Sea Wall / A Life

New York Premiere
Written by Simon Stephens and Nick Payne
Directed by Carrie Cracknell
Featuring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge

Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal (Sunday in the Park with George, Constellations, If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet) and Tony Award nominee Tom Sturridge (Orphans, 1984, On The Road) make their Public Theater debuts in an unforgettable and incredibly intimate evening of theater.

Sturridge, in his third collaboration with Tony and Olivier Award winner Simon Stephens (Heisenberg, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), performs SEA WALL, an astonishing monologue about love and the human need to know the unknowable.

Gyllenhaal continues his artistic collaboration with Olivier Award-nominated playwright Nick Payne (Constellations, If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet) in A LIFE, an emotional examination of how sons become fathers and the transformative power of love.

Directed by Carrie Cracknell (A Doll’s House, The Deep Blue Sea), this heart-filled exploration of the meaning of life is a must-see evening of dramatic storytelling at its best.

Ain't No Mo'

World Premiere
Written by Jordan E. Cooper
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb

AIN’T NO MO’ is a vibrant satirical odyssey portraying the great exodus of black Americans out of a country plagued with injustice.

In a kaleidoscope of scenes of the moments before, during, and after this outrageous departure, Jordan E. Cooper’s masterful new work explores the value of black lives in a country hurtling away from the promise of a black president.

Stevie Walker-Webb directs this wildly imaginative and emotionally charged play. 

Mobile Unit: The Tempest

Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Laurie Woolery

Prospero, a powerful magician and the rightful Duchess of Milan, has been usurped by her brother and has escaped to a remote and barren island. There, despite the unforgiving landscape, she has tried her best to make a home for her daughter, Miranda. When Prospero conjures a powerful storm to sink her brother’s ship, she must decide how to deal with him and his confederates, who have washed ashore. How will she exact her long awaited revenge? How do you satiate a desire for justice? Director of Public Works Laurie Woolery directs this Mobile Unit production that journeys across the five boroughs and The Public’s Astor Place home.

 

Mojada

New York Premiere
Written by Luis Alfaro
Directed by Chay Yew

MacArthur Genius Award-winning playwright Luis Alfaro returns with the New York premiere of his stirring drama about love, immigration, and sacrifice, inspired by the Ancient Greek story of Medea. Helmed by Chay Yew (Oedipus El Rey), this play masterfully combines ancient storytelling with the most pressing issues facing our country today, following a young Mexican mother who gives up everything to bring her son to America, only to find America demands even more.

Alfaro’s OEDIPUS EL REY, produced last season in collaboration with the Sol Project, was hailed by The New York Times as a “dynamic reminder that we are living in a political moment when stories matter.”

With great poetry, humor, and heart, MOJADA is a bold new telling of a story as old as tragedy itself.

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Public Shakespeare Initiative

In its Second Year at The Public

Public Shakespeare Initiative offers a wide range of programming which includes larger Public Shakespeare Presents evenings, blending incisive commentary by scholars and other thinkers with compelling live performances by artists of all disciplines; intimate Public Shakespeare Talks, giving audiences unique insight into the artistic and intellectual processes of leading Shakespeare practitioners working in the theater; Artist Development Programs, to cultivate some of the most visionary artistic minds working on Shakespeare today; and Education Programs, specifically the Hunts Point Children’s Shakespeare Ensemble, which The Shakespeare Society co-founded with the Hunts Point Alliance for Children over a decade ago, and which has offered hundreds of elementary and middle school students the opportunity to develop their confidence, knowledge, and creativity through the transformative experience of bringing Shakespeare’s words to life onstage in the 10 Shakespeare productions the Ensemble has presented.

Mother of the Maid

New York Premiere
Written by Jane Anderson
Directed by Matthew Penn

Six-time Academy Award nominee and three-time Tony and Emmy winner Glenn Close (Sunset Boulevard, "Damages") returns in a breathtaking new play by Emmy winner Jane Anderson ("Olive Kitteridge," The Baby Dance, Defying Gravity).

MOTHER OF THE MAID tells the story of Joan of Arc's mother (Glenn Close), a sensible, hard-working, God-fearing peasant woman whose faith is upended as she deals with the baffling journey of her odd and extraordinary daughter. This riveting play is an epic tale told through an unexpected and remarkable perspective.

Emmy nominee Matthew Penn ("Law and Order," "The Sopranos," "Damages") directs this deeply moving drama about the glories and challenges of raising an exceptional child.

Wild Goose Dreams

New York Premiere
Written by Hansol Jung
Directed by Leigh Silverman

A co-production with La Jolla Playhouse

After its initial run in Public Studio, Hansol Jung’s fascinating and unforgettable new play WILD GOOSE DREAMS returns to The Public in a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it had a critically-acclaimed run last season.

Minsung is a “goose father,” a South Korean man whose wife and daughter have moved to America for a better life. Deeply lonely, he escapes onto the internet and meets Nanhee, a young defector forced to leave her family behind in North Korea. Amidst the endless noise of the modern world, where likes and shares have taken the place of love and touch, Minsung and Nanhee try their best to be real for each other. But after a lifetime of division and separation, is connection possible?

Tony nominee Leigh Silverman (Violet, Chinglish, The Outer Space) directs this strikingly original play with music, about two people, from two cultures, forced to choose between family and freedom.

Under the Radar Festival

15th Annual Festival
Featuring FRANKENSTEIN by Manual Cinema

Over the past 15 years, Under the Radar Festival (UTR) has presented over 229 companies from 42 countries. It has grown into a landmark of the New York City theater season and is a vital part of The Public's mission, providing a high-visibility platform to support artists from diverse backgrounds who are redefining the act of making theater. 

Widely recognized as a premier launching pad for new and cutting-edge performance from the U.S. and abroad, UTR has presented works by such respected artists as 600 HIGHWAYMEN, Elevator Repair Service, Nature Theater of Oklahoma, Belarus Free Theatre, Guillermo Calderón, and Young Jean Lee. These artists provide a snapshot of contemporary theater: richly distinct in terms of perspectives, aesthetics, and social practice, and pointing to the future of the art form. 

The Under the Radar Festival is made possible with the generous support of the Ford Foundation.