The Public Theater Announces Livestreamed World Premiere of THE LINE Starring Santino Fontana, Alison Pill and More

The Public Theater announced the world premiere of THE LINE, written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen and directed by Blank, to debut on Wednesday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The live-streamed play, bringing first-person stories of New York City's first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic to the digital stage, will be available to watch for free via both YouTube and The Public's website. Commissioned by The Public Theater and written specifically for the digital sphere, this new play will premiere on July 8, and remain available on demand until August 4 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

"In spring 2020, we conducted anonymous interviews with NYC frontline medical workers battling the COVID-19 virus," said THE LINE creators Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen. "Through these interviews, we began to see care as a radical response to institutionalized violence and the systems that perpetuate it. Created from quarantine in 'rapid response' to this national emergency, THE LINE presents a fundamental redefinition of what it means to protect and serve, examining the fault lines in our system through the words of the brave people who show up every day to care for us all."

THE LINE is a new play by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen created in the award-winning documentary style that brought you The Exonerated, Aftermath, and Coal Country. Crafted from firsthand interviews with New York City medical first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic, THE LINE cuts through the media and political noise to reveal the lived experiences of frontline medical workers in New York and their battle to save lives in a system built to serve the bottom line.

The company of THE LINE features Santino Fontana (David), Arjun Gupta (Vikram), John Ortiz (Oscar), Alison Pill (Jennifer), Nicholas Pinnock (Dwight), Jamey Sheridan (Ed), and Lorraine Toussaint (Sharon). THE LINE features original music composition by Aimee Mann, and Janelle Caso will serve as production stage manager.

"We owe our lives to the frontline workers who are fighting through the COVID-19 crisis, and they have an astounding story to tell-one that demands we listen," said Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "The pandemic has exposed deep fissures in our country, and these brave women and men are throwing light into those dark places. Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen are masters of the docu-drama form, and in THE LINE they are demonstrating an artistic rapid response that is impressive and vital."