GOOD BONES by James Ijames Extends at The Public Through Late October

The Public Theater will begin performances for the New York premiere of GOOD BONES, written by Pulitzer Prize winner James Ijames and directed by Public Theater Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali, with a Joseph Papp Free Performance on Thursday, September 19. From the team behind FAT HAM, Ijames and Ali return to The Public with GOOD BONES after its premiere last spring at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. GOOD BONES will officially open in the Martinson Hall on Tuesday, October 1. Originally scheduled to close on Sunday, October 13, the production has now been extended through Sunday, October 20. 

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames explores gentrification and the growing price of the American dream in his sharp, funny new play, GOOD BONES. A work opportunity to revitalize the blighted neighborhood she grew up in has led Aisha and her chef husband Travis to buy and renovate a charming old house. But as everyone knows, renovation is expensive and stressful—both for buildings and the communities that surround them. Aisha’s young contractor Earl grew up in the area too, but his memories are of more than just dangerous streets and hollowed-out homes. When their purely professional relationship gives way to heated debate about who gets to stay and who must go, Aisha is forced to reckon with the choices she’s made to get ahead and the painful, joyful, complicated ghosts that haunt her dreams… and her dream house. The Public’s Associate Artistic Director Saheem Ali directs this New York premiere play about community, change, and the soul of our cities.  

The cast of GOOD BONES includes Aaron J. Anderson (Understudy Earl/Travis), Mamoudou Athie (Travis), Khris Davis (Earl), Téa Guarino (Carmen), Sabrina K. Victor (Understudy Aisha/Carmen), and Susan Kelechi Watson (Aisha).

The production includes scenic design by Maruti Evans; costume design by Oana Botez; lighting design by Barbara Samuels; sound design by Fan Zhang; hair, makeup, and wig design by Krystal Balleza; and prop management by Claire M. Kavanah. Darrell Grand Moultrie provides drill choreography for the production and Jack Phillips Moore serves as the dramaturg. Norman Anthony Small is the production stage manager and Giselle Andrea Raphaela is the stage manager.

The Public’s 2024-2025 Season is fully underway with the North American premiere of COUNTING AND CRACKING, a Belvoir St Theatre and Kurinji co-production of the epic play written and associate directed by S. Shakthidharan and directed and associate written by Eamon Flack currently running at NYU Skirball. A multilingual play staged in English, Tamil, and Sinhalese, COUNTING AND CRACKING features 19 performers in a multigenerational story of a Sri –Lankan-Australian family from 1956-2004. The production will run through Sunday, September 22. In October, Australian playwright David Finnigan brings his play DEEP HISTORY, an urgent and personal retelling of how we’ve reached the brink of unthinkable climate disaster, to New York. Elevator Repair Service’s GATZ returns to The Public in November for a thrilling and final New York City encore of the acclaimed production, a thrilling enactment of The Great Gatsby.

Tied to the upcoming 2024 Election, The Public will also present a series of programming entitled THE POLITICS OF NOW, which will include week-long presentations of THE FORD/HILL PROJECT (a Waterwell production co-presented by The Public and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company) and GUAC, written and performed by Manuel Oliver. There will also be a one-night-only free screening of Theater on Podil’s production of Richard Nelson’s CONVERSATIONS IN TUSCULUM in Kyiv, Ukraine

With Ma-Yi Theater Company and La Jolla Playhouse, The Public kicks off 2025 with SUMO, a mesmerizing new drama set in the sacred world of Sumo wrestling by Lisa Sanaye Dring. The Astor Place season concludes with GLASS. KILL. WHAT IF IF ONLY. IMP., a quartet of inventive plays written by groundbreaking playwright Caryl Churchill and directed by James Macdonald. The Public will also produce a world premiere audio play of LET’S KEEP DANCING: A Death Row Story by John Purugganan about two souls fighting to survive death row.

Following a significant revitalization, The Delacorte Theater, home of Free Shakespeare in the Park, will reopen in Summer 2025 with a production of Shakespeare’s classic comedy TWELFTH NIGHT, also directed by The Public’s Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director, Tony Award nominee Saheem Ali, and featuring an all-star cast of Public Theater alumni, including Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lupita Nyong’o, Sandra Oh, and more to be announced soon.  

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