Your '22/23 Programming
Leaves are green and flowers have sprouted! Your 2022-2023 Public Season is in bloom and we are excited to bring you a season of dynamic works to feed cultural change and conversation.
“The artists who make up The Public's season are prophetic voices, who will give us sustenance, vision, and provocation. James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry are the two classic writers who speak most presciently to the crisis of our times. Suzan-Lori Parks, and Erika Dickerson-Despenza are brilliant contemporary writers whose work reflects our moment beautifully. Ryan J. Haddad brilliantly explodes our ideas about disability, while Madeline Sayet examines her relationship to Shakespeare through her Mohegan identity and perspective.” — Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater
And we are excited to grow our partnerships with The Bushwick Starr, Elevator Repair Service, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company to bring you exciting new visions for what theater can offer.
But that's not all. Nightly music continues at Joe’s Pub, Mobile Unit returns to all five boroughs with free performances, and we welcome back our annual Under the Radar Festival.
Learn more about our upcoming season of shows and programming, and be sure you're signed up to get the latest information regarding on sales and your 2022-2023 season.
Become a Public Theater Partner or Supporter and take advantage of Priority Access periods, savings on tickets, and a host of other benefits.
As we kick off our new season, we all must play our part around Health and Safety. Learn more with Safe at The Public.
Fall '22.
Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge
New York Premiere
September 24 - October 23, 2022
Conceived by Greig Sargeant with Elevator Repair Service
Directed by John Collins
The renowned theater company Elevator Repair Service returns to The Public with BALDWIN AND BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE, a profoundly relevant presentation of the legendary debate between virtuosic writer James Baldwin and father of American conservatism William F. Buckley, Jr.
A Raisin in the Sun
September 27 - November 20, 2022
By Lorraine Hansberry
Directed by Robert O’Hara
Lorraine Hansberry’s A RAISIN IN THE SUN comes to Astor Place this fall in Hansberry's Public Theater debut. Directed by Tony Award nominee Robert O’Hara, this fresh look at a classic proves to be as provocative and powerful today as it was in 1959.
Where We Belong
New York Premiere
October 28 - November 27, 2022
By Madeline Sayet
Directed by Mei Ann Teo
Produced with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
In Association with Folger Shakespeare Library
In this intimate and exhilarating solo piece directed by Mei Ann Teo, theatre-maker Madeline Sayet echoes a journey to England braved by Native ancestors in the 1700s following the betrayal of treaties—and forces us to consider what it means to belong in an increasingly globalized world.
Plays for the Plague Year
World Premiere
November 4 - November 27, 2022
By Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Niegel Smith
On March 13, 2020, as theaters shut their doors and so many of us went into lockdown, celebrated playwright Suzan-Lori Parks picked up her pen and set out to write a play every day. Performing in the intimate Joe’s Pub and directed by Niegel Smith, PLAYS FOR THE PLAGUE YEAR is at once a personal story of one family's daily lives, as well as a sweeping account of all we faced as a city, a nation, and a global community.
Winter/Spring '23.
The Harder They Come
World Premiere
Begins February 16, 2023
Book by Suzan-Lori Parks
Including Songs by Jimmy Cliff
Additional New Songs by Suzan-Lori Parks
Based upon the film, produced and directed by Perry Henzell and co-written with Trevor Rhone
Music Supervision, Orchestrations, and Arrangements by Kenny Seymour
Choreography by Edgar Godineaux
Co-Directed by Sergio Trujillo
Directed by Tony Taccone
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and The Public’s Writer-in-Residence, Suzan-Lori Parks, brings to The Public a new musical adaptation of the 1972 movie, THE HARDER THEY COME. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the breakthrough film, produced and directed by Perry Henzell and co-written with Trevor Rhone, tells the story of Ivan, a young singer who arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, eager to become a star. After falling in love and cutting a record deal with a powerful music mogul, Ivan soon learns that the game is rigged, and as he becomes increasingly defiant, he finds himself in a battle that threatens not only his life, but the very fabric of Jamaican society.
Dark Disabled Stories
World Premiere
Begins February 28, 2023
By Ryan J. Haddad
Directed by Jordan Fein
Produced by The Bushwick Starr
Presented by The Public Theater
Ryan J. Haddad’s newest autobiographical play is a series of unforgiving vignettes about the strangers he encounters while navigating a city (and a world) not built for his walker and cerebral palsy. Directed by Jordan Fein, DARK DISABLED STORIES probes implicit ableism and the assumptions we make about people we'll never really know.
shadow/land
World Premiere
Begins April 20, 2023
By Erika Dickerson-Despenza
Directed by Candis C. Jones
Playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza returns to The Public with a stunning live production of shadow/land. As Hurricane Katrina begins her ruin, tensions between duty & desire surface, a levee is brought to its knees & Ruth must wrestle with all that she's ready to let go. shadow/land is a lyrical meditation on legacy, erotic fugitivity, and self-determination. Candis C. Jones directs this examination of the ongoing effects of disaster, evacuation, displacement, and urban renewal rippling in and beyond New Orleans.
Programs.
Joe's Pub
The Joe’s Pub 2022-2023 Vanguard Residency will be dedicated to the memory of beloved vocal coach Barbara Maier Gustern. The artists performing in this residency will all be Gustern’s students and collaborators, beginning with Murray Hill in September and Machine Dazzle in October.
The Joe’s Pub Working Group 2022-2023 cohort will launch with Sita Chay, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Olivia Harris, J. Hoard, Lama El Homaïssi, and Roshni Samlal.
The New York Voices 2022-2023 commissions will feature Sunny Jain: Love Force, treya lam: otherland, Liza Paul & Bahia Watson: MASHUP ting!, Chris Pattishall & Vuyo Sotashe, and Daniel J. Watts & Nick Blaemire: Quixote.
Additional Joe’s Pub performers will include Bridget Everett & The Tender Moments (September 26-28) and Jane Lynch & Kate Flannery: A Swingin’ Little Christmas (December 2-4). The Habibi Festival also returns this fall (October 11-15), featuring Bedouin Burger, Bnat el Houariyat and Esraa Warda, Firas Zreik, HAT, Noura Mint Seymali, and Yacine Boulares’s Night in Tunisia.
Mobile Unit
MOBILE UNIT is excited to hit the road again, bringing art and joy to its communities with two new tours. Kicking off in the fall, Mobile Unit will partner with Joe’s Pub for JOE’S PUB IN TRANSIT, a concert series that will visit community partners throughout New York City.
In spring of 2023, The Mobile Unit will embark on a new tour with a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. Conceived by director Rebecca Martínez and composer Julián Mesri, this new adaptation rigorously embraces music from all over Latin America in this tale of separation and joyous reunion. With songs in English and Spanish, this new musical adaptation brings an energetic vibe to this aged-old tale of two sets of twins separated by stormy seas as they overcome a baffling case of mistaken identity—and the mayhem and hilarious confusion that follows.
Under the Radar
January 4 - January 22, 2023
The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival 2023 will reflect the enormous changes in the field of live theater and performance since 2020. Joyous, outrageous, witty, and powerful, UTR 2023 will partner with stages across the city to highlight national and international artists bursting with innovation, provocation, and celebration.
Public Works
PUBLIC WORKS, a major initiative of The Public Theater, aims to restore and build community by connecting people through the creation of extraordinary works of art. Public Works is animated by the idea that theater is a place of possibility, where the boundaries that separate us from each other in the rest of life can fall away. Working with partner organizations in all five boroughs, Public Works invites community members to take classes, attend performances, and join in the creation of ambitious works of participatory theater.
#BARS
#BARS WORKSHOP is where verse and theater come together for rappers, actors, poets, performers, orators, playwrights, and song birds. Come create, learn, develop, and innovate firmly at the center. The poetry of speech is what brings it all together. If that is your sweet spot, we think you should enter. The #BARS Workshop is a lab series created by Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs, to serve as a space for artists to investigate the intersection between contemporary verse and theater.
Public Shakespeare Initiative
PUBLIC SHAKESPEARE INITIATIVE offers a wide range of programming which includes larger Public Shakespeare Presents evenings, blending incisive commentary by scholars and other thinkers with appearances by artists of all disciplines; intimate Public Shakespeare Talks, giving audiences unique insight into the artistic and intellectual processes of leading Shakespeare practitioners working in the theater; Artist Development Programs, to cultivate some of the most visionary artistic minds working on Shakespeare today; and Education Programs, specifically the Hunts Point Children’s Shakespeare Ensemble.
Emerging Writers Group
EMERGING WRITERS GROUP 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.
Support The Public
Consider becoming a Supporter to unlock early access to the 2022-2023 Season! Join in today with a gift of $100 or more to support theater of, by, and for all people. As thanks, you will receive savings on tickets and transaction fees, and a host of exciting benefits, for a full year.
Want Even Earlier Access? Join as a Supporter Plus, with a gift of $300 or more, for even earlier access to the season, as well as reserved seating for Free Shakespeare in the Park.
Join in today or call 212.967.7555 to learn more.
Team Public
Team Public, a new way to stay connected and engaged with the Public’s artists, staff, programming, events, and so much more. Team Public is part of our larger membership program. It is FREE and open to all. You will receive weekly calendar updates, downloadable content, artist spotlights, a monthly newsletter, historical fun facts, and special invitations to events and discussions.
Accessible Performances
Learn more about our upcoming season of shows and programming, including performances that offer access for the disabled, and be sure you're signed up to get the latest information regarding on sales and your 2022-2023 season.