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HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL The festival was originally conceived by director, producer, and Public Theater founder Joseph Papp in 1954. Papp began with a series of Shakespeare workshops, then moved on to free productions on the Lower East Side . Eventually, the plays moved to a lawn in front of Turtle Pond in Central Park. In 1959, parks commissioner Robert Moses demanded that Papp and his company charge a fee for the performances to cover the cost of "grass erosion." A court battle ensued. Following this, Moses requested funds from the city for the construction of an amphitheater in the park. In 1961, the Delacorte Theater was built. The first performance held in the theater in 1962 was Shakespeare's '' The Merchant Of Venice '', starring George C. Scott and James Earl Jones . THE PLAYS Works by Shakespeare are always included in the festival's seasonal lineup. However, other playwrights have been featured, including Anton Chekhov , Gilbert And Sullivan , Eric Bogosian , Sam Shepard , and Samuel Beckett . The 2006 season will feature '' Mother Courage '' by Bertolt Brecht . POPULARITY AND ACCLAIM Many plays from the summer festival have gone on to Broadway , including '' The Mystery Of Edwin Drood '' from the 1984-1985 season and '' The Tempest '' from the 1995-1996 season. The festival has also attracted many well-known actors, such as Meryl Streep , Morgan Freeman , Martin Sheen , and Al Pacino . Since its inception in the 1960s, the festival has become popular with New York natives and visitors to the city. While the Delacorte Theater has over 1,800 seats, it is often difficult to obtain a ticket and prospective theater goers can expect to stand in line for hours before the show. Approximately 80,000 people attend Shakespeare in the Park every year {Link without Title} . EXTERNAL LINK |
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