NEW YORK CITY: The Public Theater has announced its 2018-19 season, featuring nine mainstage productions in addition to its Mobile Shakespeare Unit shows and Under the Radar Festival lineup.
“This is a season of spectacular, ambitious projects, highlighted by a burst of young playwrights,” said artistic director Oskar Eustis in a statement. “Patricia Ione Lloyd, Hansol Jung, and Jordan E. Cooper will be making their Public Theater mainstage debuts. Public master writer chair Suzan-Lori Parks has written a brilliant and disturbing reflection on our current state of race relations, White Noise; masters Jane Anderson, Luis Alfaro, Conor McPherson, and Bob Dylan are working at the height of their powers; and actors Glenn Close, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Tom Sturridge will light up Astor Place.”
The season will kick off with the North American premiere of Conor McPherson’s Girl From the North Country (Sept. 11-Nov. 4), featuring music and lyrics by Bob Dylan, a story about a community in Duluth, Minn.—Dylan’s hometown—on the brink of a big change.
Next up will be Jane Anderson’s Mother of the Maid (Sept. 25-Nov. 18), a play that tells the story of Joan of Arc’s hard-working, sensible mother. Glenn Close will star, and Matthew Penn will direct.
Following will be the world premiere of Eve’s Song (Oct. 23-Dec. 2), by Patricia Ione Lloyd, a drama about a black family living in America struggling to keep their home life together as black people continue to be killed. Lloyd developed the play at the Public Theater while serving as the Tow Playwright-in-Residence. Jo Bonney will direct.
The season will continue with Hansol Jung’s Wild Goose Dreams (Oct. 30-Dec. 9), a coproduction with La Jolla Playhouse, about a “goose father,” a man who has stayed behind in South Korea after his wife and daughter move to America, and finds solace in his lonliness in the depths of the internet. Leigh Silverman will direct.
Next up will be Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oct. 29-Nov. 18), as part of the Mobile Shakespeare Unit. The comedy will be performed at the Public following a three-week tour in the five boroughs. Jenny Koons will direct.
Following will be the Under the Radar Festival (Jan. 3-13, 2019), curated by Mark Russell, which showcases the work of exciting artists from around the globe. The lineup will feature Manual Cinema’s Frankenstein, which tells Mary Shelley’s story with puppets, overhead cameras, projectors, and a chamber ensemble.
The season will continue with Sea Wall/A Life (Jan. 26-March 24, 2019), by Simon Stephens and Nick Payne, respectively. Tom Sturridge will perform Stephens’ monologue about love and the human need to know the unknowable. Jake Gyllenhaal will perform Payne’s work on how we say goodbye to those we love. Carrie Cracknell will direct.
Next will be the world premiere of White Noise (Feb. 19-March 31, 2019), by Suzan-Lori Parks, about a man who takes extreme measure to project himself after a racially motivated incident with the cops leaves him shaken. Eustis will direct.
Following will be the world premiere of Ain’t No Mo’ (March 12-April 21, 2019), by Jordan E. Cooper, about a satirical odyssey that portrays the great exodus of black Americans out of a country plagued with injustice. Stevie Walker-Webb will direct.
Next in the season will be the world premiere of Socrates (April 2-May 19, 2019), by Tim Blake Nelson, a drama about the philosopher and how he changed how the world thought. Doug Hughes will direct.
The spring Mobile Shakespeare Unit will present Shakespeare’s The Tempest (April 29-May 19, 2019), the tragedy will be presented at the Public after a three-week tour in all five boroughs. Lucas Caleb Rooney will direct.
The season will close out with Mojada (July 2-Aug. 11, 2019), by Luis Alfaro, a drama about a young Mexican mother giving up everything to bring her son to America. Chay Yew will direct.
Founded in 1954, the Public Theater produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental works.
*A previous version of this piece stated that Mojada by Luis Alfaro was a world premiere. It is the New York premiere. That fact has been fixed, as well as the headline.
