Christine Baranski at Joe's Pub & More Among Public Theater's Fall Public Forum Offerings

The Public Theater announced the 2015 Fall Public Forum season, featuring an exciting line-up of one-night-only performances and conversations that connect dramatic literature to the way we live now. Now in its sixth year, the popular Public Forum series presents the theater of ideas: conversations and performances with leading voices in politics, media, and the arts.

Public Theater Member tickets for the Public Forum series, starting at $40, are available now. Single tickets, starting at $50, will be available on Thursday, August 6 and can be accessed at (212) 967-7555, www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street. (There is no food or drink minimum for the Public Forum series in Joe's Pub.)

Public Forum kicks off its sixth season with the return of the celebrated Drama Club series with DRAMA CLUB: WAITING FOR LEFTY on Monday, September 21 at 7:00 p.m. in Joe's Pub. This blockbuster evening will feature a reading and discussion of Clifford Odets' fiery first play about a group of cab drivers on the eve of a planned labor strike. The cast of this political event will feature Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, El Teatro Campesino founder Luis Valdez, noted labor lawyer Tom Geoghegan, author and New Yorker contributor George Packer, actors Adam Green and Miriam Silverman, and more.

On Monday, October 5 at 7:00 p.m., Public Forum celebrates DRAMA CLUB: LORCA IN NEW YORK in Joe's Pub. In 1929, a young Federico García Lorca was studying at Columbia University. Transfixed by his surroundings, he produced Poet in New York - a love letter to the city, warts and all. With a reading of excerpts from this classic work, Nilo Cruz's vibrant translation and adaptation brings the poetry of Lorca's words and of our fair metropolis to life. The cast will feature Saeed Jones, BuzzFeed Literary Editor and author of the PEN/Joyce Osterwell Award-winning poetry collection Prelude to Bruise, and more.

With the Presidential election just under a year away, on Monday, November 16 at 7:00 p.m., DRAMA CLUB: AN EVENING WITH CLEOPATRA will host an exploration of modern women in power in Joe's Pub via the great dramatic depictions of Egypt's famous queen - from Shakespeare to Shaw to Wilder and more. The evening will feature actress Christine Baranski as the iconic Queen of the Nile, journalist Rebecca Traister, and more.

On Monday, December 7 at 7:00 p.m. Public Forum's holiday tradition returns to Joe's Pub with DRAMA CLUB: THE LONG CHRISTMAS DINNER, Thornton Wilder's ingenious, heartbreaking play about 90 years in the life of an American family shown over the course of their Christmas meal and insightful discussion about family and storytelling. Wilder's nephew and literary executor Tappan Wilder returns along with a tremendous new cast.

PUBLIC FORUM, directed by Jeremy McCarter, presents the theater of ideas: performances and conversations that explore the way we live now. Alec Baldwin, Anne Hathaway, Cynthia Nixon, Sam Waterston, and former NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman have hosted its programs, which have featured the insights of Kurt Andersen, David Brooks, David Byrne, Tony Kushner, Rachel Maddow, Wynton Marsalis, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Suzan-Lori Parks, Salman Rushdie, David Simon, Anna Deavere Smith, Stephen Sondheim, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, young veterans of the war in Afghanistan - plus performances and readings by Christine Baranski, Annette Bening, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrera, Billy Collins, Matt Damon, E.L. Doctorow, Holly Hunter, James Earl Jones, Audra McDonald, Uzo Aduba, Luis Valdez, and Vanessa Redgrave, among others. The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation provides lead support for The Public's access and engagement programming.

Photo by Walter McBride