By Bonnie Eissner
Meryl Streep was in her 20s and not yet a household name when she played a ravishing Princess Katherine in the 1976 Shakespeare in the Park production of “Henry V.” One recent Saturday, she was back – or at least her image was – in a series of photos hanging on the chain-link fence that surrounds Central Park’s Delacorte Theater, still closed for a massive renovation.
“That’s Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd — wow, interesting,” a woman said with surprise to her friend as they walked by the black-and-white image of Streep playing Katherine and being wooed by the actor Paul Ryan Rudd, who played Henry in that long-ago production.
A mother who stopped before the photo with her child had a different take on Streep: “That’s Donna from ‘Mama Mia,’” she pointed out.
The photo of the young Streep is one of the most captivating among the 22 images, many including other iconic actors, that now line the high fence surrounding the Delacorte Theater, longtime home of The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park productions. The Delacorte, which is being overhauled, will reopen in August with a star-studded performance of “Twelfth Night.”
The new display is a reminder of the enduring success of The Public Theater and the bold vision of its founder, Joseph Papp, to make the enchantment of theater accessible to everyone. The small parade of famous faces and dramatic scenes also whets the appetite for the theater’s reopening this summer.
For Shakespeare in the Park aficionados, the display is a welcome walk down memory lane.
“I saw this show,” a man told his female companion on Sunday, pointing to a photo of Michelle Pfeiffer and Jeff Goldblum in the 1989 production of “Twelfth Night.”
Several of the stars in these images were relative unknowns when they first performed at the Delacorte.
James Earl Jones joined the New York Shakespeare Festival early in his career in 1960 and was still an up-and-coming actor in 1964, when he played Othello to rave reviews in that summer’s production.
By 1972, when he played Claudius in “Hamlet,” Jones was far better known and more immediately recognizable.
Kevin Kline also gained prominence through his performances with The Public Theater and is shown on the fence surrounding the Delacorte as a dashing Pirate King in the 1980 production of “The Pirates of Penzance.”
Upper West Sider Jerry Stiller, another Shakespeare in the Park regular, appears in the display with Raul Julia and Jonelle Allen in the 1971 production of “The Two Gentlemen in Verona.”
The earliest image on display is of George C. Scott performing in “The Merchant of Venice,” the very first show mounted at the Delacorte in 1962. It is the only photo in the exhibit in which the audience can be seen. The seats are full, and the largely middle-aged viewers are intent on the action.
In the most recent image, Pascale Armand and Susan Kelechi Watson radiate joy as they share a laugh in the 2021 production of “Merry Wives,” an adaptation, set in Harlem, of Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor.”
The image is a prelude to this summer’s performance. Saheem Ali, who directed “Merry Wives,” will return as the director of “Twelfth Night,” which Patrick Willingham, executive director of The Public Theater, told the Rag, “is sure to be another iconic moment in the long tradition of free Shakespeare in the Park.”
The “Merry Wives” photograph, Willingham said, “gives both a nostalgic nod to the Delacorte’s past while paving the way for its future.”
This summer’s performance will feature Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Sandra Oh. Willingham pointed out that Lupita’s brother, Junior Nyong’o, will make his New York debut alongside her.
While he didn’t reveal any other details about the production, Willingham said, “Audiences can expect a vibrant, modern take on Shakespeare’s classic comedy in the magical setting of Central Park.”
And, he assured, “Construction is nearly there!”
“Twelfth Night” will run from August 7 through September 14 in the renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
There are five ways to get free tickets to the performance.
Distribution in Central Park: Free tickets are distributed via the lines at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park at noon each day there is a public performance.
Mobile Ticket Lottery: On each performance date, a limited number of free tickets are distributed via mobile lottery on the TodayTix app.
In the Five Boroughs: On specific dates, a limited number of vouchers for that night’s performance will be distributed at a location in one of New York’s five boroughs. Details about the dates and locations will be published later in the spring on The Public’s website.
Downtown Lottery On each performance date, a limited number of vouchers for that night’s performance will be distributed via an in-person lottery at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street at Astor Place. Sign-up begins at 11:30 a.m., and the lottery will be drawn at noon.
Standby Line: On each performance date, an in-person standby line for tickets will begin at 6 p.m. Tickets will be distributed when available until the performance begins.
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How could Paul Rudd be in this play in the 70s when he was born in 1969?
Paul Ryan Rudd, different actor.
Different Paul Rudd. (Paul Ryan Rudd, b. 1940)
If that’s Meryl Streep in Henry V then she’s speaking French throughout her two scenes in the play. I wonder what that was like.
I too was delighted to stumble upon this great gallery of photos on the periphery of the construction site. Thanks for the lovely and informative article, Bonnie! I can’t wait to see the renovated Delacorte–and the starry “Twelfth Night”!👏
And do not forget the amazing production of The Taming of the Shrew at the Delacort decades ago with the electric Raul Julia and Merry Streep. I will never forget how brilliant and sexy they were!