Kate Burton, Jonathan Cake, and More Lead Cast of The Public's CORIOLANUS

The Public Theater announced casting today for CORIOLANUS, the second show of The Public's 2019 Free Shakespeare in the Park season. Directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, the war-torn tragedy seen for the first time in 40 years, begins performances on Tuesday, July 16 and runs through Sunday, August 11, with an official press opening on Monday, August 5.

The cast of CORIOLANUS will include Teagle F. Bougere (Menenius Agrippa), Kate Burton (Volumnia),Jonathan Cake (Caius Martius Coriolanus), Louis Cancelmi (Tullus Aufidius), Gregory Connors (Ensemble),Darryl Gene Daughtry, Jr. (Ensemble), Biko Eisen-Martin (Ensemble), Bree Elrod (Ensemble), Christopher Ghaffari (Titus Lartius), Enid Graham (Junius Brutus), Christopher Ryan Grant (Ensemble), Emeka Guindo(Young Martius), Jonathan Hadary (Sicinius Velutus), Suzannah Herschkowitz (Ensemble), Thomas Kopache(First Senator), Tyler La Marr (Ensemble), L'Oreál Lampley (Ensemble), Jack LeGoff (Ensemble), Louis Reyes McWilliams (Ensemble), Max Gordon Moore (First Citizen), Maria Mukuka (Ensemble), Tom Nelis (Cominius),Nneka Okafor (Virgilia), Sebastian Roy (Ensemble), Ali Skamangas (Ensemble), and Amelia Workman(Valeria).

CORIOLANUS will feature scenic design by Beowulf Boritt; costume design by Kaye Voyce; lighting design by Japhy Weideman; sound design by Jessica Paz; music composition by Dan Moses Schreier, and fight direction by Steve Rankin.

This year, The Public is excited to announce that there will be voucher or ticket distributions over the course of the summer in all five boroughs for almost every public performance of Free Shakespeare in the Park, continuing The Public's mission of making great theater accessible to all. This summer's distributions at libraries, recreation centers, and community partners throughout New York City, will have more locations and dates than ever to provide New Yorkers even more opportunities to obtain free tickets. To see a complete borough distribution schedule, visit publictheater.org/borough.

CORIOLANUS, the Bard's blistering drama about a general voted into power by a populace hungry for change, and the unraveling that follows, returns for the first time since 1979. Daniel Sullivan directs a modern-day version of this riveting epic of democracy and demagoguery. Sullivan last staged Troilus and Cressida at The Delacorte Theater in 2016 and his other Park credits include Cymbeline, King Lear, The Comedy of Errors, As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

CORIOLANUS has only been staged twice at The Delacorte, first in 1965 with a production directed by Gladys Vaughan and featuring Robert Burr as Caius Marcius Coriolanus, James Earl Jones as Junius Brutus, Staats Cotsworth as Menenius Agrippa, and Marcie Hubert as Valeria. It last appeared at The Delacorte in 1979, directed by Wilford Leach and featuring Morgan Freeman as Caius Marcius Coriolanus, Gloria Foster as Volumnia, Maurice Woods as Menenius Agrippa, and Denzel Washington as Aediles.

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 Joseph 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 season, The Public proudly welcomes the return of Jerome L. Greene Foundation and Bank of America as season sponsors. The generous support of Jerome L. Greene Foundation and Bank of America helps to sustain The Public's mission of inclusion, creating great theater, boldly conceived, and free for all.

The Public Theater's Annual Gala, WOMEN OF THE PUBLIC will be celebrated on Monday, June 3 at The Delacorte Theater. To receive an invitation to The Public Theater's Gala, please call (212) 539-8634 or visit publictheater.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos