Photo Flash: Opening Night of IN THE WAKE At The Public Theater

It's Thanksgiving of 2000 and the presidential election still has not been decided. Ellen insists that her friends and family don't understand how bad The Situation really is. But no one-not her loving partner, Danny, nor the passionate Amy, nor the brutally pragmatic and world-weary Judy-can make Ellen see the blind spot at the center of her own politics and emotional life. A funny, passionate, and ultimately searing new play that illuminates assumptions that lie at the heart of the American character -- and the blind spots that mask us from ourselves.

The cast of seven will feature Jenny Bacon, Michael Chernus, Miriam F. Glover, Marin Ireland, Deirdre O'Connell, Susan Pourfar and Danielle Skraastad in this witty, passionate and intellectually charged meditation on love and country.

IN THE WAKE was originally commissioned by Center Theatre Group and received its world premiere in Los Angeles in March 2010.

The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, and productions of classics at its downtown and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day onstage and through extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at its downtown headquarters, Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 42 Tony Awards, 151 Obies, 41 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. The Public has brought 54 shows to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk; On the Town; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Elaine Stritch at Liberty; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Well; Passing Strange; the Tony Award-winning revival of Hair; and this fall, the rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and the 2010 Shakespeare in the Park production of The Merchant of Venice. www.publictheater.org.

Photo credit: Lucas Stoffel