Theater News

Suzan-Lori Parks To Make Onstage Debut in Her Plays for the Plague Year

Complete casting has been announced for the world premiere production at the Public Theater.

Suzan-Lori Parks wrote and stars in Plays for the Plague Year at the Public Theater.
Suzan-Lori Parks wrote and stars in Plays for the Plague Year at the Public Theater.
(© Tricia Baron)

Complete casting has been revealed for the world premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks's Plays for the Plague Year, which will begin previews at the Public Theater on November 4 ahead of an official opening night on November 16. Tickets are on sale through November 27.

According to a press description, "On March 13, 2020, as theaters shut their doors and so many of us went into lockdown, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and the Public's Writer-in-Residence Suzan-Lori Parks picked up her pen and her guitar and set out to write a play every day. What emerged is a breathtaking anthology of plays and songs that chronicle our collective experience and the hope and perseverance that occurred throughout that troubling year. Performed in the intimate music venue, Joe's Pub, Plays for the Plague Year is a theatrical concert featuring the music and plays of Suzan-Lori Parks."

Parks will make her onstage debut as "the writer'' in a production directed by Niegel Smith. Joining her onstage will be Leland Fowler, Greg Keller, Orville Mendoza, Kenita Miller, Lauren Molina, Martín Solá, and Pearl Sun.

The production will feature costume design by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting design by Ania Washington, sound design by Dan Moses Schrier, projection design by Peter Nigrini, and prop management by Alexander Wylie. Ric Molina will music direct and will contribute to both vocal and instrumental arrangements for the production. Buzz Cohen will serve as the production stage manager and Janelle Caso will serve as stage manager.