Returning once again to Free Shakespeare in the Park, director Kenny Leon commands The Delacorte stage with a nine-week, tour-de-force production of the Bard’s masterpiece, HAMLET, a riveting, contemporary present-day take on Shakespeare’s classic tale of family and betrayal, as enduring as the stars above Central Park.

HAMLET

Directed by Kenny Leon
Featuring Ato Blankson-Wood as Hamlet
June 8 – August 6, 2023

“Hamlet is arguably the greatest play in the Western canon, and I am thrilled that Kenny Leon will be helming this summer’s production. As he demonstrated with his brilliant production of Much Ado About Nothing, Kenny has an expert way of making Shakespeare come alive in a contemporary American context, illuminating these great works while also reimagining them for our times and our country,” said Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. “Hamlet will be a beautiful salute to the city as we head into a season where we will be renewing and renovating our beautiful home, The Delacorte Theater.”

“I’m so happy to be at The Delacorte once again and to share something that binds us to one another,” said director Kenny Leon. “A 500-year-old play exploring the need for a strong foundation of family, with music and words, Shakespeare’s Hamlet has much to say about humanity and the importance of our connectedness to each other. We set this production in 2021, filled with all of the challenges we face as Americans as we explore our need to love more profoundly both nature and its people.”