Public Theater Announces Spring 2018 Public Forum Lineup
(© Allison Stock)
The Public Theater announced the 2018 spring lineup for Public Forum, a series of events and expanded audience engagement programming to explore ideas and themes presented on the theater's stages. This will be the series' eighth season.
This spring, Public Forum will host a series of free monthly Civic Salons: a monthly brunch-time gathering where everyone can come together in the spirit of community to nurture their mind and bodies. Each month will feature a different theme and different participants who will bring readings, songs, and a keynote address — all chosen in the hopes of inspiring civic engagement and social change. These events will take place on January 20, February 25, March 18, April 22, and May 20 at Joe's Pub.
Harvard University professor Michael Sandel will return to Public Forum on February 5 in Who Needs Truth? An Evening of Politics and Performance at the Great Hall at the Cooper Union. The event is described as follows: "If news can be fake and facts have alternatives, how are we to know what’s true anymore? Does a post-truth politics tilt toward tyranny? Join the Aspen Institute, The Cooper Union, and The Public Theater’s Public Forum for an evening featuring…Sandel leading a debate on the fate of truth in our society. Sandel will be joined by an extraordinary array of artists who will set the stage with thought-provoking performances."
And finally, Public Forum will host The 2018 Poetic Address to the Nation on April 15 at Joe's Pub, the culminating event of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture's 2018 People's State of the Union, in which, according to a press release, "an amazing line-up of playwrights, poets, and musicians will create a stirring evening of performances drawn from two weeks of Story Circles across the country — where ordinary citizens gave voice to their thoughts, feelings, fears, hopes, and aspirations for the state of our union."
