NEW YORK CITY: The Public Theater has cancelled its programming through August 31, including the productions of Richard II and Public Works’ As You Like It as part of the Free Shakespeare in the Park series.

“Every summer for the last 58 years we have reveled in gathering under the stars at the magical Delacorte Theater for Free Shakespeare in the Park,” said a statement on the company’s website. “We come together as strangers, visitors and fellow New Yorkers, as audiences and artists, and we get a glimpse of what a unified city could look like.”

The New York Times also reported that the theatre will furlough 70 percent of its full-time, permanent staff from May 4 to Aug. 31, the end of its fiscal year, and that the theatre anticipates losses in the range of $10-20 million.