Shakespeare in the Park: Evening Outdoor Theater in Forest Park
When you think of outdoor theater in St. Louis, you may think of The Muny. And for good reason: The Muny is an icon in St. Louis and one of the best outdoor theaters in the country.
But it isn’t the only outdoor theater operation in St. Louis or even Forest Park. Less than a mile away from The Muny sits a quiet space known as Shakespeare Glen. Every summer, the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival transforms the Glen into a full-fledged theater, putting on a different Shakespeare play each season.
Getting There
Shakespeare Glen occupies a gentle slope just a stone’s throw from the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) on the east-central side of Forest Park (Google Maps link). How to get there depends on where in St. Louis you live. Forest Park is bracketed by Forest Park Parkway to the north and Interstate 64 to the south, so many travelers will use one of those two. We prefer taking Forest Park Parkway to Skinker to Lagoon Drive, but your route may vary.
Parking
Parking abounds in the area around the Glen in Forest Park, with some places closer than others and most of it free. The Saint Louis Art Museum East Parking Lot (Google Maps link) is the closest lot but is usually reserved for VIPs and people with disabilities. You can find some free parking in the Saint Louis Art Museum West Parking Lot (Google Maps link), including accessible parking, or in the parallel parking spaces along nearby streets. The Saint Louis Art Museum also maintains a paid underground parking lot — $15 during the summer peak season as of 2026 — on most nights (Google Maps link). What’s more, you can find free street parking up and down the road near the Glen.
If those options aren’t easily available and you don’t mind some steps, the Visitor’s Center Parking Lot (Google Maps link) is about a 20-minute walk from the Glen and is a spacious lot that is rarely full.
If you’re looking to park close by and not pay for it, we think the sweet spot for arrival timing is between 5:45 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Arrive much earlier, and you risk running into cars still parked at the Art Museum, which closes at 5 p.m.; arrive later, and the free West lot and surrounding street parking are more likely to be full.
Attendees should also be aware that getting out of Forest Park after a show can take a while. Streets can be particularly busy during a Muny show night, as The Muny and Shakespeare in the Park often end around the same time … and The Muny seats 11,000 people. You can avoid this by attending one of the Shakespeare shows in late May or early June, before Muny season gets under way. We find hanging out for a little after the show and staying patient helps.
Costs and Considerations
You can attend Shakespeare in the Park for free. They do encourage donations to cover costs, but you are not obligated. You might see staff or volunteers with baskets accepting donations, or you can donate in secure collection bins on site. You can also donate on the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s website.
Free seating is first come, first served. There are also a limited number of paid reserved spaces closer to the stage, ranging in 2026 from $20 all the way up to $300. The paid seats are the best seats in the house, but the free spaces still offer a good view of the stage, especially if you get to the Glen early enough.
Be aware that, since the stage can vary from year to year, so can the seating arrangement. Areas designated as paid one year might be free in another, or vice versa.
In 2026, the play started at 8:15 p.m. You can get pretty good free seats if you get there at or before 6 p.m. By 7 p.m., the place fills out pretty good.
Both the free and paid seating have areas for blanket seating and places for putting lawn chairs. Blanket spaces are a little closer than chair seating. The ground can get uncomfortable for me after a while, even with cushions, so I prefer lawn chairs. If you don’t mind sitting on a blanket for a few hours and get there soon enough, blanket seating offers the best views. Some of the closest lawn chair seating is pretty good too, though. If you sit a little farther back on account of getting there later, it’s also not a bad idea to bring binoculars. The sound, in our experience, is good in most parts of the Glen.
It’s perfectly acceptable to bring outside food to the Glen, and many people do. There are also one or more food vendors on site, sometimes selling things themed around the show.
Pets are allowed as long as they’re well-behaved, but photos and videos during the performance are not.
You can find a full FAQ of the event here.
It’s worth noting that Shakespeare in the Park is just one of a number of events the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival puts on each year. The organization hosts events in other parts of St. Louis, including TourCo, a smaller Shakespeare production that performs in various parks across the St. Louis area.
Things to Do
The main attraction of Shakespeare in the Park is, of course, the play itself. The troupe puts on one play per season, usually nightly over the course of several weeks. In 2025, the performances ran from May 28 to June 22 and the play was Hamlet. The previous year, in 2024, the comedy As You Like It took the stage.
Before, during, and after the play, you’ll see various vendors around the outside of the seating area selling food and souvenirs. If you’ve never been before, we highly suggest at least walking around the vendors, as you can find some cool stuff. You’ll sometimes get to see preshow entertainment, depending on the night and season.
Given that it’s an evening performance, a lot of the other attractions in Forest Park, like the Art Museum and Zoo, are usually closed. The upside to that is that it helps clear out parking for the performance. The Muny may be running, though, so don’t be surprised to hear wisps of Muny noise filtering through from a distance. It doesn’t typically detract from the show.
Our Thoughts
We’ve done Shakespeare in the Park over the years, including 2024 and 2025 as well as 2026. It’s got a great theater atmosphere, and an intimate one, as it’s not as crowded as The Muny. We’ve found to be the crowd to be better behaved than at The Muny, too, which is a plus if you’re all about the performance.
Because free seating is based on who gets there first — the same goes for parking in the immediate vicinity — it’s advisable not to get there too late. The free blanket sections near the stage fill up before the lawn chair seating farther back. We’ve been known to get there around 6 p.m. and have a relaxing dinner, which makes it much easier to get close parking and close seating. Your taste may vary.
Regardless, Shakespeare in the Park is a solid outdoor theater experience. If you’re looking for a Shakespearean comedy or tragedy, this is a great summer experience to be had in Forest Park.
