The Public Theater

The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers. Its first production was the musical Hair in 1967. Since Papp, the theater has been led by JoAnne Akalaitis (1991–93), and George C. Wolfe (1993–2004), and is currently under Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham.

The Public's headquarters is located at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in Lower Manhattan. The building contains five theater spaces, and Joe's Pub, a cabaret-style venue for new work, musical performances, spoken-word artists, and soloists. Additionally, The Public operates the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, where it has staged "Shakespeare in the Park" performances free of charge since 1954.

Recent productions include: The Merchant of Venice (2010); Here Lies Love (2013); Fun Home (2013); Eclipsed (2015); and Hamilton (2015).

In addition to each season of full-scale theatrical productions, The Public produces several different series, festivals, and programs each year.

The Public presented its inaugural Public LAB series in 2008 with an annual series of new plays presented in collaboration with LAByrinth Theater Company. With each Public LAB show, the corresponding speaker series is presented as after-show talkbacks to discuss prominent themes, ideas, and topics in the plays. Several plays that have appeared in the Public LAB series have gone onto full-scale productions, including Tracey Scott Wilson's The Good Negro, which ran at The Public in 2009, and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which had a sold-out, thrice-extended off-Broadway run at The Public in spring 2010 and transferred to Broadway that fall.

In 2011, Public LAB expanded to include Public LAB SHAKESPEARE, which is a new platform for The Public's exploration of the Shakespeare canon. This expansion marks the growth of The Public's Shakespeare Initiative and provides more ways for The Public to produce American interpretations of Shakespeare's works. The first production of Public LAB SHAKESPEARE was Timon of Athens in March 2011, with Richard Thomas playing the title role.

Since 2013, The Public's Mobile Unit has been bringing free Shakespeare performances to various locations throughout New York City's five boroughs, including prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers. The tour concludes at the Public Theater, having previously performed at notable venues such as Rikers Island, Borden Avenue's Veteran's Shelter, and The Fortune Society. The Public also launched its inaugural Public Works production in 2013. Public Works combines diverse groups of people throughout the five boroughs of New York City to watch theater, participate in theatrical workshops, and perform in one full-scale Public Works production alongside professional actors at Shakespeare in the Park. Past Public Works productions include The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, and The Odyssey.

The Public Forum, begun in 2010, is a series of lectures, debates, and conversations that showcase leading voices in the arts, politics and the media. Curated by Jeremy McCarter, a senior writer at Newsweek, Public Forum events explore issues raised by plays in The Public's season, as well as the political and cultural headlines of today's world. Notable participants in the series include Stephen Sondheim, Tony Kushner, Arianna Huffington, Alec Baldwin and Anne Hathaway.