The Public Theater Announces Two World Premieres For 2009-2010 Public LAB Season

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced world premieres by Roger Guenveur Smith and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins for the 2009-2010 Public LAB season. Now in its third year, Public LAB allows audiences to see important new plays for only $10, cheaper than the price of a movie ticket. Tickets for JUAN AND JOHN go on-sale on Thursday, October 22.

The 2009-2010 Public LAB season will feature JUAN AND JOHN, created and performed by Roger Guenveur Smith (December 1-20) and conclude with NEIGHBORS, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Niegel Smith (February 16-March 7).

Public LAB, conceived in association with LAByrinth Theater Company, is an annual series of new plays that lets New Yorkers see more of the work they love from The Public in scaled-down productions. Public LAB allows The Public to support more artists, and gives audiences immediate access to new plays in development. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported Public LAB with one of the largest grants ever received by the Public Theater.

In its first two years, Public LAB has produced a diverse range of works by emerging and established playwrights, including Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles? by Adrienne Kennedy, The Poor Itch by John Belluso, Paris Commune by Steven Cosson and Michael Friedman, The Fever Chart by Naomi Wallace, The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson, Penalties and Interest by Rebecca Cohen, Sweet Storm by Scott Hudson, Philip Roth in Khartoum by David Bar Katz, Tales of an Urban Indian by Darrell Dennis, Knives and Other Sharp Objects by Raúl Castillo, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson by Alex Timbers and Michael Friedman, and Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 8 & 9) by Suzan-Lori Parks.

"In two short years Public LAB has become an indispensable part of The Public Theater's mission and profile," said Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "These two plays are adventurous, daring and theatrically explosive new works, and I am delighted we can bring them to our audience."

"We are delighted to be launching our third season of Public LAB with two thrilling playwrights," said Associate Artistic Director Mandy Hackett. "We are excited to welcome Roger's singular artistry back to The Public, and we are equally excited to introduce Branden, a fiercely talented up-and-coming writer making his debut with an incredibly original and powerful look at race in America."

JUAN AND JOHN (World Premiere)

Created and Performed by Roger Guenveur Smith

Sound and Video by Marc Anthony Thompson

December 1- December 20, 2009

Press opening: December 13

It's 1965 and there's a riot going on. Watts and Vietnam are burning. So is La Republica Dominicana. In San Francisco, it's the Giants vs. the Dodgers. Juan Marichal vs. John Roseboro. Cain vs. Abel. Roger Guenveur Smith and Marc Anthony Thompson, the Obie-winning creators of A Huey P. Newton Story, return to The Public with new work inspired by ancient themes: rage, retribution, and redemption.

NEIGHBORS (World Premiere)

By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Directed by Niegel Smith

February 16 - March 7, 2010

Have you seen the new neighbors? Richard Patterson is not happy. The family of black actors that has moved in next door is loud, tacky, shameless, and uncouth. And they are not just infiltrating his neighborhood-they threaten his reputation, his family, and his comfortably progressive lifestyle. This wildly theatrical, explosive play on race marks the major debut of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a member of the Public's Emerging Writers Group.

Roger Guenveur Smith (Creator and Performer of Juan and John) is an actor, writer, and director whose work has been internationally acclaimed. At The Public, he created and performed the OBIE Award-winning A Huey P. Newton Story, which was later adapted into a Peabody Award-winning telefilm directed by Spike Lee. In Lee's Oscar-nominated Do The Right Thing, Smith created the stuttering hero Smiley. Among his historically-inspired theatrical performances are Frederick Douglass Now, Christopher Columbus 1992, and the award-winning duet Inside the Creole Mafia, created in collaboration with New Orleans native Mark Broyard. He directed the distinguished performance trio Culture Clash in their Bessie Award-winning piece Radio Mambo. His recent work includes the solo piece The Watts Tower Project, the Spalding Gray retrospective Leftover Stories To Tell, Who Killed Bob Marley? (which inaugurated Harlem's Gatehouse Theater), and an appearance in the Ridley Scott film American Gangster, opposite Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington.

BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS (Playwright of Neighbors) full-length plays include The Change, Neighbors, Zoo, and Heart!!!. He is currently a member of The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group. His work has been seen and/or developed at The Public Theater, the New York Theatre Workshop, Soho Rep, PS122, the 2008 and 2009 Prelude Festivals, Princeton University/McCarter Theatre, and Links Hall in Chicago. He is a former playwriting fellow at the New York Theatre Workshop, an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, and a proud member of the ArsNova Playgroup. He is the recipient of the Mary Quaintance Prize for Creative Arts, the Frances LeMoyne Page Award, a 2008 Astral Grant, the 2009 Princess Grace Award for Playwriting and a Fullbright scholar.

Niegel Smith (Director of Neighbors) recently completed a TCG New Generations Fellowship as Artistic Leadership Associate at The Public Theater, and is a founding member of 425D, a director's lab. His New York directing credits include Ether Steeds (Fringe Award - Best Ensemble), We Declare You a Terrorist, Rainy Days & Mondays, Maud- The Madness, One For The Road and LIMBS: A Pageant. He is Associate Director to Bill T. Jones on the new musical FELA! and has assisted directors Jo Bonney, James Lapine, Kristin Marting, Richard Nelson and George C. Wolfe. Smith has received grants and fellowships from Theater Communications Group, the Van Lier Fund, and the Tucker Foundation. As PERMISO with Co-Artistic Director Todd Shalom, Smith has co-conceived and staged so you're one of them now?, this was the only place i knew to go, December 31, Procession and Fallout, which explore mass rituals in public settings.

THE PUBLIC THEATER (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 as the Shakespeare Workshop and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, productions of Shakespeare, and other classics at its headquarters on Lafayette Street and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through its extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 42 Tony Awards, 149 Obies, 39 Drama Desk Awards, 24 Lucille Lortel Awards and 4 Pulitzer Prizes.

The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street. The performance schedule for each show varies and may be obtained at www.publictheater.org.

All tickets for Public LAB are $10. Tickets for the first Public LAB show, JUAN AND JOHN, can be purchased, beginning on Thursday, October 22, at (212) 967-7555, by visiting www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Public Theater box office.