Khris Davis (center) and members of the ensemble in the Free Shakespeare in the Park production of ‘Twelfth Night,’ directed by Saheem Ali, which has reopened the revitalized Delacorte Theater and runs through Sept. 14.
Photo credit: Joan Marcus
Shakespeare in the Park is reopening with a party — and you’re invited, free of charge, just as Joseph Papp intended when he founded the tradition six decades ago. After an $85 million renovation and a yearlong hiatus, the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park has returned with a star-studded, high-profile production of “Twelfth Night” designed to draw attention far beyond the usual theatergoing crowd.
Audiences will notice the difference right away: a sleek new redwood exterior, wider and more accessible seating, and a revitalized stage built for large-scale spectacle. It feels like a fresh start, not just for the building but for Shakespeare in the Park itself.
For much of the past decade, the Public Theater has relied on strong but less famous ensembles for Shakespeare in the Park, with ticket demand steady but not overwhelming. This production, by contrast, feels like a loud, festive announcement that the series is back and ready to reclaim its place as one of New York’s most vital cultural institutions. It also helps that “Twelfth Night” remains one of Shakespeare’s most popular and durable comedies.
Daphne Rubin-Vega (seated), Sandra Oh (center back), and members of the ensemble in the Free Shakespeare in the Park production of ‘Twelfth Night.’Photo credit: Joan Marcus
The cast is unusually glittering, rivaling the Public’s extraordinary 2009 “Twelfth Night” with Anne Hathaway and Audra McDonald. This time, the marquee includes Lupita Nyong’o, Sandra Oh, Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Daphne Rubin-Vega. It is the kind of lineup that can draw people who might not otherwise consider waiting in line for free Shakespeare tickets.
Saheem Ali (“Fat Ham”) has staged “Twelfth Night” — a comedy of shipwrecked twins, mistaken identities, and cross-dressed confusion — as a brisk two-hour romp with the volume turned up. Oversized glowing letters spell out the play’s alternate title, “WHAT YOU WILL.” A central trapdoor produces everything from Orsino’s workout bench to a hot tub where Toby and Andrew puff on bongs, while his palace is decorated with an oversized portrait of himself. The duel between Viola (disguised as Cesario) and Sir Andrew is staged like a boxing match. And instead of ending with Malvolio’s bitter vow of revenge, the cast reassembles for a flamboyant drag-ball curtain call in dazzling costumes, turning humiliation into celebration.
Junior Nyong’o and Lupita Nyong’o in the Free Shakespeare in the Park production of ‘Twelfth Night.’Photo credit: Joan Marcus
Lupita Nyong’o is a luminous Viola, whose Cesario disguise lands her in a chaotic love triangle. Playing her twin brother Sebastian is Junior Nyong’o, her real-life sibling, and their occasional use of Swahili deepens the sense of being outsiders in a foreign land. Sandra Oh, as Countess Olivia, shifts from grief to giddy infatuation with comic abandon.
Peter Dinklage in the Free Shakespeare in the Park production of ‘Twelfth Night.’Photo credit: Joan Marcus
Peter Dinklage’s Malvolio is both deliciously pompous and faintly sympathetic, his stiff-backed delusion making him the production’s comic centerpiece. Jesse Tyler Ferguson makes Sir Andrew a perfect fool, John Ellison Conlee revels in Sir Toby’s boozy antics, Daphne Rubin-Vega is sly as Maria, and Khris Davis turns Orsino into a narcissistic gym rat surrounded by sycophants who drop for push-ups at his command.
Music is ever-present, with a live string quartet and Michael Thurber’s score weaving through the evening. Moses Sumney’s R&B-inflected Feste drifts in and out like a spectral DJ, his otherworldly presence a woozy counterpoint to the otherwise high-energy party.
The overall effect is stylish, swift, and self-aware. Ali downplays the darker undercurrents of “Twelfth Night” (including Malvolio’s humiliation, Olivia’s grief, and the queer tensions between Viola and Orsino) in favor of a lighter, more celebratory mood. For those who crave a darker, more emotionally complex staging, this won’t supplant the 2009 Delacorte production or the inventive 2018 Public Works musical adaptation. But that misses the larger point.
The complete cast of the Free Shakespeare in the Park production of ‘Twelfth Night.’Photo credit: Joan Marcus
This “Twelfth Night” is the ideal way to reopen the Delacorte: celebratory, accessible, and undeniably starry. It’s the Public Theater’s way of saying loudly and unmistakably that Shakespeare in the Park is back — refurbished, revitalized, and once again a party every New Yorker is invited to attend.
Through Sept. 13 at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park, publictheater.org.