The Public Theater Postpones 'A FREE MAN OF COLOR'

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced today that A FREE MAN OF COLOR, the world premiere play by John Guare scheduled for late winter, has been postponed due to a loss of significant individual funding and a few key donations brought on by the current economic climate. The Public is still committed to producing this monumental play and expects to be mounting it next season.

"A Free Man of Color is a great play that deserves a great production; artists like John Guare and George C. Wolfe are the best we have and should get the best," explained Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "The current harsh economic climate means we cannot produce Free Man this season within The Public's fiscal parameters. This is a tough and disappointing decision, but one we made with great thought and care, and one that will ensure The Public's health and stability."

The Public is currently producing the New York premiere of ROAD SHOW, the new John Weidman/Stephen Sondheim musical featuring a cast of 15 including Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani as the two Mizner brothers through Sunday, December 28; TAKING OVER, Danny Hoch's first solo show in 10 years, through Sunday, December 14; and IF YOU SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING by master monologist Mike Daisey through Sunday, November 30.

The '08-'09 Season will continue in the spring with the New York premiere of THE GOOD NEGRO by Tracey Scott Wilson; the world premiere of WHY TORTURE IS WRONG, AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM by Christopher Durang; the New York premiere of THE SINGING FOREST by Craig Lucas; and THE BACCHAE by Euripides, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis with music by Philip Glass. The first play of the Shakespeare in the Park summer season is still to be announced.

THE GOOD NEGRO
By TRACEY SCOTT WILSON
Directed by LIESL TOMMY
New York Premiere - March 3-April 5, 2009

Straight from a sold-out run during our inaugural season of Public LAB, this gripping new play tears through the pages of history to uncover the human story at the heart of the 1960s American civil rights movement. In the increasingly hostile South, tensions build as a trio of emerging black leaders attempt to conquer their individual demons amidst death threats from the Klan and wire taps by the FBI. Through personal and intimate stories that emerged from the political upheavals of the era, The Good Negro examines a world where people dare to hope for a better future. A co-production with Dallas Theater Center.

WHY TORTURE IS WRONG, AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM
By Christopher Durang
World Premiere - March 24-April 26, 2009

Back at The Public for another world premiere of a new play, Christopher Durang turns political humor upside down with this raucous and provocative satire about America's growing homeland ‘insecurity'. Why Torture is Wrong, And The People Who Love Them tells the story of a young woman suddenly in crisis: is her new husband, whom she married when drunk, a terrorist? Or just crazy? Or both? Is her father's hobby of butterfly collecting really a cover for his involvement in a shadow government? Why does her mother enjoy going to the theatre so much? Does she seek mental escape, or is she insane? Honing in on our private terrors both at home and abroad, Durang oddly relieves our fears in this black comedy for an era of yellow, orange, and red alerts.

THE SINGING FOREST
By Craig Lucas
Directed by Mark Wing-Davey
New York Premiere - April 7-May 17, 2009

The writer who brought us The Light in the Piazza, Reckless and Prelude to a Kiss, now interrogates how history collides with the human heart in the long shadow of the Holocaust. The Singing Forest takes you on a passage through time - from today's world of Starbucks, celebrity and therapy to Freud's inner circle in 1930's Vienna and to Paris at the end of WWII. It's the story of three generations of a family whose lives are intertwined despite the secrets that have torn them apart.

DELACORTE THEATER/SUMMER 2009

FIRST PARK SHOW (To Be Announced)

THE BACCHAE (Second Play of the Park Season)

By Euripides
Directed by JoAnne Akalaitis
Music by Philip Glass
Adapted by Nicholas Ruddall

JoAnne Akalaitis returns to The Public with this visionary interpretation of Euripides' classic story about what happens when a government attempts to outlaw desire. Featuring a lush choral score by Philip Glass, this Bacchae will be presented as Greek tragedy was always meant to be seen - outside in the open air of the city.

ALSO SCHEDULED FOR THE SPRING AT THE PUBLIC THEATER:

February will launch the second year of Public LAB, a groundbreaking initiative conceived and presented in association with LAByrinth Theater Company. Public LAB is designed to respond to new work immediately, and present fresh, raw and relevant plays that embrace the Public's history as a theater receptive to the big issues, the public issues of our time. This important program gives writers the essential opportunity to realize their work in collaboration with director, designers and actors through production and most importantly, to see their work in front of an audience.

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