The Public's TROILUS AND CRESSIDA Opens Tonight at Shakespeare in the Park

The Public Theater recently announced that Louis Cancelmi, last seen as Caliban in the Shakespeare in the Park production of The Tempest, had stepped into the company of Troilus and Cressida as Achilles, replacing David Harbour, who suffered an injury during previews and will be unable to complete the run. The play celebrates its opening tonight, August 9, after a short delay.

The complete cast of Troilus and Cressida features Zach Appelman (Diomedes); Tala Ashe (Helen, Andromache); Alex Breaux (Ajax); Andrew Burnap (Troilus); Louis Cancelmi (Achilles); Max Casella(Thersites); Sanjit De Silva (Aeneas); John Glover (Pandarus); Bill Heck (Hector); Edward James Hyland(Nestor); Maurice Jones (Paris); Ismenia Mendes (Cressida); Nneka Okafor (Cassandra); Tom Pecinka(Patroclus); Miguel Perez (Priam, Calchas); Corey Stoll (Ulysses); John Douglas Thompson (Agamemnon); The non-equity ensemble includes Connor Bond, Andrew Chaffee, Michael Bradley Cohen, Paul Deo Jr.,KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Jin Ha, Hunter Hoffman, Nicholas Hoge, Forrest Malloy, Kario Pereira-Bailey, and Grace Rao.

Tony-winning director Daniel Sullivan (Proof, Cymbeline) returns to Shakespeare in the Park with one of the Bard's most rarely produced plays, Troilus and Cressida. Both warriors and lovers play hard to get in this surprisingly modern epic about the hot blood, hot thoughts and hot deeds of the ancient Greeks. In the 7th year of the Trojan War, Troilus, a young prince, pines for the affections of Cressida, a bright young woman who knows how to play it cool. Meanwhile, the heroes of the Iliad - Hector, Paris and the kings they serve - debate whether to return the dangerously beautiful captive Helen or continue to fight without end. Nations and lovers alike do battle in this funny, piercing drama about romance and revenge in a world at war.

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA features set and costume design by David Zinn; lighting design by Robert Wierzel; sound design by Mark Menard; and music composition by Dan Moses Schreier.

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.

Celebrating its 10th year as the lead sponsor of free Shakespeare in the Park, Bank of America continues its leadership sponsorship in support of The Public's mission and Shakespeare in the Park.

FREE TICKETS to TROLIUS AND CRESSIDA are distributed, two per person (age 5+), at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park beginning at 12:00 p.m. on the day of each public performance. In order to allow as many different people as possible to attend Free Shakespeare in the Park this summer, visitors will be limited to receiving free tickets to two performances only of each production. There will continue to be a separate line for accessible tickets for senior citizens (65+) and patrons with disabilities. For more ticket information please visitwww.publictheater.org. The Delacorte Theater is accessible by entering at 81st Street and Central Park West, or 79th Street and Fifth Avenue.

The Public continues its partnership with TodayTix, who will now be offering the exclusive Mobile Ticket Lottery for Free Shakespeare in the Park, replacing the virtual lottery from previous years. Tickets will be distributed by random mobile lottery on the TodayTix app each date that there is a public performance at the Delacorte Theater.

SUMMER SUPPORTERS will be available again this year for those who want to support Free Shakespeare in the Park by making a tax-deduction contribution (starting at $200) and receiving a reserved seat for one production during the summer. The Partners Program also offers insider access through invitations to private backstage events, talks with artists, priority reserved seating at the Delacorte, and complimentary tickets to the downtown season at The Public and Joe's Pub. To learn more, or to make a contribution call (212) 967-7555, or visit www.publictheater.org.

In addition to the ticket line at the Delacorte Theater and the TodayTix online distribution, a limited number of vouchers for specific performances will be distributed, while supplies last, at locations throughout New York's five boroughs. This year's distributions will have more locations throughout the five boroughs and dates to provide New Yorkers more opportunities to obtain tickets. Each person in line is allowed two vouchers and each voucher is good for one ticket for that evening's performance. Vouchers must be exchanged for tickets at the Delacorte Theater Box Office that day from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

For Troilus and Cressida ticket vouchers will be distributed, while supplies last, on Thursday, August 4 in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Children's Museum (145 Brooklyn Avenue); on Tuesday, August 9 in Queens at the New York Hall of Science (47-01 111th Street); and on Wednesday, August 10 in the Bronx at The Point (940 Garrison Avenue).

To allow as many New Yorkers the opportunity to experience Free Shakespeare in the Park, there will be a Spanish open caption performance on Friday, August 5; an open caption performance on Saturday, August 6; an ADA audio described performance on Sunday, August 7; and a Hands On performance on Friday, August 12 for TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. More information about these performances can be found at www.publictheater.org.

Daniel Sullivan (Troilus and Cressida Director). For The Public Theater, Sullivan directed Cymbeline, 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 Sylvia; 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.

The Public Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure.Celebrating his 10th anniversary season at The Public, Eustis has created new community-based initiatives designed to engage audiences like Public Lab, Public Studio, Public Forum, Public Works, and a remount of the Mobile Unit. 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 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, an expanding initiative that is designed to cultivate new connections and new models of engagement with artists, audiences and the community each year; and audience and artist development initiatives that range from Emerging Writers Group and to the Public Forum series. The Public is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and in October 2012 the landmark building downtown at Astor Place was revitalized to physically manifest the Company's core mission of sparking new dialogues and increasing accessibility for artists and audiences, by dramatically opening up the building to the street and community, and transforming the lobby into a public piazza for artists, students, and audiences. The Public is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning Fun Home and Lin-Manuel Miranda's acclaimed American musicalHamilton, and Danai Gurira's Eclipsed featuring Lupita Nyong'o. The Public has received 59 Tony Awards, 168 Obie Awards, 53 Drama Desk Awards, 54 Lortel Awards, 32 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics Awards, and five Pulitzer Prizes. For more, go to www.publictheater.org.

Conceived by founder Joseph Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Delacorte Theaterofficially 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; Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater in Jack O'Brien's Much Ado About Nothing, and John Lithgow as Lear in King Lear in 2014; and Sam Waterston in The Tempest and Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater in Cymbeline in 2015.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus