SUZAN-L LORII P RKS PA KS IN THE HE HOUS OUSE NEW WR W IT TERS ERS EMERG EME R E RG THE HE UNIQU UNIQUE PROC ROCES SS OF A PL LA AY AY FREE SHAKESP SHAK PEAR EARE E estivval al New New Ne wY York ork Sha Shak Shakespeare kespea espearree F Festival Festi 425 L 425 La affay ayette S St trreet eet Lafayette Street Neew N w York, York, NY 10003 1000 100 03 3 New 212.539.8500 publictheater.org 212.539 212.53 9..8 8500 | publicthe publicthea ate terrr.o te .org
APRIL 2014
LLOO LOOK OO
MANDY HACKETT
RECAP RECAP! AP!
UTR UT
Associate Artistic Director at The Public
Inside these pages, you’ll have a sneak peak into different aspects of how we develop new work and support writers att The Public. From the fresh, new voices in our Emerging Writers iters Group, to the powerful and exquisite writing of our Master Wr Writer W iter Chair, Suzan-Lori Parks, we serve writers at many differentt stages in their writing and support the development of new wo work w rk from first reads through opening night at The Public and beyond. ond. Our goal is to identify and support our most talented writers and provide a safe and nurturing environment in which they ey can develop their work, ushering today’s most dynamic and meaningful contemporary theater for our stages.
ARIELLE Tepper Madover
Each project, each writer, is unique takes its own path. Our job is to respond, to support and to help bring into creation their stories and their vision. ENJOY!
“
As an NYC native, I was so fortunate to experience first-hand the work and influence of The Public Theater. Not only is The Public an essential part of life in New York, it has served as a role model and leader for cultural institutions in the U.S. and indeed the world.
”
A Tony Award-winning producer, Arielle has produced theater on and off Broadway since 1998. Select recent credits include Lucky Guy by Nora Ephron and starring Tom Hanks, Annie directed by James Lapine, the Tony award winning Hair, Hamlet starring Jude Law, and currently The Cripple of Inishmaan starring Daniel Radcliffe. We are honored and excited to welcome this tireless advocate for the arts to The Public Theater family!
Pictured: (cover) Hand model, Kirstin Huber, photo by Tammy Shell. The Emerging Writers Group Workshop participants, photo by Zack DeZon. (above, clockwise) Mandy Hackett, photo by Tammy Shell. Meiyin Wang, Andrew Kircher, and John Hodgman at our 2nd Annual Winter Bash, hosted by our Young Partner Board, photo by David Neff. John Lithgow, photo by Nigel Parry. Arielle Tepper Madover, photo by Joseph Sinnott.
In the 12 days between the freezing snow storms of January 2014,
UTR played host to 16 companies and over 200 artists from 8 countries; welcomed 13,000 audience members to the festival; and celebrated our 10th birthday.
From all over the world, artists came bearing their dispatches from the future. From documentary theater with a rock edge from Chile, to hip hop incantations of the majestic and mundane lives of Londoners, to contemplations of the intimacy and strangeness of everyday New Yorkers—it was a festival of ordinary lives made extraordinary. Thanks for coming to the birthday party.
SHAKES SPEARE RE IN THE PARK
MUCH ADO KING LEAR R 22–AUG 17 ABOUT NOTHING JUL By WILLIAM JUN 3–JUL 6 By WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Directed by JACK O’BRIEN Featuring LILY RABE and HAMISH LINKLATER
SHAKESPEARE Directed by DANIEL SULLIVAN AN Featuring JOHN LITHGOW THGOW
NYC is my home.
I feel that the city’s energy feeds me. The city’s energy helps me be brave, helps me remember how much good work I still want to do. The Public Theater has always been my artistic home, and possesses the same fundamental core beliefs as I do. The Master Writer Chair position allows unprecedented support for me at my favorite theater—an artistic haven at an institution committed to producing my work.
I can hear
here.
In 2008, Artistic Director Oskar Eustis began a conversation with Suzan-Lori about the Master Writer Chair position. She says, “I came to see Oskar, and I told him I had been having a difficult time writing lately. He told me to sit down at his computer and write.” They talked through ideas that had been floating around in her head, and by the end of the meeting, she had an outline for her next play. It struck her: “This is where I need to be to do what I do.” The Master Writer Chair was first made possible through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and aims to provide holistic support for playwrights who have set the standard for the highest level of achievement in theatre. Inspired by the university chair model, the full-salaried position affords writers the flexibility and freedom to pursue their artistic goals and endeavors. Suzan-Lori’s relationship with The Public began when we produced The America Play in 1994. Since then, 425 Lafayette Street has seen premieres of Venus (1996), In the Blood (1999), Fucking A (2003), and
“
– Suzan-Lori Parks
Topdog/Underdog (2001), which went on to win the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, cementing Suzan-Lori’s place as a vibrant and powerful voice in the American Theater.
Suzan-Lori’s tenure as Master Writer Chair has been full and fruitful. In addition to working on her newest play and teaching in the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU, she conducts a regular performance piece called Watch Me Work in which she engages an intimate group of audience members in a Q&A discussion following a communal work session, often on The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation Mezzanine in The Public Theater lobby.
It’s so hard to get your plays read. Having my scripts go out as someone who was in the EWG helped those scripts find their way into the “read” or at least ”read soon” pile. [EWG] gives you the feeling of being part of an institution that’s invested in you—not just in the moment, but for the long haul. That is a gift. It’s an art incubator, this program, and I think every year that goes by will reveal just how much it’s done to usher in new words and worlds, and thus, change lives. - Mona Mansour ‘09 Urge for Going (Public Lab 2011) Being a member of the EWG has elevated me as a playwright and an artist in ways that I am now defined by. I have learned how to navigate a voice that I was always familiar with but never had a platform for. And I have been made better by learning and growing from the work of my peers. - Dominique Morisseau ‘11 Detroit ‘67 (Public Lab 2013) I now think of my life in two dimensions: pre-EWG, and postEWG. Pre-EWG, I didn’t believe in myself, my voice, or my plays, and I erroneously thought this lack of self-belief was an experience unique to me and my writing. The EWG blessed me with a community that shared my same hopes and fears. Because of the EWG, I now call myself a playwright, and I now have a family of fellow writers that will help me through the valleys, and accompany me on the mountains, for the rest of my life. - Mary Kathryn Nagle ‘13 Manahatta (Public Studio 2014)
Keli Goff, Kevin Artigue, Paola Lázaro-Muñoz, Sarah Sander, Jiehae Park, Ricardo Pérez González, Damon Chua, Patricia Ione Lloyd, Glenn Gordon, Elizabeth Irwin
CLASS CLAS S
”
For me,
I had been writing plays for 15 years when I got into the Emerging Writers Group. It gave me a jolt of confidence, a sense of belonging, a seat at the table, and made me feel, in the best possible way, that it was time to get cracking—that my work as a playwright had only just started. They also fed me dinner every other week. Dinner makes me cheery. - Ethan Lipton ’08 No Place to Go (Joe’s Pub 2012)
OF EMERGING WRITERS!
As we welcome the new EWG class, some alumni look back and share their thoughts.
THE
SUZAN-LORI K KS PARKS
Pictured: (left) Suzan-Lori Parks Teaching at Watch Me Work, photo by Tammy Shell. (right) The Emerging Writers Group, photo by Zack DeZon.
SPOTLIGHT ON:
A component of The Public Writers Initiative, the Emerging Writers Group (EWG) brings together playwrights at the earliest stages in their career. The Public becomes their artistic home for two years, offering support, resources, and community. The Time Warner Foundation is the Founding Sponsor of The Public Writers Initiative.
To Go
APR ’09 / Ethan’s EWG play LUTHER is presented as a reading in the Public’s Spotlight Series. Leigh Silverman directs. The play goes on to be produced by Clubbed Thumb in 2012.
JUL ’04 / Ethan plays his first show at Joe’s Pub, opening for singer-songwriter Eleni Mandell, whom he had known since high school in Los Angeles.
Summer ’07 / Ethan Lipton applies for the inaugural year of The Public’s Emerging Writers Group (EWG). Literary Manager Liz Frankel sees the play he submitted, GOODBYE APRIL, HELLO MAY, in production at HERE Arts Center.
SEPT ’05 / Ethan Lipton & his Orchestra, as he would soon name his band, play a gig at Joe’s Pub to support the release of their first CD. The band becomes a Pub mainstay.
LATE ’03 / (Current) Director of Joe’s Pub Shanta Thake (then The Pub’s Programming Associate) hears Ethan Lipton sing at Low Bar at Rice in DUMBO and is “totally blown away by the simplicity and hilarity” of his solo a cappella performance.
MAY ’08 / Lisa Kron (book writer) and Jeanine Tesori (composer) begin adapting the graphic novel into a musical.
MAR ’12 / NO PLACE TO GO begins its run in Joe’s Pub directed by Leigh Silverman.
AUG ’10 / Lisa and Jeanine spend a week writing in Washington, DC.
NOV ’11 / Lisa and Jeanine participate in a writers retreat at the Sundance Institute’s Theatre Lab at White Oak in Florida.
SEPT ’13 / The Public produces the mainstage production in the Newman. The critically acclaimed run, which receives multiple extensions, ends in January 2014.
JUL ’12 / Workshop at Sundance Institute’s Theatre Lab in Utah
Lies
’05 / David Byrne begins writing songs for HERE LIES LOVE, which tells the life story of Imelda Marcos.
AUG ’09 / First workshop at the Ojai Playwrights Conference in California.
DEC ’11 / Two-week workshop at The Public, directed by Sam Gold.
’08 / David Byrne meets with Artistic Director Oskar Eustis to discuss turning the songs into a musical.
Every show is different, so we’ve put together a timeline showing the developmental milestones of four very different productions that have made their way to The Public’s stages.
NO PLACE TO GO by Ethan Lipton FUN HOME by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori HERE LIES LOVE by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim THE URBAN RETREAT by A. Zell Williams / Production at The Public
2014
OCT ’11 / Second workshop. Alex Timbers stages the second act of the show.
JUN ’12 / Workshop of the full show at The Williamstown Theatre Festival in collaboration with MASS MoCA.
’09 / Oskar Eustis introduces David to Alex Timbers, and Alex joins the creative team of HLL as director. Work begins on adapting the album into a stage musical.
APR ’14 / The Public Theater’s production of HERE LIES LOVE returns to LuEsther Hall.
DEC ’13 / The Public receives a grant from the Tow Foundation to pilot an Emerging Playwright Residency program. Over the next 12 months, Zell will be provided with resources to develop and produce his play in Public Studio.
JAN ’14 / The Public decides to present THE URBAN RETREAT as part of Public Studio
FALL ’11 / Oskar Eustis encounters Zell’s play THE URBAN RETREAT via a playwright/ director/actor collaboration class he teaches at NYU (with co-professor Suzan-Lori Parks). Oskar is intrigued and meets with Zell about the play.
Interested in supporting new work at The Public? Contact The Partners Desk at 212.539.8734 or visit publictheater.org!
2013
2012
DEC ’13 / HERE LIES LOVE is named one of the best musicals of 2013 by Time magazine, New York Magazine, Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, and Playbill.com
APR ’10 / David Byrne & Fatboy Slim release the concept album HERE LIES LOVE on Nonesuch Records.
The
So how does a play or musical get from the author’s idea to opening night at The Public?
DEC ’13 / FUN HOME is named one of the best musicals of 2013 by The New York Times, Time Out New York, New York magazine, The Advocate and Playbill.com.
APR ’13 / HERE LIES LOVE begins its run at The Public Theater in LuEsther Hall.
JUN ’11 / The Public produces the first workshop. Alex Timbers stages the first act.
FEB ’07 / HERE LIES LOVE is performed as a song-cycle at Carnegie Hall.
MAR ’06 / HERE LIES LOVE is performed as a song-cycle at the Adelaide Festival of Arts in Australia.
2011
2010
2009
OCT ’12 / The Public presents a sold-out run of FUN HOME as part of its Public Lab developmental performance season.
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
FALL ’10 / Ethan receives word that all employees of his long term, part-time day job will have to relocate if they want to keep their jobs, sparking the idea to build a show around his experience. This would eventually become NO PLACE TO GO.
MAY ’13 / One–week closed workshop at The Public to continue script development.
JUN ’06 / Alison Bechdel publishes the graphic novel FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC. The New York Times names it “One of the Best Books of 2006” and Time magazine calls it “The # 1 Book of 2006.”
2003
MAY ’12 / NO PLACE TO GO wins an Obie Award.
No Place Fun Home Here Love Urban Retreat JAN ’08 / Ethan joins the inaugural class of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group.
Enter each at the
NOV ’13 / NO PLACE TO GO runs for a month at the Gate Theatre in London following performances at various venues across America.
Pictured: (NO PLACE TO GO) Ethan Lipton, photos by Joseph Moran. (FUN HOME) Beth Malone, Sydney Lucas, and Alexandra Socha, photo by Joan Marcus. (HERE LIES LOVE) David Byrne, photo by Catalina Kulczar; Imelda Marcos, photo by Slim Aarons. (THE URBAN RETREAT) A. Zell Williams, photo by Froilan Eliseo Landeros.
TO PRODUCTION
NOV ’11 / Joe’s Pub presents three performances of NO PLACE TO GO. The presentations are a major success and the show is brought back for a 3.5 week run as an addition to The Public Theater season.
MAR ’11 / The Public commissions Ethan Lipton as part of its inaugural Joe’s Pub New York Voices Series funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. The goal of the program is to inspire Joe’s Pub regulars to move beyond concerts to writing a piece of theater.
MAR ’11–JAN ’12 / A. Zell Williams works in The Public Theater’s box office while getting his MFA in Playwriting at NYU.
FEB ’14 / THE URBAN RETREAT receives reading in Philadelphia Theatre Company’s PTC@Play Festival.
FEB ’13 / The Public presents an in-house reading directed by Liesl Tommy. Also this month, Zell receives Philadelphia Theatre Company’s Terrence McNally New Play Award, which supports development of THE URBAN RETREAT.
MAY ’14 / THE URBAN RETREAT will be presented in Public Studio, a new performance series dedicated exclusively to developing the work of emerging writers. Directed by Liesl Tommy, it will be rehearsed over two weeks, followed by seven performances with bare-bones design.
APR ’14 / The Public produces roundtable reading of THE URBAN RETREAT in order to hear the new draft of the script out loud.