UPDATE: This production has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Public Theater kicks off its 2020 Shakespeare in the Park season with Richard II, directed by Saheem Ali.
Tickets for Richard II are free.
The last of the divinely anointed monarchs ascends to the throne in Shakespeare’s Richard II. When King Richard banishes his cousin Henry Bolingbroke and deprives him of his inheritance, he unwittingly creates an enemy who will ultimately force him from the throne. One of the Bard’s only dramas entirely in verse, this epic and intimate play presents the end of the Medieval Age and the rise of the house of Lancaster through a riveting tale of lost sovereignty, political intrigue, and psychological complexity.
The Public Theater has now confirmed details for the 2020 Shakespeare in the Park season at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Kicking off the season will be a rare revival of Shakespeare's Richard II, directed by Saheem Ali, marking the drama's first Shakespeare in the Park presentation in over 30 years. The only other production of the play was staged in 1987, starring Peter MacNicol as the titular character.