INITIATIVE World Premiere to Begin Previews at The Public Next Week
The production will run through Sunday, November 30, with an official opening on Thursday, November 20.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Oct. 28, 2025
The Public Theater has begun previews for the world premiere of Initiative, an epic new play by Emerging Writers Group alumnus Else Went and directed by The Public Theater’s inaugural Directing Fellow Emma Rosa Went.
Initiative begins performances in The Public’s LuEsther Hall on Tuesday, November 4 with a Joe Papp Free Preview Performance.
Playwright Else Went, alumnus of The Public’s acclaimed Emerging Writers Group, brings her transformative new play Initiative to The Public this fall. A bittersweet reflection on adolescence at the dawn of the new millennium, Initiative charts the intertwined lives of seven teens from 2000-2004, as they become friends and more than friends, wrestle with their potential, face incalculable loss, and struggle to find their way in (and get out of) “Coastal Podunk, California.” Emma Rosa Went directs this epic world premiere guaranteed to make you remember the most difficult and beautiful things about growing up.
Initiative features Olivia Rose Barresi (Clara), Marisa Brau-Reyes (Understudy Clara/Kendall), Brandon Burk (Offstage Voice/Understudy Em/Lo/Tony), Greg Cuellar (Riley), Harrison Densmore (Ty), Carson Higgins (Lo), Andrea Lopez Alvarez (Kendall), Jamie Sanders (Tony), Jose Useche (Understudy Riley/Ty), and Christopher Dylan White (Em).
Initiative features scenic design by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, costume design by Kindall Almond, costume design dramaturgy by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Christopher Akerlind, sound design by Angela Baughman, prop management by Aisha Hamida, projection design by S. Katy Tucker, fight direction by Dan Renkin, intimacy direction by Laura Hackman, and dramaturgy by Sarah Lunnie. Janelle Caso is the production stage manager and Molly Foy is the stage manager.
