ENERGETIC. RAW. INSPIRATIONAL.
YOU ARE THE PUBLIC!
In the new Astor Place lobby, in your parks, at The Delacorte, in your life… this is where we meet, collide, and come alive. We are a better city when we are together.
Nine projects have just been added to the Spring and Summer season. Combined with nine previously announced projects, that brings the season to one of the largest in The Public’s history with 18 productions.
“The Public can only fill its role as a civic theater by offering up its stages and theaters to the ever-expanding democratic metropolis we cherish. The Public’s season is exploding with the deeply engaged, wildly diverse, and theatrically bold work that has long been our mission.” — Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director
Explore Your 26/27 Season.
The Public. Of, By, and For All.
FALL 26
North American Premiere
PUBLIC WORKS’ PUBLIC RECORD
Written by Lisa Sanaye Dring
Based on the Concept and Creative Direction by Emily Lim and Dan Canham, Musical Supervision and Songs by Ross Millard, and Words by Stewart Pringle
Music Supervision by Michael Thurber
Co-Directed and Choreographed by Dan Canham
Directed by Emily Lim
New Yorkers from all five boroughs are coming together to create a live album—on stage, in real time. PUBLIC RECORD, based on a concept by Dan Canham and Emily Lim, brings Public Works community members, musicians, and dancers into a cast of over 100 to capture how our city sings, moves, and tells its story in this moment.
New York Premiere
Red Bull Theater’s Production of
HOW SHAKESPEARE SAVED MY LIFE
A Co-Production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Folger Theatre
Written and Performed by Jacob Ming-Trent
Directed by Tony Taccone
In the Red Bull Theater production of HOW SHAKESPEARE SAVED MY LIFE, Jacob Ming-Trent dares to rescue himself from the “slings and arrows” of his past. Born with a gift for poetry but rejected as unfit to play the part of the poet, Ming-Trent invites us to take a deep dive into the crevices of his youth. His search for home is relentless, and the results are by turns hilarious and tragic.
TAYLOR MAC & MATT RAY
SONGS FROM BARK OF MILLIONS
Performed by the Plethora
Music and Musical Direction by Matt Ray
Lyrics and Direction by Taylor Mac
Joe's Pub in the Park
The event of the season is coming to The Delacorte Theater for three free performances. MacArthur Fellowship-winning icon Taylor Mac reunites with Obie Award-winning composer Matt Ray to share songs from their epic rock-opera meditation on queerness, BARK OF MILLIONS, featuring special guests and performers from the original production.
World Premiere
GOOD TIME CHARLIE
Written by Ryan J. Haddad
Directed by Danny Sharron
Ryan J. Haddad returns to The Public with his joyous, moving new play GOOD TIME CHARLIE. As a young man, Charlie dreamt of a life on the stage, but his parents thought dentistry sounded better, so he channeled his passion for culture into his nephew Ryan—a fellow theater-loving gay kid with Broadway ambitions.
North American Premiere
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
A Musical
Book and Lyrics by Jethro Compton
Music and Lyrics by Darren Clark
Based on the Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Choreographed by Chi-San Howard
Directed by Jethro Compton
Following a highly acclaimed production in London’s West End, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON makes its North American premiere at The Public this fall. Set in a Cornish fishing village on the coast of Great Britain, and brought to life by a company of 15 actor-musicians, this is the magical tale of a love that defies all odds.
World Premiere
WE’LL SEE
Conversations Among the Apple Family on the Night of the Midterm Elections
Written and Directed by Richard Nelson
The latest in Richard Nelson’s The Rhinebeck Panorama, his acclaimed 12-play series about three families in Rhinebeck, New York, WE’LL SEE follows the Apple family on midterm election day, November 3, 2026.
Fiasco Theater’s Production of
THE VERGE
Written by Susan Glaspell
Directed by Jessie Austrian
This fall, Fiasco Theater and The Public partner to celebrate a hidden American classic: THE VERGE by Susan Glaspell, Pulitzer Prize winner and founder of the Provincetown Players. By turns witty farce, devastating philosophical debate, and scathing feminist cry, THE VERGE defies genre and pierces the bounds of theatrical realism.
Joint World Premiere | Free Pop-Up Play
TRIUMPH
Written by Caryl Churchill
Directed by Saheem Ali
In advance of the midterm elections, the brilliant, prescient playwright Caryl Churchill's newest short play TRIUMPH makes its joint world premiere at The Public Theater alongside a concurrent production at London's Almeida Theatre. Inspired by Suetonius’ The Twelve Caesars, TRIUMPH is the story of Iris, press secretary to the Roman emperors.
WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE: Plays That Grapple with the Future
Artists are often sensitive to directions of the culture before anybody else, displaying remarkable prescience about what is lurking around the corner and offering warnings while prevention is still possible. This new reading series is focused on plays that grappled with the future to come and are still urgently relevant.
WINTER 27
Bedlam's Production of
ARE THE BENNET GIRLS OK?
By Emily Breeze
Directed by Eric Tucker
Begins January 26
Raw, relatable, and wholly unstuffy, the critically acclaimed ARE THE BENNET GIRLS OK? by Emily Breeze comes to The Public this winter. Bedlam Artistic Director Eric Tucker directs this adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice that unbinds the canonical work’s characters from centuries of expectations, re-centering the narrative around the relationships between the Bennet women.
World Premiere
WELCOME TABLE
By James Ijames
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Begins February 18
Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist James Ijames returns to The Public with a bold reimagining of that pivotal meeting, set in an afterlife where these iconic figures wrestle with their legacy. Directed by Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin, WELCOME TABLE channels the fire of Baldwin’s call to action and reminds us that the struggle for justice continues to echo with striking urgency today.
New York Premiere
WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK
By Nathan Englander
Directed by Patrick Marber
Begins April 8
The Olivier Award-nominated play WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK, is an edgy contemporary comedy about two Jewish couples—one secular, the other ultra-Orthodox—having the argument they swore they’d never have. WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK explores identity, politics, and parenthood.
THE SURGE
By Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen
Directed by Jessica Blank
Produced in Association with the Guthrie Theater
Winter/Spring 2027
Conceived as a direct response to Operation Metro Surge, which unleashed an estimated 3,000 ICE agents across Minnesota, new documentary play THE SURGE addresses ICE’s actions in the Twin Cities, the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and Minnesotans’ collective response. Commissioned by The Public Theater and the Guthrie Theater in January 2026, acclaimed documentary theater artists Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen engaged with affected communities, capturing firsthand interviews with individuals from all corners of the Twin Cities to create this new play about the emergent mobilization created to protect and care for one another.
Joe's Pub Presents
MEET ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Written by Jesse Malin and Wilder L. Ludwig
Directed by Ellie Heyman
Produced by ArKtype & David Bason
Spring 2027
Following an acclaimed sleeper-hit run at Bowery Palace, MEET ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD (formerly Silver Manhattan), the rock musical returns to share the rise, fall, and rise again of beloved singer-songwriter Jesse Malin. MEET ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD is a raw, funny, moving, and ultimately inspiring story of a life fully lived.
World Premiere
PHIL
Based on The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders
Created by Elevator Repair Service
Directed by John Collins
Elevator Repair Service in Residence
Late Spring 2027
Elevator Repair Service (ERS) stages George Saunders’ witty, absurd, and frighteningly timely novella about a despotic populist leader in the tiny country of Outer Horner and its troubled relationship with the even tinier country of Inner Horner.
SHAKESPEARE FOR THE CITY
Free Shakespeare in the Park
HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
The Free Shakespeare in the Park season will open with HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2, staged as one epic story at The Delacorte for the first time in nearly 60 years. Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin directs this study on the true cost of a crown.
Free Shakespeare in the Park
COUNTING AND CRACKING
எண்ணிக்கை, இல்லையேல் கையோங்குගණන් නොගන්නේ නම් ගණන් කරන්න
Presenting a Belvoir St Theatre & Kurinji Co-Production
Written by S. Shakthidharan with Eamon Flack
Directed by Eamon Flack with S. Shakthidharan
Belvoir St Theatre’s COUNTING AND CRACKING, from the creative team of S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack, returns to New York after critically acclaimed productions at NYU Skirball and in Australia and the United Kingdom. Named a New York Times’ Critic’s Pick, COUNTING AND CRACKING is a joyous, epic story of family, forgiveness, the ghosts we leave behind, and the power of love.
World Premiere Musical Adaptation
PUBLIC WORKS’ A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Written by William Shakespeare
Music and Lyrics by Michael Thurber
Adapted and Directed by Saheem Ali
Public Works celebrates its 15th anniversary and closes the summer with a city-sized celebration of imagination and collective creation. With music and lyrics by Michael Thurber and adapted and directed by Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali, this Public Works production is a love letter to The Delacorte Theater and New York City, capturing the magic of making theater together in Central Park.
The Public Theater’s MOBILE UNIT is a modern reimagining of Joseph Papp’s Mobile Theater, celebrating 70 years since founder Joseph Papp’s original Mobile Theater in 1957. Mobile Unit reaches across economic and geographic barriers to the arts by meeting our communities where they are—staging free and accessible professional theater productions in local neighborhood venues such as parks, correctional facilities, and community centers.
Mobile Unit will tour a free Shakespeare production directed by Lori Elizabeth Parquet across all five New York City boroughs in Summer 2027; further details will be announced at a later date.
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS
JOE'S PUB, a Public Theater Artistic Program, celebrates nearly three decades as a home for visionary artists in music, comedy, cabaret, and other forms of live performance, with a new season of artist development programs and nightly performances. The recipient of the 2026-27 Joe’s Pub Vanguard Residency is groundbreaking comedian, host, actor, author, producer, and self-proclaimed hardest working middle-aged man in show business, Murray Hill. Hill will curate a year of programming.
PUBLIC FORUM returns as the vibrant series of live conversations, debates, and performances. PUBLIC FORUM is a space where art, ideas, and action collide. Join us this summer at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park. On select Monday evenings, The Delacorte opens its doors to New Yorkers, artists, thinkers, and public voices to gather under the stars and take on the questions of our time. From love and Shakespeare to immigration, democracy, and the future of American culture, PUBLIC FORUM is a theater of ideas.
PUBLIC STORIES is The Public's new civic storytelling program, expanding work done with the Public Works community for the past three years. By centering community members as storytellers and artists, PUBLIC STORIES affirms storytelling as a vital practice in a democratic society.
EMERGING WRITERS GROUP (EWG) is a program that provides key support and resources for writers at the early stages of their careers. Writers are selected bi-annually and receive a two-year fellowship facilitated by The Public’s New Work Development department. EWG meets twice a month for peer feedback on plays in progress as well as special sessions that connect the group to the wider landscape of New York City theater.
The Public Theater is hosting cultural critic Jose Solís’ BIPOC CRITICS LAB in the 2026-27 season. After successfully hosting the 2024-2025 cohort and the 2023-2024 cohort, The Public is honored to continue Solís’ commitment to creating an educational space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) writers in the realm of cultural criticism.
