UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE, a new documentary from The Public Theater created with Art Docs and premiering this fall on ALL ARTS, focuses on The Public Theater’s 2017 Public Works musical production of As You Like It, which was performed by 200 New Yorkers of all ages and boroughs, and was named one of the Top Ten shows of 2017 by The New York Times. Co-adapted by Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery, with music and lyrics by Shaina Taub, original choreography by Sonya Tayeh, and direction by Laurie Woolery, As You Like It was set to be remounted as part of the 2020 Free Shakespeare in the Park season, but those plans were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This film tracks the creation of As You Like It and the ways this resilient community has banded together amidst the crises of 2020. Public Works, a major program of The Public Theater, aims to restore and build community by connecting people through theater—both performing it and experiencing it—creating theater that is not only for the people, but by and of the people as well. For the last eight years, Public Works has partnered with organizations across New York City, inviting community members to take classes, attend performances, and join in the creation of ambitious works of participatory theater.