Shakespeare in the Park 2026

Each year, the Shakespeare graphics update the spirit and use of Knockout, the font of the Public identity.

This year, for the first time, the typography is entirely hand-drawn.

Since 1994, Paula Scher has designed the promotional campaigns for Shakespeare in the Park, the free summer performances presented by The Public Theater at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

Each year, the Shakespeare graphics update the spirit and use of Knockout, the font of the Public identity. Variations have included typography that is slashed, slanted, skewed, stretched, stenciled, scribbled, and arranged in circular patterns.

This year, for the first time, the typography is entirely hand-drawn. The approach debuted with the posters for “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Winter’s Tale,” and the accompanying signage and environmental graphics at the Delacorte. It will continue throughout the 2026-27 season at the Public, where the expressive lettering is paired with imagery from the various productions.

As with every Shakespeare campaign, however, the reinvention is temporary. Scher plans to return to “real” typography next year.

Client

The Public Theater

Sector

Arts & Culture

Discipline

Brand Identity
Campaigns

Office

New York

Partner

Paula Scher

Project team

Kirstin Rocke-Huber
Olivia Ray

Collaborators

Izzy Henderson
Elisa Penello
Tammy Shell

Retrospective: Shakespeare in the Park

In 1954, impresario Joe Papp began a summer tradition of staging free outdoor performances of Shakespeare, inaugurating the Public Theater’s beloved Shakespeare in the Park festival. Pentagram partner Paula Scher, whose relationship with the Public spans four decades, has designed a new identity for the series for thirty consecutive summers. Each campaign is customized to the season’s theme, creating a highly visible graphic vocabulary for outdoor advertising, social media, and on-site signage.

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2025