Breaking News: THE TEMPEST with Sam Waterston & CYMBELINE Set for The Public's 2015 Shakespeare in the Park Season; Michael Greif, Daniel Sullivan to Direct!

The Public Theater announced the line-up today for the 2015 FREE Shakespeare in the Park season, continuing a 53-year tradition of free theater in Central Park. Since 1962, over five million people have enjoyed more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at the Delacorte Theater. Conceived by founder Joe Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Public's free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be the bedrock of the Company's mission to increase access and engage the community. This summer, free Shakespeare in the Park will feature Shakespeare's late romances with THE TEMPEST (May 27-July 5), directed by Tony Award nominee Michael Greif, and CYMBELINE (July 27-August 23), directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

"With these two gorgeous productions, we will have produced all of Shakespeare's late romances in one season, The Winter's Tale in Public Works and Pericles with the Mobile Unit," said Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "These wise, magical, and emotional works were Shakespeare's climactic achievement in the theater. In these plays, hope can be found in the darkest hour, every loss can be restored, and even death is not permanent."

Kicking off the summer, The Public will see the return of Academy Award nominee Sam Waterston ("The Newsroom") to the Delacorte stage playing Prospero in THE TEMPEST, his 13th Shakespearean production at The Public. He first premiered on the Delacorte stage in As You Like It in 1963. Most recently he played Lear in King Lear downtown at Astor Place, and has also been seen in productions of Hamlet as Hamlet and Polonius; Much Ado About Nothing as Leonato and Benedick; Measure for Measure as the Duke; Cymbeline as Cloten; Henry VI Part 1 and Part 2 as Prince Hal; Ergo as Aslan; and As You Like It as Sylvius.

Daniel Sullivan, who directed last summer's production of King Lear, will return in July to direct the Shakespearean fairy tale CYMBELINE. First seen in the Park in 1971, CYMBELINE will begin performances on July 27 and run through August 22.

Bank of America continues its leadership sponsorship in support of The Public's mission to keep Shakespeare in the Park free.

"Bank of America's support of programs like Shakespeare in the Park reflects our belief that the arts are a powerful tool that assist in bolstering local economies, helping individuals to connect with each other and across cultures, and educating and enriching societies," said Jeff Barker, Bank of America New York City President. "Shakespeare in the Park continues to be one of our city's premier summertime traditions and we're proud to continue as the lead sponsor as part of our broader commitment to creating opportunities for the public to access the arts for free."

Tickets to The Public Theater's FREE Shakespeare in the Park are distributed, two per person, at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park on the day of the show. The Public Theater will again offer free tickets through our Virtual Ticketing lottery on the day of the show at www.shakespeareinthepark.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.

Sam Waterston returns in THE TEMPEST, Shakespeare's classic about young love, old enemies, and the eternal magic of storytelling. Exiled to a fantastical island, Prospero unleashes a churning storm to shipwreck the traitor brother who stole his throne and settle the score once and for all. But bitter revenge is upended by newfound love in this sublime masterpiece that proves we are all "such stuff as dreams are made on." Tony nominee Michael Greif directs.

It was first staged at the Delacorte in its inaugural year in 1962 and was directed by Gerald Freedman, featuring Paul Stevens, James Earl Jones, and Kathleen Widdoes. It was also performed at the Delacorte in 1981, directed by Lee Breuer with Ruth Maleczech, and featuring Raúl Julia as Prospero. It was again staged at the Delacorte in 1991 and was adapted by Ugo Ulive and directed by Carlos Gimenez, featuring Jose Tejera as Prospero. It was later staged in 1995 and directed by George C. Wolfe, featuring Patrick Stewart as Prospero, Liev Schreiber as Sebastian, Bill Irwin as Trinculo, and John Pankow as Stephano, which later transferred to Broadway. Most recently the show was presented in 2013 as part of Public Works, an ongoing initiative of The Public Theater that seeks to engage the people of New York by making them creators and not just spectators, and deliberately blurs the line between professional artists and community members, creating theater that is not only for the people, but by and of the people as well.

In the Shakespearean fairytale CYMBELINE, Princess Imogen's fidelity is put to the royal test when her disapproving father banishes her soul mate. Cross-dressing girls and cross-dressing boys, poisons and swordfights and dastardly villains all take the stage in this enchanting romp about the conquering power of love.

It was first staged at the Delacorte Theater in 1971, directed by A.J. Antoon and featuring Tom Aldrege as Cymbeline, Sam Waterston as Cloten, and Christopher Walken as Postumus Leonatus. It was later staged downtown at The Public on Astor Place in 1989, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis and featuring Don Cheadle as Arviragus, Joan Cusack as Imogen, and Michael Cumpsty as Iachimo. It was last staged at the Delacorte in 1998, directed by Andrei Serban, featuring Herb Foster as Cymbeline, Liev Schreiber as Iachimo and Jupiter and Michael C. Hall as Posthumus Leonatus.

Generous support for Free Shakespeare in the Park is provided by The Bernard & Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust. The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation provide lead support of The Public's access and engagement programming.

MICHAEL GREIF (The Tempest Director) has directed Romeo and Juliet and The Winter's Tale at the Delacorte Theater; as well as Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide...; Giant; Satellites; f-ing A; Dogeaters (Obie Award); Marisol, Pericles, Casanova, A Bright Room Called Day, and Machinal (Obie Award) at The Public Theater. His Broadway credits include If/Then; the Pulitzer Prize winners Next To Normal and Rent; Grey Gardens; and Never Gonna Dance. His additional Off-Broadway credits include new plays, musicals, and revivals at Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Class Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout, Second Stage, and Signature, including the 2010 revival of Kushner's Angels in America, John Guare's A Few Stout Individuals, Landscape of the Body, and Katori Hall's Our Lady of Kibeho. Regionally he has directed at the Arena, The Guthrie, the Mark Taper, Baltimore Center Stage, the Goodman, the Dallas Theater Center, and 10 seasons at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He served as the Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse from 1995 to 1999.

DANIEL SULLIVAN (Cymbeline Director). For The Public Theater, Sullivan directed King Lear, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, The Delacorte Theater's 50th Anniversary reading of Romeo and Juliet, All's Well That Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice (Broadway/Shakespeare in the Park), Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Stuff Happens, and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Among his Broadway credits are the recent production of The Country House, Snow Geese; Orphans; the revival of Glengarry Glen Ross; The Columnist; Good People; Time Stands Still; Accent on Youth; The Homecoming; Prelude to a Kiss; Rabbit Hole; After the Night and the Music; Julius Caesar; Brooklyn Boy; Sight Unseen; I'm Not Rappaport; Morning's at Seven; Proof; the 2000 production of A Moon for the Misbegotten; Ah, Wilderness!; The Sisters Rosensweig; Conversations With My Father; and The Heidi Chronicles. His Off-Broadway credits include Lost Lake, Intimate Apparel, Far East, Spinning into Butter, Third at Lincoln Center, Dinner With Friends, and The Substance of Fire. From 1981 to 1997, he served as Artistic Director of Seattle Repertory Theatre. Sullivan is the Swanlund Professor of Theatre at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

SAM WATERSTON (Prospero) has previously appeared in 12 Public Theater productions, including Hamlet (Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes), Much Ado About Nothing (Leonato, Benedick), Measure for Measure (Duke), Cymbeline (Cloten), Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2 (Prince Hal), Ergo (AsIan) and As You Like It (Silvius). He has appeared in Abe Lincoln in Illinois and A Doll's House at Lincoln Center, and as Prospero. His film and television credits include The Great Gatsby, The Killing Fields, four Woody Allen films, Serial Mom, The Glass Menagerie, "I'll Fly Away," and on HBO, Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom." "Grace and Frankie," with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Martin Sheen, debuts on Netflix this spring. Waterston is an Academy Award-nominee for his work in The Killing Fields, and he received an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe Award for his work as Jack McCoy on "Law & Order."

Photos by Walter McBride