In the past two seasons the Public LAB has staged a handful of new productions each year, including The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson, Knives and Other Sharp Objects by Raúl Castillo, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson by Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman and The Poor Itch by John Belluso. The 2009-2010 lab will narrow its focus to concentrate on two world premiere plays.

The first production will be Roger Gueneveur Smith's solo play Juan and John, running Dec. 1-20 (opening Dec. 13). Marc Anthony Thompson provides sound and video design. Smith and Thompson previously offered A Huey P. Newton Story at the Public in 1997 to acclaim. It's billed this way: "It's 1965 and there's a riot going on. Watts and Vietnam are burning. So is La Republica Dominicana. In San Francisco, it''s the Giants vs. the Dodgers. Juan Marichal vs. John Roseboro. Cain vs. Abel."

The second production will be a production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Neighbors, under the direction of Niegel Smith, running Feb. 16-March 7, 2010. Jenkins is currently a member of the Public's Emerging Writers Group.

"Have you seen the new neighbors? Richard Patterson is not happy. The family of black actors that has moved in next door is loud, tacky, shameless, and uncouth. And they are not just infiltrating his neighborhood—they threaten his reputation, his family, and his comfortably progressive lifestyle."

Tickets for Juan and John are currently available. For tickets phone (212) 967-7555 or visit PublicTheater.

The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.