Merry Wives

First Preview: Jul 06, 2021

Opening Date: Jul 06, 2021

Closing Date: Sep 18, 2021

https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2021/sitp/merry-wives/

Playing @

Delacorte Theater

Central Park New York, NY 10003

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Set in South Harlem, amidst a vibrant and eclectic community of West African immigrants, MERRY WIVES is a New York story about tricks of the heart, performed in the heart of the City—Central Park’s magical Delacorte Theater. A raucous spinoff featuring the Bard’s most beloved comic characters, this hilarious farce tells the story of the trickster Falstaff and the wily wives who outwit him in a new celebration of Black joy, laughter, and vitality.

Starring an all-Black cast: Abena, Shola Adewusi, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Pascale Armand, MaYaa Boateng, Phillip James Brannon, Brandon E. Burton, Joshua Echebiri, Branden Lindsay, Ebony Marshall-Oliver, Jarvis D. Matthews, Jacob Ming-Trent, Jennifer Mogbock, Julian Rozzell Jr., Kyle Scatliffe, David Ryan Smith, and Susan Kelechi Watson

“The New York theater is opening again at long last, and it belongs to everyone. Free Shakespeare in the Park is the most democratic of civic spaces, and for The Delacorte to launch the re-opening of New York’s theater is a beautiful reminder of all the hopes we have for our city’s future. Merry Wives of Windsor is Shakespeare's most purely light-hearted play; its comic targets are men’s vanity, jealousy, and self-absorption, its heroines are women of wit, strength, and power. Our production is set in contemporary South Harlem among the African diasporic community in New York, and that's not an accident. We are returning with a celebration of our immigrant communities of color and our certainty that Shakespeare can belong to all people, no matter who you are. We are back. New York is back. Come to Central Park to celebrate!” -Artistic Director Oskar Eustis

Outdoor

Age Guidance: 12

Performance Schedule:

Free Tickets

Due to current Health and Safety protocols, there will not be any day-of-performance, free ticket distribution lines in Central Park, in the boroughs, or at The Public's flagship on Lafayette Street.

Instead, this summer, free tickets will be distributed entirely via an advanced digital lottery hosted by GOLDSTAR.

Enter the lottery through the Goldstar app on Apple, Android, and the website each Tuesday and Friday, one week prior to the next week’s scheduled performances.

Goldstar will begin accepting entries on Tuesday, June 29 (12AM ET to 12PM ET) for the Tuesday, July 6 and Wednesday, July 7 performances, and then again on Friday July 2 (12AM ET to 12PM ET) for performances July 8 through July 10, and continue each Tuesday for Monday-Wednesday performances and Friday for Thursday-Saturday performances thereafter.

Director

Saheem Ali

Written by

By William Shakespeare, Adapted by Jocelyn Bioh