Shakespeare in the Park 2008

The Delacorte Theater in Central Park presents free performances of Shakespeare under the stars -- often with star-studded casts (past performers have included Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, and Philip Seymour Hoffman).

The 2008 Shakespeare in the Park season kicks off on May 27 with a production of Hamlet starring Andre Braugher, Lauren Ambrose, and Sam Waterston. Hamlet will run through June 29. Performances of Hair will follow from July 22 through August 17.

Although tickets are free, they can be hard to come by. Tickets are handed out on the day of the performance starting at 1pm at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

The Delacorte Theater is located near Turtle Pond, just south of the Great Lawn in Central Park. The closest Park entrance from the East Side is Fifth Avenue at 79th Street; from the West Side, Central Park West at 81st Street. The theater opens at 7:30 p.m. There is a limit of two tickets per person. Call (212) 260-2400 for more information.

It's first come, first served. Lines of eager theater-goers start forming early in the morning, so plan on camping out. There are also lesser-known outer-borough locations with shorter waits (see publictheater.org for details).

Please note that the Public Theater will not be distributing tickets downtown at 425 Lafayette Street this year due to ongoing construction on the exterior of the building.

A limited number of tickets will also be available online the day of each performance. To get these tickets, you must register at publictheater.org and then log on between midnight and 1PM on the day of the performance you want to see to submit a request for up to two tickets. You must log on again between 1PM-6PM to see if you have been selected to receive a pair of tickets. People are chosen at random, not in the order that requests are received.

To help underwrite production expenses, a limited number of reserved seats in alternate rows are made available to Summer Supporters. The policy of alternate row seating for contributors and non-contributors helps to preserve the democratic character of Delacorte Theater audiences.