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The Delacorte Theater located in Central Park in New York.
Joseph Moran
This summer, the hottest seat in town is, well, outdoors. Across the country, some of the most exciting theatrical productions of the season will be performed in open-air theaters — everywhere from New York’s Central Park to San Diego’s Balboa Park to the desert on the outskirts of Santa Fe.
While many of these theaters were historically dedicated to the works of Shakespeare, this lineup now includes all kinds of productions, including contemporary operas, cutting-edge musicals and thought-provoking original plays. And don’t worry: There’s still plenty of Shakespeare in the mix! Pack your bug spray and sunscreen, and get ready for a night out on the town.
Richard III at Shakespeare in the Park, New York City
The details: Delacorte Theater, Central Park (June 21 to July 17)
The premise: For the first show of their 60th season, the Public Theater is revisiting this Shakespearean history play about the much-maligned English monarch, who — if the Bard is to be believed — murdered his way to the throne. The play has been produced on this stage four times before, most recently in 1990 with Denzel Washington in the title role. Taking on the villainous king in this boldly reimagined production is Danai Gurira, who is best known for her roles as Michonne on The Walking Dead and the Wakandan warrior Okoye in Black Panther, and who also earned a Tony nomination for writing the play Eclipsed.
Why you should see it: Leading the production is director Robert O’Hara, a Tony nominee for Slave Play, and the ensemble cast includes such New York City stage favorites as Tony winner Ali Stroker (Oklahoma!).
Get tickets: Free, publictheater.org
Deborah Ann Woll as Katherine (center) performing with the cast of "The Taming of the Shrew" at the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre in San Diego's Balboa Park.
Jim Cox
The Taming of the Shrew at the Old Globe, San Diego
The details: Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, Balboa Park (June 5 to July 10)
The premise: Shakespeare’s controversial battle of the sexes comedy is rightfully seen as quite misogynistic; as the title implies, the plotline is all about forcing the strong-willed heroine Katherine into subservience. When she first premiered this production at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, director Shana Cooper earned praise for finally making the play work for modern audiences — without smoothing out any of its rougher edges. “In the #MeToo moment, how can The Taming of the Shrew be staged without setting off alarm bells of political incorrectness?” wrote Wall Street Journal critic Terry Teachout. “The best way, it strikes me, is to play it the way Shakespeare wrote it, as a slapstick comedy in which a proto-feminist hellion gets her comeuppance at the hands of an arrogant man, and let the audience draw its own conclusions about what it’s seeing.” His assessment: Cooper’s was “the best Shrew I’ve ever reviewed.”
Why you should see it: You might recognize actress Deborah Ann Woll, who plays Katherine, from her role as Jessica Hamby on the HBO vampire drama True Blood.
Get tickets: From $30, theoldglobe.org
Revenge Song: A Vampire Cowboys Creation at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, Oregon
The details: Allen Elizabethan Theatre (June 2 to Oct. 14)
The premise: Purists can breathe easy, knowing that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival will be producing The Tempest this season. But the outdoor Elizabethan theater will also be home to a decidedly more modern work by New York–based theater company Vampire Cowboys, who fill their plays with geeky references, social commentary and tons of rock music. For his latest show, playwright Qui Nguyen (who recently cowrote Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon) has turned his attention to the real-life Julie d’Aubigny, a queer sword-fighting, opera-singing woman who fought back against societal expectations in 17th-century France.
Why you should see it: If you love theater, the show is bursting at the seams with references to everything from Hamilton to Cabaret to Avenue Q.
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