Public Theatre to Hold Post-Show Discussions for SWEET AND SAD, 9/15 & 22

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Interim Executive Director Joey Parnes) will present post-show discussions following select performances of SWEET AND SAD, written and directed by Richard Nelson. The Public Lab Thursday Night Speaker Series for SWEET AND SAD will be held following the Thursday, September 15 and Thursday, September 22 performances and consist of engaging conversations with notable panelists. Tickets are $15 for all performances of SWEET AND SAD and include free admission to the post-show discussions.

On Thursday, September 15, immediately following the 7:30 p.m. performance, a panel moderated by Jeremy McCarter (Director of The Public Forum) and featuring Richard Nelson (Playwright/Director of SWEET AND SAD), Paul Goldberger (Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Up from Zero: Politics, Architecture, and the Rebuilding of New York), and Matt Dunning (former Associated Editor of the Tribeca Trib who covered the planning and construction of the World Trade Center site from 2008-2011) will focus on "Is a memorial for the dead or the living?"

On Thursday, September 22, immediately following the 7:30 p.m. performance, a panel featuring Richard Nelson (Playwright/Director of SWEET AND SAD), Clyde Haberman (NYC columnist for The New York Times), and Susan Lerner (Executive Director of Common Cause/New York, a nonpartisan citizens lobby that gives the public a voice in the political process) will discuss "Can we still talk across the political divide?" This discussion is co-sponsored by Common Cause.

In SWEET AND SAD, the Apple Family finds themselves together again for the first time since Election Night, 2010. Marian, reeling from a personal tragedy, now lives with her sister Barbara; sister Jane is back with her boyfriend Tim, their brother Richard has come up from Manhattan, and Uncle Benjamin prepares for his first dramatic performance in years. Over Sunday brunch on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the Apples find themselves talking about loss, memory, remembrance and the meaning of compensation.

Now in its 5th season, Public Lab provides new opportunities for both our audiences and artists. Our audience gains access to more of the theater they love from The Public - both Shakespeare and new work - at the affordable price of only $15. Our artists, both emerging and established, gain a new platform to further develop their work on stage and in performance.