The Public and the LAByrinth Theater Company originally conceived of the program that offers playwrights an environment in which to hone and showcase new works for the stage. The Public also makes the works available to theatregoers at a low cost. Tickets to the 2010-2011 Public LAB season are now $15.
In addition to That Hopey Changey Thing, the Public LAB will showcase Mona Mansour's Urge for Going, Jonathan Marc Sherman's Knickerbocker, and additional title to be announced shortly.
Nelson, whose play Conversations in Tusculum utilized Roman politics as a comment on the Bush administration, will also direct his piece That Hopey Changey Thing, which will run Oct. 26-Nov. 14 (officially opening Nov. 2). The production is described as such: "'A year later, I gotta ask the supporters of all that: How's that hopey changey thing workin’ for ya?' —Sarah Palin, February 6, 2010…. Election day, November 2, 2010. Uncle Benjamin’s dog has died and his nieces and nephew have gathered for dinner in Rhinebeck, New York, to surprise him with a new one. As they anxiously wait for the polls to close, the Apple family discusses memory, manners, and politics."
Hal Brooks will stage Mansour's Urge for Going, which will run March 25-April 17, 2011. "Jamila, a 17-year-old Palestinian girl growing up in a Lebanese refugee camp, is desperate to escape the small and impoverished world she calls home but her greatest source of inspiration may also prove to be her biggest obstacle," according to press notes.
Pippin Parker will direct Sherman's Knickerbocker, which is scheduled to run May 6-29, 2011, and asks "'Are you ready?'Jerry confronts this question from the womb of his favorite restaurant booth while the months pass by and the son he and his wife Pauline are expecting grows from the size of a peach to the size of...a baby. As the due date approaches, can friends and family members help Jerry feel prepared, or just feel worse, like some un-anonymous sperm donor terrified of making the transition from being the son of a father to being the father of a son?" Tickets for That Hopey Changey Thing will go on sale Sept. 28. Phone (212) 967-7555 or visit PublicTheater.
The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.
