theater: The Cherry Tortured (Aaron Posner); Macbeth (Shakespeare on the Sound); All My Sons (dir. Britt Berke). Other: singer-songwriter and producer with experience in film and television development and the creation of new work. Training: BFA and MFA, NYU. Special thanks to Rogoff Square Garden, my beloved friends, and my father.
MATTHEW RUSSELL (Dion/Ensemble). The Public: Jordans, Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge, Much Ado About Nothing. Broadway: Liberation, The Inheritance. Off-Broadway: Liberation, Help, In the Zone. Film: Working Man, Some Freaks, Man and Witch, Twist. TV: “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Westworld.” Russell has performed with Elevator Repair Service and the Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble. MFA: Brown/Trinity Rep.
STEVEN SKYBELL he/him (Antigonus/Autolycus) most recently starred as Herr Schultz in the Broadway revival of Cabaret (Tony nomination). He won the 2019 Lortel Award for Tevye in the Yiddish Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Joel Grey. Other Broadway credits include Wicked, The Full Monty, Pal Joey, among others. TV: “Blue Bloods,” “Chicago P.D.” Film: Cradle Will Rock.
MICHAEL THANH TRAN he/him (Ensemble) graduated from NYU Grad Acting in 2026. Public Theater debut! Select Regional: King Lear with André De Shields, Much Ado About Nothing (St. Louis Shakespeare Festival), Pride & Prejudice (The Rep St. Louis). Grateful for the AANHPI artists who paved the way. Dedicated to ông nội, bà ngoại, and those who live in-between. IG: @michael.thanh.tran
JACKSON WHITMAN (Ensemble). Recent credits include: The Tragedy of MacBeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey); The Zoo Story (Minneapolis, Fringe Festival); The Physicists, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Dark&Stormy Productions); Murder on the Nile (Lakeville Area Arts Center); The Fake (Vanessa Horrocks); Kodachrome (Natalie Novacek); Pride & Prejudice, The Amateurs, Twelfth Night (University of Minnesota). Film credits include: Morelife, B+E, and the upcoming Dinner with the Dead. Training: University of Minnesota BA, Stella Adler Conservatory.
ABOUT CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $226.4 billion in assets as of December 31, 2025. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail, private banking, wealth management and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a full-service customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,100 ATMs and approximately 1,000 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. Consumer Banking includes Citizens Private Bank and Private Wealth, which integrate banking services and wealth management solutions to serve high- and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families, as well as investors, entrepreneurs and businesses. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on X, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
ABOUT JEROME L. GREENE FOUNDATION
The Jerome L. Greene Foundation supports select programs that make a significant impact on the lives of all New Yorkers in the areas of the arts, education, medicine, and social justice. Its 40-year history is grounded in the vision of its founder, Jerry Greene, to give back to the city he loved. Today, the Foundation honors this commitment by continuing to fund quality programs and by identifying new ways to increase access to the arts and to education, create opportunities for ground-breaking medical research, and help ensure social justice for all. www.jlgreene.org
THE PUBLIC continues the work of its visionary founder Joe Papp as a civic institution engaging, both on-stage and off, with some of the most important ideas and social issues of today. Conceived over 60 years ago as one of the nation’s first nonprofit theaters, The Public has long operated on the principles that theater is an essential cultural force and that art and culture belong to everyone. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public’s wide breadth of programming includes an annual season of new work at its landmark home at Astor Place, Free Shakespeare in the Park at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the Mobile Unit touring throughout New York City’s five boroughs, Public Works, and Joe’s Pub. Since premiering HAIR in 1967, The Public continues to create the canon of American Theater and is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Their programs and productions can also be seen regionally across the country and around the world. The Public has received 64 Tony Awards, 197 Obie Awards, 63 Drama Desk Awards, 66 Lortel Awards, 36 Outer Critic Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, 72 AUDELCO Awards, 6 Antonyo Awards, and 6 Pulitzer Prizes. publictheater.org
The Public Theater stands in honor of the first inhabitants and our ancestors. We acknowledge the land on which The Public and its theaters stand—the original homeland of the Lenape people. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory. We honor the generations of stewards and we pay our respects to the many diverse indigenous peoples still connected to this land.
The Public also gives our respect to the people of Seneca Village, a community of Black property owners who were removed from their land and whose village was destroyed in the creation of Central Park. We recognize the sacrifice that these ancestors made and honor Seneca Village’s legacy.
Citizens is the presenting partner of FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK.
Jerome L. Greene Foundation is the lead sponsor of FREE SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK.
FREE TICKET INFORMATION
THE WINTER’S TALE begins performances at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park on Saturday, July 25 and will run through Saturday, August 22, with an official press opening on Tuesday, August 11.
Tickets to The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park are distributed in a number of ways. Free tickets may be acquired on the day of the performance in person at The Delacorte Theater, in person at a borough distribution site including 23 dates at Citizens branches (complete schedule can be found at publictheater.org), via an in-person lottery in the lobby of The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street, or through a digital lottery via the TodayTix mobile app. All tickets are subject to availability.
A limited number of tickets are also available via advance reservation by making a contribution in support of Free Shakespeare in the Park. To learn more, or to make a contribution, call 212.967.7555, or visit publictheater.org.
The performance schedule is Tuesday through Sunday at 8:00 p.m.
The Audio Described performance will be on Saturday, August 15. The English Open Captioned performance will be on Wednesday, August 19. The Spanish Open Captioned performance will be on Thursday, August 20. The American Sign Language Interpreted performances will be on Friday, August 21.
The full performance calendar and complete distribution details can be found at publictheater.org.
The Delacorte Theater in Central Park is accessible by entering at 81st Street and Central Park West or at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.
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