Jesse Tyler Ferguson to Lead THE TEMPEST, Lily Rabe & Hamish Linklater Set for CYMBELINE This Summer at SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK

The Public Theater announced additional casting today for the 2015 Free Shakespeare in the Park season, beginning Wednesday, May 27 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. This summer will feature Shakespeare's late romances with THE TEMPEST, directed by Tony Award nominee Michael Greif, and CYMBELINE, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan. Jesse Tyler Ferguson will return to the Park this summer as Trinculo in THE TEMPEST, along with Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe teaming up again with Daniel Sullivan on CYMBELINE to play Posthumus Leonatus/Cloten and Imogen, respectively.

THE TEMPEST will kick off the summer with Academy Award nominee Sam Waterston ("The Newsroom") 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; and As You Like It as Sylvius.

In addition to Waterston, THE TEMPEST cast will include Whitney Bashor (Juno); Louis Cancelmi (Caliban); Francesca Carpanini (Miranda); Nicholas Christopher (Boatswain, Spirit); Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Trinculo); Olga Karmansky (Iris); Tamika Lawrence (Ceres); Danny Mastrogiorgio (Stephano); Charles Parnell (Alonso); Chris Perfetti (Ariel); Rodney Richardson (Ferdinand); Cotter Smith (Antonio); and Bernard White (Gonzalo). The non-equity ensemble includes Jordan Barrow, Chloe Fox, Thomas Gibbons, Sunny Hitt, Brandon Kalm, Rico Lebron, Suki Lopez, and Matthew Oaks.

THE TEMPEST will run for five weeks from Wednesday, May 27 through Sunday, July 5, with an official press opening on Tuesday, June 16. CYMBELINE, beginning Thursday, July 23, has added an additional three performances to the four week run that will close on Sunday, August 23 and have an official press opening on Monday, August 10.

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.

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.publictheater.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.

In THE TEMPEST, Shakespeare's classic about young love, old enemies, and the eternal magic of storytelling, Prospero, exiled to a fantastical island, 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."

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.

THE TEMPEST features scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by David Lander, sound design by Acme Sound Partners, soundscape by Matt Tierney, original music by Michael Friedman, and choreography by Denis Jones.

Daniel Sullivan, who directed last summer's production of King Lear, will return in July to direct CYMBELINE. This Shakespearean fairytale is the story of Princess Imogen's fidelity that 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.

CYMBELINE 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.

CYMBELINE features scenic design by Riccardo Hernandez, costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by David Lander, sound design by Acme Sound Partners, original music by Tom Kitt, and choreography by Mimi Lieber.

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.

WHITNEY BASHOR (Juno) has appeared on Broadway in The Bridges of Madison County, and her Off-Broadway credits include The Fantasticks. Her film and television credits include Off the Black, "Boardwalk Empire," "The Knights of Prosperity," and "Love Monkey."

LOUIS CANCELMI (Caliban) recently appeared in The Public Theater's production of Suzan-Lori Parks' Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3), as well as The Singing Forest. His Broadway and West End credits include Vincent in Brixton and his additional Off-Broadway credits include The Hallway Trilogy, This, Blasted, and The Wooden Breeks. His regional credits include A Month in the Country, The Importance of Being Earnest, Captors, A View From the Bridge, Lulu, and Love-Lies-Bleeding. His film and television credits include The Amazing Spider-Man 2; Manhattan Romance; Funny Bunny; Gatsby; Gabi on the Roof in July; "Boardwalk Empire"; "Law & Order"; and "Third Watch."

FRANCESCA CARPANINI (Miranda) has appeared at the Edinburgh International Festival in a new translation of Minetti. She is a current student of the Juilliard School's Master of Fine Arts in Drama program. Her credits at Juilliard include The Winter's Tale, Measure for Measure, 100 Saints You Should Know, Uncle Vanya, Street Scene, as well as others.

NICHOLAS CHRISTOPHER (Boatswain, Spirit) has appeared on Broadway in Motown The Musical, and Off-Broadway in Hurt Village and Rent. He also appeared in the first National Tour of In The Heights, and attended the Boston Conservatory and the Juilliard School.

JESSE TYLER FERGUSON (Trinculo)'s credits for The Public include The Comedy of Errors, The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and On The Town. He currently stars as "Mitchell Pritchett" on the Emmy Award-winning ABC comedy "Modern Family." Ferguson has received five Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and has been nominated for a People's Choice Award for "Favorite Comedic TV Actor" for "Modern Family" for three consecutive years. His additional film and television credits include Untraceable, Wonderful World, "Do Not Disturb," and "Ugly Betty." Ferguson's Broadway credits include On The Town, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and other theater credits include Where Do We Live, Little Fish, and The Producers at The Hollywood Bowl. A longstanding advocate for marriage equality, Ferguson co-founded Tie The Knot in 2012 with his husband, where they design limited edition bow ties with all the proceeds going to various organizations that fight for civil rights for gay and lesbian Americans.

OLGA KARMANSKY (Iris) has appeared on Broadway in Pippin. She is also a U.S. Champion and two-time Pan American Champion in rhythmic gymnastics. She has toured with Panic! At the Disco; and her work has also appeared on "Good Morning America"; "The Tony Awards"; and the "Late Show with David Letterman."

TAMIKA LAWRENCE (Ceres) has appeared on Broadway in If/Then; Matilda The Musical; and The Book of Mormon; as well as Off-Broadway in Rent. Her film and television credits include White Girl; "Blue Bloods"; and "Law & Order: SVU."

HAMISH LINKLATER (Posthumus Leonatus, Cloten). His credits for The Public Theater include Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors (Drama Desk Nomination), The Merchant of Venice; The Winter's Tale; Twelfth Night (Drama Desk Nomination); Hamlet; The Square; and Love's Fire. He has been seen on Broadway in Seminar, and his additional Off-Broadway credits include the The Vandal at the Flea Theater, which Linklater wrote; The School for Lies, earning him an Obie Award and Lortel and Outer Critics Circle nominations; The Busy World Is Hushed, earning him a Drama League nomination; Recent Tragic Events; and Good Thing. His film and television credits include Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight, 42, The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, Lola Versus, Battleship, The Future, Groove, Fantastic Four, "The Newsroom," "The Crazy Ones," "The Good Wife," "The Big C," and "The New Adventures of Old Christine," and upcoming films The Big Short, Ithaca, and When I Live My Life Over Again.

DANNY MASTROGIORGIO (Stephano) has appeared at The Public in Sailor's Song and Two Gentleman of Verona. His Broadway credits include Rocky, Lucky Guy, Golden Boy, A Steady Rain, Contact, and Wait Til Dark. His additional Off-Broadway credits include Burning, Stunning, and Wintertime. His select film and television credits include One For the Money; The Cobbler; Enchanted; Brother Bear; Fighting; God's Pocket; The Mend; "Gotham"; "The Leftovers"; "White Collar"; "Person of Interest"; "Blue Bloods"; "Elementary"; "Law & Order: SVU."

CHARLES PARNELL (Alonso) has performed Off-Broadway in Intimate Apparel and The Overwhelming. His film and television credits include Transformer: Age of Extinction; Crossroads; "Crash"; "North Woods Law"; "Constantine"; "The Last Ship"; and "The Venture Bros."

CHRIS PERFETTI (Ariel) has appeared on Broadway in Picnic and Off-Broadway in The Tutors and Sons of the Prophet. His television credits include HBO's "Looking," "Crossbones," "Next Collar," and "Submissions Only."

LILY RABE (Imogen) appeared last summer as Beatrice in The Public's Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing, as well as the 2012 Park production of As You Like It as Rosalind, and the 2010 Park production of The Merchant of Venice as Portia, opposite Al Pacino. She has starred on Broadway in Seminar (Drama League nomination), The Merchant of Venice (Tony, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk nominations; Callaway Award), The American Plan, Heartbreak House (Outer Critics Circle nomination, Callaway Award), and Steel Magnolias (Drama Desk nomination). Her Off-Broadway and regional credits include Miss Julie, A Doll's House, Crimes of the Heart, Colder Than Here, Proof, and others. Rabe's upcoming film credits include Pawn Sacrifice directed by Ed Zwick and The Veil. Other film credits include All Good Things, Letters from the Big Man, Weakness, Aftermath, What Just Happened, The Toe Tactic, No Reservations, A Crime, Mona Lisa Smile, Never Again, and Beyond Redemption. She has been in all four seasons of Ryan Murphy's Emmy and Golden Globe nominated FX series "American Horror Story" (for which she received a 2012 Critics Choice Nomination) and recurs on "The Good Wife." Additionally she stars in the upcoming series "The Whispers" produced by Steven Spielberg.

RODNEY RICHARDSON (Ferdinand) recently graduated from NYU's Tisch School of Acting. At Tisch, he appeared in Motherf**ker with the Hat, Five Days Til Saturday, A Free Man of Color, The Beaux's Strategem, Pale Fires, Landscape of a Body, among others. His additional theater credits include Pulse (Guthrie); Ashes, Ashes; Slaughter City; and Literacy to Life.

COTTER SMITH (Antonio) has appeared on Broadway in Next Fall, An American Daughter, and Burn This. His Off-Broadway credits include Old Friends, Cock, Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling, Side Effects, Kin, Next Fall, How I Learned to Drive, Empty Hearts, Walking the Dead, El Salvador, The Death of a Miner, The Blood Know, and others. His film and television credits include Gods Behaving Badly, Burning Blue, Friends With Kids, HBO's "You Don't Know Jack," "The Americans," "Revolution," "House of Cards," "Person of Interest," "Brothers & Sisters," "Night Stalker," "Tru Calling," "Judging Amy," and "Courthouse."

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."

BERNARD WHITE (Gonzalo) has performed at The Public in The Death of Garcia Lorca, and his additional Off-Broadway credits include Landscape of the Body, Blood and Gifts, and The Who & The What. His extensive film and television credits include Captain America: The Winter Soldier; It's Kind of a Funny Story; Raising Helen; The Matrix Reloaded; The Matric Revolution; "Silicon Valley"; "Touch"; "Castle"; "JAG"; "24"; "Dragnet"; and "Knots Landing."

THE PUBLIC THEATER AT ASTOR PLACE AND THE DELACORTE THEATER IN CENTRAL PARK: Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public Theater is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to its beloved, free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs. The Public's wide range of programming includes free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company's dedication to making theater accessible to all; Public Works, a new initiative that is designed to cultivate new connections and new models of engagement with artists, audiences and the community each year; new and experimental stagings at The Public at Astor Place, including Public Lab; and a range of artist and audience development initiatives including its Public Forum series, which brings together theater artists and professionals from a variety of disciplines for discussions that shed light on social issues explored in Public productions. The Public Theater is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs www.publictheater.org

Conceived by founder Joseph Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Delacorte Theater officially opened in Central Park on June 18, 1962, with The Merchant of Venice, directed by Papp and Gladys Vaughan and featuring George C. Scott as Shylock. The Merchant of Venice was followed that summer by a production of The Tempest, directed by Gerald Freedman and featuring Paul Stevens as Prospero and James Earl Jones as Caliban. The first Delacorte summer season concluded with King Lear, directed by Papp and Vaughan and featuring Frank Silvera as Lear. Since then more than 150 productions have been presented for free at the Delcorte Theater in Central Park. Highlights of past Delacorte productions include Othello in 1964 with James Earl Jones; Hamlet in 1975 with Sam Waterston; The Taming of the Shrew in 1978 with Raul Julia and Meryl Streep; The Pirates of Penzance in 1980 with Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt; Henry V in 1984 with Kevin Kline; Much Ado About Nothing in 1988 with Kevin Kline and Blythe Danner; Richard III in 1990 with Denzel Washington; Othello in 1991 with Raul Julia and Christopher Walken; The Tempest in 1995 with Patrick Stewart; The Seagull in 2001 with Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Philip Seymour Hoffman; Mother Courage in 2006 with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline; Macbeth in 2006 with Liev Schreiber; HAIR in 2008 with Jonathan Groff and Will Swenson; Twelfth Night in 2009 with Anne Hathaway; The Merchant of Venice in 2010 with Al Pacino and Lily Rabe; Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods with Amy Adams, Denis O'Hare, and Donna Murphy in 2012; The Comedy of Errors with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Hamish Linklater, and Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman's world premiere musical adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost in 2013; and Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater in Jack O'Brien's Much Ado About Nothing, and John Lithgow as Lear in King Lear in 2014.

Pictured: Hamish Linklater and Jesse Tyler Ferguson in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS at Shakespeare in the Park. Photo by Joan Marcus.