Shakespeare in Central Park

This past Friday night, Wife and I journeyed out to Central Park to enjoy this one of this summer’s performances of Shakespeare in the Park. This month, the Public Theater is presenting the timeless classic “Hamlet.” Last summer, Wife and I enjoyed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (as long-time readers of our blog may remember). We hoped to attend this summer’s performances as well, but when we learned that Sam Waterston would play one of the leads, our attendance became mandatory (we both love the classic Law & Orders).

For those not familiar with the concept, every summer the Public Theater presents Shakespeare in the Park. Performances run six days a week for about a month, and each of these shows is free to anyone who is lucky enough to get a ticket (last year Wife waited in line for several hours to get tickets, but this year, we simply signed up for an online drawing).

The show was great. Not only is the show a classic, but the actors were all tremendous, particularly Michael Stuhlbarg in the title role. The set was surprisingly good. In my shallowness, my favorite aspect of the show was sitting twenty feet from Sam Waterston appearing as Polonius opposite Lauren Ambrose as Ophelia with Andre Braugher as Claudius and Margaret Colin as Gertrude.

Here is a video from last year to help you experience a little bit of the Shakespeare in the Park culture.