New York Premiere of BALDWIN AND BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE to Kick Off Fall Season at The Public Theater

The Public Theater and Elevator Repair Service will kick off The Public's 55th anniversary season with the New York premiere production of BALDWIN AND BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE conceived by Greig Sargeant with Elevator Repair Service and directed by Elevator Repair Service (ERS)'s Artistic Director John Collins. BALDWIN AND BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE will begin performances in the Anspacher Theater with a Joseph Papp Free Performance on Saturday, September 24. The production will run through Sunday, October 16 with an official press opening on Sunday, October 2.

In 1965, two of America's intellectual giants were invited to debate whether "the American Dream is at the expense of the American Negro," bringing into sharp focus our country's deepest divisions. 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. The production concludes with an imagined scene between Baldwin and his close friend Lorraine Hansberry, researched and written by long-time ERS company members April Matthis and Greig Sargeant. Heralded by the New York Times as "one of the city's few truly essential theater companies," Elevator Repair Service applies their trademark approach of verbatim textual exploration and intensive collaboration to re-create Baldwin and Buckley's blistering dissection of race, racism, and human worth.

The cast of the New York premiere of BALDWIN AND BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE will feature Daphne Gaines (Lorraine Hansberry), Gavin Price (Mr. Heycock), Greig Sargeant (James Baldwin), Christopher-Rashee Stevenson (Mr. Burford), and Ben Jalosa Williams (William F. Buckley, Jr.).

"With The Public Theater's strong commitment to social justice, its supportive community, and its engaged and adventurous audiences, I cannot imagine a better home for this piece," said conceiver and performer Greig Sargeant. "Recreating such a powerful debate for a modern audience is deeply fulfilling for me personally, and I am both thrilled and humbled to give voice to the words of Mr. James Baldwin."

The production will feature costume design by Jessica Jahn, lighting design by Alan C. Edwards, sound design by Ben Jalosa Williams, and scenic consulting by dots. ERS Associate Artistic Director Maurina Lioce will serve as production stage manager.

"The words of James Baldwin are as urgent and moving today as they have ever been," said director and Elevator Repair Service Artistic Director John Collins. "This debate staged for a live audience not only delivers those powerful ideas, but also reminds us of the all-too-familiar counterarguments of William F. Buckley, arguments that still find sympathy among today's conservatives."

The Public Theater and Elevator Repair Service have a long-standing history of creative collaboration. Their partnerships on Gatz (2010), Arguendo (2013), and The Sound and the Fury (2015) reimagined literary and found texts by bringing them to life onstage. The Public celebrates ERS' commitment to both honoring the integrity of these source texts while also revitalizing them through the company's unique devising process.

Following BALDWIN AND BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE, The Public's 55th anniversary season at Astor Place will continue with Lorraine Hansberry's A RAISIN IN THE SUN, directed by Robert O'Hara, marking the legendary playwright's Public Theater debut and only the second time that this classic has been produced Off-Broadway. In October, WHERE WE BELONG begins in the LuEsther Hall-an intimate and exhilarating solo piece written and performed by Madeline Sayet and directed by Mei Ann Teo, co-produced with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in association with Folger Shakespeare Library. Sayet's story is a celebration of the indigenous community and an in-depth exploration of colonialism that asks us what it means to belong in an increasingly globalized world. The Public will close out the fall in Joe's Pub with the World Premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks' PLAYS FOR THE PLAGUE YEAR, both 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. Working in collaboration with Niegel Smith as director, Parks' groundbreaking new work is brimming with humanity, bears witness to what we've experienced, and offers inspiration as we look ahead.

The Public requires proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination for access to the facility, theaters, and the restaurant. A booster dose is not required. Approved face masks are still required, including while watching a performance, with exceptions for attendees in Joe's Pub and The Library at The Public, who are actively eating and drinking. Learn more at Safe at The Public.

The Library at The Public serves food and drink Tuesday through Sunday, beginning at 5:00 p.m. and closing at midnight. The Library is closed on Mondays. For more information, visit publictheater.org.

John Collins

(Director) founded Elevator Repair Service in 1991. Since then, he has directed or co-directed all of the company's productions while also serving as the company's Artistic Director. ERS productions directed by Collins include Cab Legs, Room Tone, Gatz, The Select (The Sun Also Rises), The Sound and the Fury, Arguendo, Measure for Measure, and numerous others. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a United States Artists Fellowship, and a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award.

Greig Sargeant

(Conceiver; James Baldwin)'s Public Theater credits include Measure for Measure and The Sound and the Fury. Sargeant has performed at New York Theatre Workshop in Bonnie's Last Flight; Fondly, Collette Richland, and The Little Foxes (dir. Ivo van Hove). Other credits include Strictly Dishonorable at Vineyard Theatre/TMT, The Parable Conference at BAM/Next Wave, Go Forth/Please Bury Me at BAC, Gatz with ERS at REDCAT, and Uncle Vanya at HERE Arts Center/TMT. Sergeant's film credits include Help Me Mary andThe Bad Infinity. He received his MFA from West Virginia University and is a graduate of the William Esper studio.

Daphne Gaines

(Lorraine Hansberry)'s Public Theater credits include The Sound and the Fury and Nightvision: A Vampyre Opera. Gaines's ERS credits include Ulysses, The Sound and the Fury, and The Select. Other Off-Broadway credits include Goethe's Faust, The Lily's Revenge, A Walk Across America..., Three Sisters, The Mystery of the Charity, and Yokasta's Redux. Gaines has performed regionally at Denver Center, Geva Theater, Cleveland Playhouse, Hong Kong Fringe Theater, CATF, and Actors Theater of Louisville. Film/TV credits include "Ray Donovan," "Bull," "Orange is the New Black," "Deception," "God Friended Me," "Royal Pains," and Love is Strange.

Gavin Price

(Mr. Heycock) has performed and designed with Elevator Repair Service since 2013. Other projects include Boccamazzo Construction; The Return of Adam (Met Museum); XX-ID (New Museum); and Common Time (MCA). He is the co-founder of Saint Fortune. Price has also collaborated with Mabou Mines, Tectonic Theater, Cabin Fever, Face the Music, 7 Daughters of Eve, Pandora Boxx & Mrs. Kasha Davis, Theater in Quarantine, and with Emily Pacilio in The Basics. Price's work can be heard on Spotify and iTunes with The Witch Ones, The Tender Band, and CabinFever.

Christopher-Rashee Stevenson

(Mr. Burford) is a theater artist from Baltimore, Maryland. He was last seen in Ile at Mabou Mines, where he was also a SUITE/SPACE artist ('20-'21). He is also a graduate of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. His work as director and performer has been featured at The Performing Garage, The Tank, JACK, HERE, The Actor's Studio, A.R.T., Millennium Film Workshop, Lincoln Center Education, LaMaMa, and the Eubie Blake Jazz Institute. He will be joining the Barrow Group's Directing program in the fall.

Ben Jalosa Williams

(Sound Designer; William F. Buckley Jr.) is an actor and sound designer. He produces and curates category : other (category-other.com), an award-winning platform for experimental audio. Collaborators include Minor Theater, Christina Masciotti, Suzanne Bocanegra, and many others. Awards for sound design include OBIE, Lortel, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, and Third Coast International Audio Festival's inaugural Audio Unbound Award (for Songs of Speculation, co-produced with Jillian Walker). Benwilliamsdotcom.com

Elevator Repair Service

(ERS) is a New York City-based company that creates original works for live theater with an ongoing ensemble. The company's shows are created from a wide range of texts that include found transcripts of trials and debates, literature, classical dramas, and new plays. Founded in 1991, ERS has authored an extensive body of work that includes upwards of 20 original theatrical productions. These have earned the company a loyal following and made it one of New York's most highly acclaimed experimental theater companies. Gatz (a production of the entire text of The Great Gatsby), along with The Sound and the Fury (from Faulkner's novel) and The Select (an adaptation of The Sun Also Rises) are among the company's best known works. The company's body of work also includes plays by Kate Scelsa and Sibyl Kempson, as well as Shakespeare and Chekhov. ERS productions share a commitment to risk-taking and reinvention, blending unusual texts with innovations in theatrical form. They feature the company's signature dynamic performance style coupled with a rigorous commitment to psychologically complex performances. ERS has received numerous awards and distinctions.

The Public Theater

THE PUBLIC continues the work of its visionary founder Joe Papp as a civic institution engaging, both on-stage and off, with some of the most important ideas and social issues of today. Conceived over 60 years ago as one of the nation's first nonprofit theaters, The Public has long operated on the principles that theater is an essential cultural force and that art and culture belong to everyone. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public's wide breadth of programming includes an annual season of new work at its landmark home at Astor Place, Free Shakespeare in the Park at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, the Mobile Unit touring throughout New York City's five boroughs, Public Forum, Under the Radar, Public Lab, Public Works, Public Shakespeare Initiative, and Joe's Pub. Since premiering HAIR in 1967, The Public continues to create the canon of American Theater and is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the upcoming production of Ain't No Mo' by Jordan E. Cooper. Their programs and productions can also be seen regionally across the country and around the world. The Public has received 60 Tony Awards, 184 Obie Awards, 56 Drama Desk Awards, 59 Lortel Awards, 34 Outer Critic Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, 58 AUDELCO Awards, 6 Antonyo Awards, and 6 Pulitzer Prizes. publictheater.org

The LuEsther T. Mertz Legacy Trust provides leadership support for The Public Theater's year-round activities.

TICKET INFORMATION

BALDWIN AND BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE begins performances in The Public's Anspacher Theater on Saturday, September 24 and will run through Sunday, October 16, with an official press opening on Sunday, October 2.

Public Theater Partner, Supporter, and full-price single tickets can be accessed by visiting publictheater.org, calling 212.967.7555, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street.

The Public's Joseph Papp Free Performance initiative will offer free tickets to the performance on Saturday, September 24 through TodayTix. The lottery will open for entries on Saturday, September 17 and will close at 12:00 p.m. noon on the day of the performance. Winners will be notified by email and push notification anytime from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and if selected, winners will have one hour to claim their tickets.

The performance schedule is Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. (There will be no 1:30 p.m. performance on Saturday, September 24. The performance on Thursday, October 6 will be at 8:00 p.m.)

The Open Captioned performance will be at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 8. The Audio Described performance will be at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 15.

The full performance calendar can be found at publictheater.org.

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