Any conversation about outdoor drama has to start with the New York Shakespeare Festival or, as it's better known, Shakespeare in the Park. This world-famous institution has been offering free theater in Central Park for six decades. This season, they showcase the polar extremes of Western drama with the Bard's “Hamlet” (May 27-June 29) and the '60s tribal rock musical “Hair” (July 22-Aug. 17). Located between the Great Lawn and the Ramble (roughly at 80th Street), the Delacorte Theater has performances every Tuesday through Sunday at 8 p.m.
Waiting on line for tickets to the the Public Theater's free production is an institution all its own. It's also less time-consuming than ever, thanks to their inauguration of a “virtual line.” Just register on the morning of the day you want to go. You'll have to check again after 1 p.m. to see if you made the cutoff, and pick up your tickets up at the box office that evening.
But the company will still be giving the lion's share of tickets to folks who actually stand and wait. To do this, go to the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. (The line down on Lafayette is closed this summer due to building renovations.) The giveaway is at 1 p.m., but we recommend getting there by 10 a.m. (or having your intern do it—they deserve a relaxing morning in the park). Unfortunately, as in life, there are no guarantees, as we've seen lines begin to form as early as 6 a.m.!
If you can't get into the Delacorte, or you find that audience to be a tad stuffy, you've still got plenty of options. The low-rent Shakespeare in the Parking Lot plays the Bard like 10-year-olds on a sugar high. The scrappy downtown company will perform “Twelfth Night” (July 3-19) and “Henry V” (July 25-August 10) at 8 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays in the Municipal Parking Lot at Ludlow and Broome Streets. Chairs are provided.
Way up at the other end of the island, the Inwood Shakespeare Festival has entitled their ninth season “The Season of Love and Justice.” In addition to that summer perennial, “Romeo and Juliet” (June 4-21), they'll entice a crowd by buckling their swashes as they retell the legend of Zorro in “The Curse of Capistrano” (July 16-31). Bring a blanket to the northeast corner of the park, get comfy, and thrill to the exploits of the original action hero.
Across the river in Brooklyn, St. Ann's Warehouse ventures outdoors for a typically outsized import of “Macbeth” by Poland's TR Warszawa troupe (June 17-29). For the two-story, FX-heavy, multimedia extravaganza, St. Ann's is creating a performance space out of the abandoned Tobacco Warehouse in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park. Note: Those effects cost money (and so do the customs agents at JFK), so St. Ann's has to charge. Admission is $35.
If you're a Brooklyite who can't (or won't) pay for what you can get free, the McCarren Park Pool has its share of theater. “12 Ophelias (a Play with Broken Songs)” will deconstruct “Hamlet” for free from July 10.
All of these shows may be free and cheap, but only one organization is For the People. The CityParks Foundation will be crisscrossing Gotham with an incredibly funky rundown of shows. The Classical Theater of Harlem revives their 1970s "blaxploitation" classic “Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death,” while the kids at Waterwell bring their rock bio of Martin Luther King (“The King Operetta”) to the masses. These exciting, excellent shows and more will traverse Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx throughout the summer. Check here for the wheres; the when is 7 p.m.
That's just some of the outdoor theater hitting Gotham this summer. But summer plays are like dandelions: They crop up overnight. There's a lot of guerilla drama that's still unannounced and probably as-yet-unplanned. If you stumble across some thespians declaiming blank verse while you're on a walk, take a minute to enjoy it. It's a great way to enjoy a languid summer night.
Photo: Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte/Michal Daniel
