Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.

The building contains five theater spaces, and Joe's Pub, a cabaret-style venue for new work, musical performances, spoken-word artists, and soloists.

With each Public LAB show, the corresponding speaker series is presented as after-show talkbacks to discuss prominent themes, ideas, and topics in the plays.

The first production of Public LAB SHAKESPEARE was Timon of Athens in March 2011, with Richard Thomas playing the title role.

[6] Since 2013, The Public's Mobile Unit has been bringing free Shakespeare performances to various locations throughout New York City's five boroughs, including prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers.

The tour concludes at the Public Theater, having previously performed at notable venues such as Rikers Island, Borden Avenue's Veteran's Shelter, and The Fortune Society.

[8] The Public Forum, begun in 2010, is a series of lectures, debates, and conversations that showcase leading voices in the arts, politics and the media.

Notable participants in the series include Stephen Sondheim, Tony Kushner, Arianna Huffington, Alec Baldwin and Anne Hathaway.

UTR has presented works by such artists as Elevator Repair Service, Gob Squad, Belarus Free Theatre, and Young Jean Lee.

[10] The Public serves as the home of the Emerging Writers Group, which seeks to target playwrights at the earliest stages in their careers.

[14] Suzan-Lori Parks, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Master Writer Chair of The Public, debuted her performance piece Watch Me Work as part of the 2011 Under The Radar Festival.

Fifty-five Public Theater productions have moved to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones, That Championship Season, A Chorus Line, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, The Pirates of Penzance, The Tempest,[when?]