The Public Theater’s 2008-2009 season includes premieres by MIKE DAISEY, CHRISTOPHER DURANG, DANNY HOCH, CRAIG LUCAS, STEPHEN SONDHEIM, and TRACEY SCOTT WILSON!

ROAD SHOW 
Music and Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM
Book by JOHN WEIDMAN
Directed and Set Designed by JOHN DOYLE

OCTOBER 28 - DECEMBER 28
New York Premiere

We are honored to welcome Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman in their Public Theater debut with their musical, Road Show. Spanning 40 years from the Alaskan Gold Rush to the Florida real estate boom in the ‘30s, Road Show is the story of two brothers whose quest for the American dream turns into a test of morality and judgment that changes their lives in unexpected ways. Director John Doyle, acclaimed for re-imagining Sondheim’s works, joins Weidman and Sondheim in exploring some of the great American issues: real estate, capitalism and crooks.

TAKING OVER
Written and Performed by DANNY HOCH
Directed by TONY TACCONE

NOVEMBER 7 - DECEMBER 14
New York Premiere

Hip-hop theater pioneer Danny Hoch storms The Public stage once again to chronicle the current state of gentrification of New York City. Blazing through a fierce spectrum of New Yorkers, Danny gives voice to everyone from the developers evicting locals to make way for lofts, to the bar-hopping career hipsters who buy them, and those left in the wake of both. True to Danny's signature style, Taking Over is a raw, explosive, hilarious and heartbreaking study of the impact of our obsession with economic expansion.

IF YOU SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING
Created and Performed by MIKE DAISEY
Directed by JEAN-MICHELE GREGORY

OCTOBER 15 - NOVEMBER 30
New York Premiere

Called “The Master Storyteller” by The New York Times for his groundbreaking monologues, Mike Daisey returns to the intimate setting of Joe’s Pub to tackle a story at the very core of our world today. With his signature style commentary, at once biting and hilarious, Daisey investigates the secret history of the Department of Homeland Security through the untold story of the father of the neutron bomb and a personal pilgrimage to the Trinity blast site. If You See Something Say Something takes us on a journey in search of what it means to be secure and the price we are willing to pay for it.

THE GOOD NEGRO
Written by TRACEY SCOTT WILSON
Directed by LIESL TOMMY

MARCH 3 - APRIL 19
New York Premiere

Straight from a sold out run during our inaugural season of Public LAB, this gripping new play rips through the pages of history to uncover the human story at the heart of the 1960's American Civil Rights Movement. In the increasingly hostile South, tensions build as a trio of emerging black leaders attempt to conquer their individual demons amidst death threats from the Klan and wire taps by the FBI. Through personal and intimate stories inspired by the political upheavals of the era, The Good Negro examines the human frailties behind the historic headlines. A co-production with Dallas Theater Center.

WHY TORTURE IS WRONG, AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM
Written by CHRISTOPHER DURANG
Directed by NICHOLAS MARTIN

MARCH 24 - MAY 10
World Premiere

Back at The Public for another world premiere of a new play, Christopher Durang turns political humor upside down with this raucous and provocative satire about America’s growing homeland ‘insecurity’. Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them tells the story of a young woman suddenly in crisis: Is her new husband, whom she married when drunk, a terrorist? Or just crazy? Or both? Is her father’s hobby of butterfly collecting really a cover for his involvement in a shadow government? Why does her mother enjoy going to the theater so much? Does she seek mental escape, or is she insane? Honing in on our private terrors both at home and abroad, Durang oddly relieves our fears in this black comedy for an era of yellow, orange, and red alerts.

THE SINGING FOREST
Written by CRAIG LUCAS
Directed by MARK WING-DAVEY

APRIL 10 - MAY 17
New York Premiere

The writer who brought us The Light in the Piazza, Reckless and Prelude to a Kiss now investigates how history collides with the human heart in his funniest and most poignant work to date. The Riemans are your typical American family: they haven’t spoken to each other in decades. Severed by deeply buried secrets from the Holocaust, this endearing group of individuals are desperate to stay out of contact with each other. Their story takes you on a passage from today's world of Starbucks, celebrity and therapy to Freud's inner circle in Vienna and to Paris at the end of WWII. This is a classic inter-generational story that both moves and transports, sweeping through one family’s journey to reconcile their past.

Special Note: Our production of A FREE MAN OF COLOR, originally scheduled for the 2008-2009 Season, has been postponed. WHY TORTURE IS WRONG, AND THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM, originally an add-on production, has now become part of our 2008-2009 Membership Season.