The Delacorte Theater is the summer home of the Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival. Joseph Papp began Shakespeare in the Park on a shoestring budget in 1957. Fueled by philanthropy and royalties from certain Broadway hits notably A Chorus Line the Public Theater has brought great open-air theater free to New Yorkers. All you need is the patience to wait in line for a ticket a process that has become a New York tradition. The Public Theater also distributes tickets from its Astor Place home at 425 Lafayette Street.

"The Shakespeare Marathon" was Joseph Papp's plan to produce all of Shakespeare's plays at the Delacorte or the Public Theater. The Marathon began in 1987 with Much Ado About Nothing, and ended in 1997 with Henry VIII. The Delacorte has also hosted classical plays such as Electra, Agamemnon,The Skin of Our Teeth, and musicals including The Pirates of Penzance and On the Town. Actors who have appeared at the Delacorte include: George G. Scott, Kevin Kline, Blythe Danner, Denzel Washington, Richard Dreyfuss, Gregory Hines, Raul Julia, Denzel Washington, and Michelle Pfeiffer.