Theater News

Works by David Byrne, Colman Domingo, Michael John LaChiusa, Richard Nelson Set for Public Theater’s 2012-2013 Season

David Byrne
(© David Gordon)
David Byrne
(© David Gordon)

The Public Theater has announced the line-up for its 2012-2013 season, which will begin in the fall with an October rededication of The Public’s historic downtown building.

Prior to the rededication, The Public’s Mobile Shakespeare Unit will present a five-borough touring production of Richard III, directed by Amanda Dehnert, that will perform July 17-August 5.

The season will begin in earnest with the world premiere of Colman Domingo‘s Wild With Happy (October 9-November 11), directed by Robert O’Hara. The show follows the journey of a young man named Gil who plans to scatter his mother’s ashes in the place where she was the most happy.

The new musical Giant, featuring book by Sybille Pearson with music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa, will receive its New York premiere, October 26-December 2. Based on the novel by Edna Ferber, the piece spans generations in an epic chronicle of Texas, our “Heartbreak Country.” Michael Greif will direct, with choreography by Alex Sanchez.

Writer/director Richard Nelson will present the world premiere of his latest play about the Apple Family, Sorry, to run October 30-November 18. In it, the Apples again share a meal in Rhinebeck, as they sort through personal and political feelings of loss and confusion on the morning of the day the country will choose the next president. The production will star Jon DeVries, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robins, Jay O. Sanders, and J. Smith-Cameron.

Barry Edelstein will direct the world premiere of Nathan Englander’s The Twenty-Seventh Man, November 7-December 9. Adapted from Englander’s short story of the same name, the lay is set in a Soviet prison in 1952, where Stalin’s secret police have rounded up twenty-six writers, the giants of Yiddish literature in Russia. As judgment looms, a twenty-seventh suddenly appears.

In 2013, Kwame Kwei-Armah will direct the world premiere of Dominique Morisseau’s Detroit 67, presented in association with the Classical Theatre of Harlem, February 26-March 17. In it, Chelle and her brother Lank transform their basement into an after-hours joint to make ends meet. But when a mysterious woman winds her way into their lives, the siblings clash over much more than family business.

Next will be the English Language premiere of Neva (March 1-31), written and directed by Guillermo Calderón, in a translation by Andrea Thome. The play tells the story of Anton Chekhov’s widow, the actress Olga Knipper.

Alex Timbers will direct the world premiere of the new musical Here Lies Love (April 2-May 5), featuring concept and lyrics by David Byrne, with music by Byrne and Fatboy Slim. The piece deconstructs the astonishing journey of Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos and her meteoric rise and subsequent descent into infamy. Annie-B Parson will provide choreography.

The final work for the season will be Old Fashioned Prostitutes (A True Romance) (April 30-June 2), written, directed, and designed by Richard Foreman. This an expressionistic chamber-play features snapshots from an enigmatic fairy-tale in which Suzie, the elusive coquette, brings Samuel to his knees – from where he worships a life he only half understands.

The Public will also continue its Public Lab series of scaled down productions; its acclaimed Under the Radar Festival (January 9-20, 2013) of cutting-edge theater from around the U.S. and the world; its Public Forum series of high-profile lectures, debates, and conversations; New Work Now! play readings; and numerous events in its Joe’s Pub space.

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