The Public Theater announces 2016-2017 Season

The off-Broadway non-profit Public Theater has announced its 2016-2017 Season, which will include five world premieres, and 4 New York premieres.

Artistic Director Oskar Eustis released the following statement:

"The Public is firing on all cylinders and this season reflects the tremendous diversity of our work. From a major revival of one of our iconic masterpieces of the last century, Plenty; to the latest brilliant workings of David Byrne and Alex Timbers, Saint Joan; from the climax of Richard Nelson's astounding Gabriel family plays; to the premiere of Lynn Nottage's Sweat, this season is as exciting as New York itself. It is a season that embraces American history in all its diversity, from the revolutionary experience of Party People to the gorgeous and elegiac Gently Down the Stream, and the amazing John Leguizamo's Latin History For Morons. Two beautifully intimate pieces round out our season: Ethan Lipton's sequel to the Obie Award-winning No Place to Go, The Outer Space, and Tiny Beautiful Things. Tiny Beautiful Things is an adaptation by writer Nia Vardalos and director Tommy Kail of Cheryl Strayed's beloved and powerful book."

The 2016-2017 season will be presented in the following order:

The season will begin in September with the return of Public Works which features over 200 actors and community members in a free world premiere musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub, the production is directed by Kwei Armah and features music and lyrics by Taub and will run for four nights only, 2 to 5 September 2016, at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

Synopsis: "This love story follows the young heroine Viola, who disguises herself as a man when she washes up on the shores of Ilyria. When Viola's new boss, Duke Orsino, sends her to win over his unrequited love, the Countess Olivia, Viola's disguise proves too effective, and the Countess falls for the young girl dressed as a boy instead. This musical fever dream is about love in all its many disguises, and the transformative power of walking a mile in another's shoes."

The season will then continue with the world premiere of the second play in Richard Nelson's three-play cycle THE GABRIELS: Election Year in the Life of One Family. Nelson serves as both writer and director. Play Two: What Did You Expect? will officially open at The Public's LuEsther Theater on 16 September 2016, following previews from 10 September, and will close on 2 October 2016.

Synopsis: "Tony-winning writer and director Richard Nelson returns to The Public this fall with the next play in his new three-play cycle, THE GABRIELS: Election Year in the Life of One Family. The second play, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?, brings us back to the kitchen of the Gabriel family, with the country now in the midst of the general election for president. In the course of one evening in the house they grew up in, history (both theirs and our country's), money, politics, family, art and culture are chopped up and mixed together, while a meal is made around the kitchen table."

The returning cast of What Did You Expect? includes Meg Gibson (Karin Gabriel), Lynn Hawley (Hannah Gabriel), Roberta Maxwell (Patricia Gabriel), Maryann Plunkett (Mary Gabriel), Jay O. Sanders (George Gabriel) and Amy Warren (Joyce Gabriel).

Next up, The Public Theater presents the first major New York revival of David Hare's Plenty, directed by David Leveaux. The limited engagement stars Rachel Weisz and Corey Stoll and will run from 4 October to 6 November 2016.

Synopsis: "Plenty is the story of Susan Traherne (Weisz), a fiercely intelligent British secret agent flown into France during the Second World War. Susan's experiences among her war-time colleagues and over the two decades that follow are distilled in powerful scenes in this endlessly layered work about a woman of remarkable bravery, who cannot find in peacetime the values and relationships she cherished in war."

Next up is the New York premiere of Sweat, written by Lynn Nottage and directed by Kate Whoriskey, which runs from 18 October to 20 November 2016.

Synopsis: "With warm humor and tremendous heart, Sweat tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets and laughs while working together on the line of a factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in the hard fight to stay afloat. The new play examines the collision of race, class, family and friendship, and the tragic, unintended costs of community without opportunity."

The season then continues with the Public Theater debut of the theatre ensemble group known as UNIVERSES. The New York premiere of Party People, directed by Liesl Tommy and choreographed by Millicent Johnnie, will play a limited engagement from 1 November to 4 December 2016.

The members of UNIVERSES are Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, Steven Sapp and William Ruiz aka Ninja.

Synopsis: "UNIVERSES, the award-winning ensemble known for their fusion of theater, poetry, jazz, hip-hop, politics, down home blues and Spanish boleros, makes their Public Theater premiere with an explosive new work about the complicated legacies of the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords Org/Party. Directed and developed by Tony Award nominee Liesl Tommy, UNIVERSES created Party People based on dozens of interviews with members of these groundbreaking, society-changing groups. Party People imagines a present-day reunion at an art opening curated by two young counter culturalists; but the curators themselves have complex relationships with the Party members, who fought injustice and provided free food and medical care for their communities-often at the expense of the people who loved them most. Old wounds and generational divides collide in this astonishing, multi-media theatrical event about the price of being a revolutionary, and what it means for those who come after. Breaking the bounds of the expected, the members of UNIVERSES and Liesl Tommy -invite audiences of every age, color and creed to join them as they continue to revolutionize American theater and explore the fight to bring power to the people, and the people to power."

This will be followed by the world premiere final installment of Richard Nelson's three-play cycle THE GABRIELS: Election Year in the Life of One Family. Play Three: Women of a Certain Age will officially open on Election Night 8 November 2016, following previews from 4 November, and will close on 27 November 2016. Nelson will once again direct the returning cast at The Public's LuEsther Theater.

Synopsis: "In the exquisitely moving finale of his three-play cycle, Tony-winning writer and director Richard Nelson brings us back into the Rhinebeck kitchen of the Gabriel family as they await the results of the Presidential Election on November 8, 2016. Women of a Certain Age takes place in the course of a single night, eight months after we first meet the Gabriels. Patricia, the family matriarch, joins her children and daughters-in-law as they prepare a meal from the past and consider the future of their country, town and home. Paying tribute to the difficult year behind them, the Gabriels compare notes on the search for empathy and authenticity at a time when the game seems rigged and the rules are forever changing."

Following this, the Public stages another world premiere - "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star and Oscar-nominated writer Nia Vardalos adapts Cheryl Strayed's novel Tiny Beautiful Things for the stage. Co-Conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail & Nia Vardalos, the production will play a limited engagement from 15 November to 18 December 2016. Vardalos will star in the role of Sugar and Kail will direct.

Synopsis: "Sugar is the online advice columnist who thousands of people have turned to for words of wisdom, honesty and hope. As anonymous readers come to her with their deepest and most personal problems, Sugar-who ultimately revealed herself to be Strayed-finds a way to weave her own life experiences together with theirs, creating a beloved column about the monstrous beauty, endless dark and glimmering light at the heart of being human. Tony Award nominee Thomas Kail directs this powerful new play about reaching when you're stuck, healing when you're broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions which don't have an answer."

The Public Theater's 2016-2017 season continues with a world premiere musical from David Byrne. Directed by Alex Timbers, Saint Joan will play a limited engagement from 14 February through to 19 March 2017.

Synopsis: "Once upon a time, there was a girl who talked to God. She built a nation, and they burned her for it. Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe winner David Byrne, lead singer of the Talking Heads and creator of The Public's hit Here Lies Love, explores the electrifying, meteoric rise of Joan of Arc through the lens of a one-of-a-kind rock musical concert. Directed by Golden Globe winner Alex Timbers, Saint Joan is a new show about challenging the powerful and believing in the impossible."

At Joe's Pub, the season continues with the New York premiere of The Outer Space. Written by Ethan Lipton and featuring music composed and performed by Ethan Lipton, Vito Dieterle, Eben Levy, and Ian Riggs, the limited run will play from 24 February to 2 April 2017, under the direction of Leigh Silverman.

Synopsis: "Ethan Lipton returns to The Public with a new adventure in bittersweet and hilariously off-kilter storytelling. The Outer Space follows one married couple as they leave the noise, pollution and overpriced rents of Earth for the vast beauty and treacherous terrain of the final frontier. But can they survive the journey? Leigh Silverman directs this out-of-this-world musical about the sacrifices we make for sustainable living and love."

The next world premiere sees the return to the New York stage of Tony winner Harvey Fierstein in Martin Sherman's comic-drama Gently Down The Stream. Directed by Sean Mathias, the production will begin performances on 14 March and close on 16 April 2017.

Synopsis: "Harvey Fierstein plays Beau, a pianist expat living in London, who meets Rufus, an eccentric young lawyer, at the dawn of the internet dating revolution. After a life spent recovering from the disappointment and hurt of loving men in a world that refused to allow it, Beau is determined to keep his expectations low with Rufus. But Rufus comes from a new generation of gay men who believe happiness is as much their right as anyone else's, and what Beau assumed would be just another fling grows into one of the most surprising and defining relationships of his life. A remarkably moving, brilliantly funny love story that reflects the triumphs and heartbreaks of the entire length of the gay rights movement, celebrating and mourning the ghosts of the men and women who led the way for equality, marriage and the right to dream."

The final production of the 2016-2017 season will welcome Emmy winner John Leguizamo back to the stage for the New York premiere of his self-penned one-man show Latin History For Morons. Directed by Tony Taccone, Leguizamo will appear from 17 March to 23 April 2017 at the Public Theater.

Synopsis: "John Leguizamo schools his son-and the rest of us-on the buried and forgotten history of Latinos in the Americas in this outrageously funny one-man show about uncovering the truth, and recovering from the past. Inspired by the near total absence of Latinos in his son's American history class, Leguizamo embarks on a frenzied search to find a Latin hero for his son's school project. From a mad recap of the Aztec empire to stories of unknown Latin patriots of the Revolutionary War and beyond, Leguizamo breaks down the 3,000 years between the Mayans and Ricky Ricardo into 90 irreverent and uncensored minutes in his trademark style."

This is a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Additional casting and creative team information for all the shows in the 2016-2017 season will be announced in the coming months.

The Public Theater's 2015-2016 season will also include the 13th annual Under The Radar Festival from 4 to 15 January 2017, as well as two free Mobile Shakespeare Unit tours to all five boroughs.