Public Forum Celebrates World Refugee Day With Michael Cerveris, K'Naan, and More

The Public Theater and International Rescue Committee held the Public Forum event Welcome Home: A Celebration of World Refugee Day on June 20 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

A naturalization ceremony for brand-new citizens took place for the first time ever on the Delacorte stage, led by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson. Highlights of the evening also included F. Murray Abraham reading Shakespeare’s incendiary plea for refugees from Sir Thomas More, a performance of a song by K’naan, Michael Cerveris performing "Better Angels" from Tom Kitt’s new musical The Visitor, Hoon Lee reading David Henry Hwang, a chorus of New York City schoolchildren reading Emma Lazarus’ "The New Colossus," Kwame Kwei-Armah reading John Winthrop’s "A Model of Christian Charity," Natalie Cortez performing "There Is a Child" from the Public’s Giant, and more.

The event's company also featured Bobby Cannavale, Salman Rushdie, Okieriete Onaodowan, Condola Rashad, Celia Keenan-Bolger, John Ellison Conlee, Omar Metwally, Rocío Del Mar Valles, Nicholas Schmidle, Ato Blankson-Wood, and Nicholas Niarchos.