Directed by Robert O’Hara, WILD WITH HAPPY will begin performances on Tuesday, October 9, and run through Sunday, November 11, with an official press opening on Tuesday, October 23.

Colman Domingo, star of Passing Strange, explores the surreal, bizarre, and outrageous comedy that lies in dealing with death and healing in this world premiere production. WILD WITH HAPPY follows the journey of a young man named Gil who plans to scatter his mother’s ashes in the place where she was the most happy. The complete castfeatures Colman Domingo (Gil); Korey Jackson (Terry); Maurice McRae (Mo); and Sharon Washington (Adelaide, Aunt Glo).

October will also feature the New York premiere of GIANT, the new musical by Sybille Pearson and Michael John LaChiusa. Directed by Michael Greif, GIANT will begin performances on Friday, October 26, and run through Sunday, December 2, with an official press opening on Tuesday, November 13.

Based on the classic novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber, GIANT spans generations in an epic chronicle of Texas, our “Heartbreak Country.” Amid a tumultuous culture of big-business greed, racial bigotry, and unyielding family allegiance, a cattleman and ranch heir, his East Coast sophisticate wife, their family and friends – as well as their enemies – embrace and confront the joys and sorrows that loom as large as the landscape of America’s Lone Star State. GIANT is a co-production with Dallas Theater Center.

The Apple family will return to Public Lab in October with Richard Nelson’s newest play about the Apple family, SORRY. Written and directed by Richard Nelson, SORRY begins performances on Tuesday, October 30, and runs through Sunday, November 18, with an official press opening on the day it is set, Election Day – November 6.

SORRY will feature original cast members Jon DeVries, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robins, Jay O. Sanders, and J. Smith-Cameron.  All tickets are $15 for Public Lab productions, one of The Public’s ongoing programs designed to provide audiences with access to new work.

A year after Sweet and Sad, the Apple family again shares a meal in Rhinebeck, as they sort through personal and political feelings of loss and confusion on the morning of the day the country will choose the next president.

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MAN, written by the best-selling author Nathan Englander, is a world premiere production based on Englander’s short story of the same name. Directed by Barry Edelstein, THE TWENTY-SEVENTH MANwill begin performances on Wednesday, November 7 and run through Sunday, December 9, with an official press opening on Monday, November 19.

Best-selling author Nathan Englander (What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank) adapts this warm and deeply moving new play from his acclaimed short story of the same name. Set in a Soviet prison in 1952, Stalin's secret police have rounded up twenty-six writers, the giants of Yiddish literature in Russia. As judgment looms, a twenty-seventh suddenly appears: Pinchas Pelovits, unpublished and unknown. Baffled by his arrest, he and his cellmates wrestle with the mysteries of party loyalty and politics, culture and identity, and with what it means to write in troubled times. When they discover why the twenty-seventh man is among them, the writers come to realize that even in the face of tyranny, stories still have the power to transcend.

ABOUT THE PUBLIC THEATER’S DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION

The revitalization of The Public Theater’s downtown home this October will physically manifest the Company’s core mission of sparking new dialogues and increasing accessibility for artists and audiences by dramatically opening up its landmark building to the street and community, and transforming the lobby into a public piazza for artists, students, and audiences. Designed by Ennead Architects, the project encompasses enhancements to the building’s interior and exterior while preserving the historic structure. Key elements of the design include infrastructure updates to the 158-year old building, as well as construction of new exterior entry stair and glass canopy; installation of ramps for improved accessibility; an expanded and refurbished lobby; the addition of a mezzanine level with a new lounge, designed by the Rockwell Group; expansion and remodeling of restroom facilities; and comprehensive exterior restoration, ensuring stability of the landmark façade.

ABOUT THE PUBLIC THEATER

The only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare and the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure, The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including Joe’s Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to the beloved, free Shakespeare in the Park; the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City’s five boroughs. The Public’s wide range of programming includes free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company’s dedication to making theater accessible to all, new and experimental stagings at The Public at Astor Place, and a range of artist and audience development initiatives including its Public Forum series, which brings together theater artists and professionals from a variety of disciplines for discussions that shed light on social issues explored n Public productions. The Public Theater receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. www.publictheater.org

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