The Kennedy Center in Association with The Public Theater Presents THE GABRIELS

In association with The Public Theater in New York City, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents the critically acclaimed new plays, The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family. The three-play series, written and directed by Tony Award-winner Richard Nelson, shines an important, probing spotlight on the 2016 political season and is aptly timed to lead up to Inauguration Day 2017.

In its world premiere at The Public Theater, Ben Brantley of The New York Times called The Gabriels "Wonderful! The most resonantly topical and emotionally engaging play of this presidential election year." New York Magazine's Jesse Green hailed the work as "Delightful and compelling! Richard Nelson is challenging the idea of what political theater can be."

Making its Washington, D.C. premiere at the Kennedy Center, The Gabriels will be performed in repertory from January 3 through January 22, 2017, with several chances for audiences to see all three plays in one day-long marathon performance. Ticket holders attending the marathon performances who wish to dine prior to or between the shows will receive a 20% discount at the Kennedy Center's KC Café and Roof Terrace Restaurant.

The first play in the cycle, Hungry, introduces us to the Gabriel family of Rhinebeck, New York, who live just around the corner from the Apple family of Nelson's rapturously received The Apple Family Plays. The family discusses their lives and disappointments, and the world at large and nearby, as they struggle against the fear of being left behind and the challenge to find resilience in the face of loss.

The second play, What Did You Expect?, brings the audience back to the kitchen of the Gabriel family with the country now in the midst of the general election for president. In the course of one evening in the house they grew up in, history (both theirs and the country's), money, politics, family, art, and culture are chopped up and mixed together while a meal is made around the kitchen table.

In the exquisitely moving finale of his three-play cycle, the Gabriel family awaits the results of the Presidential Election on November 8, 2016. Women of a Certain Age takes place in the course of a single night, eight months after the audience first meets the Gabriels. Patricia, the family monarch, joins her children and daughters-in-law as they prepare a meal from the past and consider the future of their country, town, and home. Paying tribute to the difficult year behind them, the Gabriels compare notes on the search for empathy and authenticity at a time when the game seems rigged and the rules are forever changing.

The plays reunite the core Acting Company from The Public Theater for each production: Meg Gibson (Karin Gabriel), Lynn Hawley (Hannah Gabriel), Roberta Maxwell (Patricia Gabriel), Maryann Plunkett (Mary Gabriel), Jay O. Sanders (George Gabriel), and Amy Warren (Joyce Gabriel).

All three plays in The Gabriels feature scenic design by Susan Hilferty and Jason Ardizzone-West, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Jennifer Tipton, and sound design by Scott Lehrer and Will Pickens.

ABOUT The Public Theater:

The Public Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. Celebrating his 10th anniversary season at The Public, Eustis has created new community-based initiatives designed to engage audiences like Public Lab, Public Studio, Public Forum, Public Works, and a remount of the Mobile Unit. 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 its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to free Shakespeare in the Park; and 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; Public Works, an expanding initiative that is designed to cultivate new connections and new models of engagement with artists, audiences and the community each year; and audience and artist development initiatives that range from Emerging Writers Group and to the Public Forum series. The Public is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and in October 2012 the landmark building downtown at Astor Place was revitalized to physically manifest the Company's core mission of sparking new dialogues and increasing accessibility for artists and audiences, by dramatically opening up the building to the street and community, and transforming the lobby into a public piazza for artists, students, and audiences. The Public is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning acclaimed American musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The Public has received 59 Tony Awards, 168 Obie Awards, 53 Drama Desk Awards, 54 Lortel Awards, 32 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics Awards, and five Pulitzer Prizes. www.publictheater.org.

Ticket Information

Tickets start at $35.00. Tickets can be purchased at the Kennedy Center box office or by calling Instant Charge at (202) 467-4600. Patrons living outside the Washington metropolitan area may dial toll-free at (800) 444-1324. For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540.