The Public Forum Drama Series aims to connect dramatic literature to society via conversations and performances with leading voices in politics, media and the arts.

The series will kick off March 16 with Drama Club: An Evening with Desdemona and Emilia in Joe's Pub. The performance, featuring Cynthia Nixon as Emilia, will offer a gender-skewed lens at Shakespeare's Othello and gender roles through the ages.

On April 13, the forum continues with Drama Club: 50 Years of Fighting For Justice with El Teatro Campesino, a celebration of the Obie-winning company founded by Luis Valdez. The Public Forum will present two of the Company's original "actos" with a cast of major Latino talents, including Valdez himself, his son, journalist and activist Maria Hinojosa and spoken word artist and playwright Lemon Andersen.

The series will finish off May 10 with an election-inspired adaptation of the Sophocles classic, Drama Club: Antigone. Rinne Groff will bring a one-act version translated by Ian Johnston followed by a discussion on the ethics of power, free speech and the cost of wisdom. Featured speakers will include Denis O'Hare, president and CEO of the New America Foundation and Anne-Marie Slaughter.

Tickets to Public Forum are available by calling (212) 967-7555 or by visiting publictheater.org.