TRIUMPH, PHIL, HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2 & More Set for The Public Theater's 2026-27 Season

The Public Theater has revealed the line-up for The Public's Spring and Summer 2027 season at The Public's landmark Astor Place flagship at 425 Lafayette Street and The Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Following the May announcement of nine projects, The Public has added nine more projects to the lineup for a total of 18 productions, one of the largest in the organization's history.

An iconic theatrical institution producing bold, innovative work downtown since 1967, The Public's 2026-27 season expands with new works added to the fall and winter seasons, including new works by groundbreaking playwright Caryl Churchill, with a joint world premiere production presented concurrently with London's Almeida Theatre production, and Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama Desk Award winners Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, as well as new reading series WHAT'S PAST IS PROLOGUE: Plays That Grapple with the Future. The Public enters its 60th year with spring productions by Obie and Lortel Award-winning company Elevator Repair Service, Pulitzer Prize finalist Nathan Englander, and renowned singer-songwriter Jesse Malin and Wilder L. Ludwig.

In Summer 2027, Shakespeare for the City, presented by Citizens, will return, across all five boroughs and headquartered at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park with Free Shakespeare in the Park, presented by lead sponsor the Jerome L. Greene Foundation. The Public will present Shakespeare's HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2, performed together at Free Shakespeare in the Park for the first time since 1968; the acclaimed play COUNTING AND CRACKING by S. Shakthidharan; a new Mobile Unit production directed by Lori Elizabeth Parquet; and Public Works' A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, adapted by composer in residence Michael Thurber and Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali, in Summer 2027.

The Public's programming and mission-driven work continues year-round with nightly performances at Joe's Pub's; artistic programs including Mobile Unit, Public Works, and Public Forum; and numerous artist development programs, residencies, and fellowships dedicated to offering a home for artists at various stages of their careers.

Tickets for ARE THE BENNET GIRLS OK?, WELCOME TABLE, and WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK will go on sale to Public Theater Partners and Supporters Plus on Tuesday, October 6; to Supporters on Thursday, October 8; and single ticket buyers on Wednesday, October 21.

The Public Theater is opening its doors in new ways with The Astor and Bar Torino, two new hospitality destinations from NoHo Hospitality Group that expand the theater's landmark Astor Place home as a place to gather and connect with more energy, for more gatherings, and more reasons to stay awhile.

The openings build on a creative partnership that began with Joe's Pub in 1998 and has helped make hospitality an integral part of The Public experience. Nearly three decades later, The Public and NoHo Hospitality Group are writing the next chapter together, pairing the building's rich history with a renewed vision for how artists, audiences, and New Yorkers can connect under one roof with the shared belief our city is better when we are together.

Continuing The Public's mission to make great theater accessible to all, The Public's Joseph Papp Free Performance Initiative will return for all 2026-27 productions. Free tickets to a performance of every production will be available via a digital lottery, powered by The Public's digital partner TodayTix.

The Public Theater celebrates anniversaries of several historic productions that were first performed at The Public and Delacorte Theater. In 2026, The Public honors the 50th anniversary of Ntozake Shange's groundbreaking for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf (May 1976); 25th anniversary of Suzan-Lori Parks' Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog (July 2001); and the 10th anniversary of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat (October 2016). In 2027, The Public marks the 60th anniversary of the revolutionary musical HAIR (October 1967), also the production that opened The Public's Astor Place home; and 20th anniversary of Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brothers Size (January 2007); as well as the 70th anniversary of Joseph Papp's original touring Mobile Theater, the precursor to Free Shakespeare in the Park and the modern reimagined Mobile Unit. The Public invites audiences to join us in celebrating these anniversaries with special exhibits, events, readings, and more.

PUBLIC THEATER PROGRAMMING

In addition to a robust mainstage season downtown at Astor Place, The Public continues its year-round engagement through its vital, mission-driven programs. Focused on furthering The Public's belief that art and culture belong to everyone, these programs and initiatives offer free and low-cost tickets, build community through theater, and develop the next generation of theater artists.

The Public's flagship program Free Shakespeare in the Park returns this summer with two new productions at the revitalized Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Dedicated to furthering access, civic engagement, and community-focused artistic innovation, programming from The Public's Civic Artistic Programs focuses on building connections with community organizations and their members. Each year, Mobile Unit tours the city with free performances of a Shakespeare play across the five boroughs. Public Works engages year-round with community members by offering classes, free tickets to performances, and more. Following a return this summer, Public Forum continues this fall with special events featuring conversations and performances by great artists and thinkers of our time. Public Stories continues community storytelling classes throughout the season and will return with pre-show storytelling in Summer 2027.

Joe's Pub, an artistic program of The Public, is The Public's venue for experimental and iconic artists in music, comedy, and live performance, continues with a new season of vibrant nightly performances by artists from all over the world, including Toshi Reagon, Noche Flamenca, Morgan Bassichis, Justin Vivian Bond, Jillith Fair, CHRISTEENE, Taylor Mac, Alice Smith, and more. Murray Hill's Vanguard Residency continues with curated programming including Jenny Hagel, Pressure K, Anania, and more. Information about Joe's Pub's season can be found at joespub.org.

Dedicated to nurturing artists through all stages of their careers, The Public hosts several artist development programs, residencies, and fellowships, including supporting upcoming theater artists and writers through the Emerging Writers Group, Joe's Pub Working Group, Vanguard Residency, New York Voices Commissioning Program, and Jose Solís' BIPOC Critics Lab. Residencies and fellowships include Writer in Residence Suzan-Lori Parks and Directing Fellows Miguel Bregante and Julia Prechsl.

The EWG Spotlight series will present the work of the current Emerging Writers Group cohort March-May 2027; the Judith Champion New Work Series, which presents public readings of exciting new plays from a dynamic group of visionary playwrights, will return in July 2027. As an incubator for new work, other work in development at The Public includes a commission for Hana Sharif, former artistic director of Arena Stage and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, to write a major new work for her own direction.

TRIUMPH

Joint World Premiere
A Free Pop-Up Play
Written by Caryl Churchill
Directed by Saheem Ali
Shiva Theater
October 8-18

In advance of the midterm elections, the brilliant, prescient playwright Caryl Churchill's newest short play TRIUMPH makes its joint world premiere at The Public Theater alongside a concurrent production at London's Almeida Theatre. Inspired by Suetonius's The Twelve Caesars, TRIUMPH is the story of Iris, press secretary to the Roman emperors. Popping up on select dates this fall before mainstage performances and free and open to all, this provocative clash of past and present is directed by Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali. Advance reservation is required.
Featuring Annaleigh Ashford (Iris) and Joe Tapper (Marcus).

WHAT'S PAST IS PROLOGUE: Plays That Grapple with the Future

Artists are often sensitive to directions of the culture before anybody else, displaying remarkable prescience about what is lurking around the corner and offering warnings while prevention is still possible. Focused on plays that grappled with the future to come and are still urgently relevant, the new reading series WHAT'S PAST IS PROLOGUE will feature IN THE CANYON (2018) by Calamity West and directed by Kylie Eustis Brown, CONVERSATIONS IN TUSCULUM (2008) written and directed by Richard Nelson, and INHERITORS (1921) by Susan Glaspell and directed by Jessie Austrian. Additional readings for the Winter and Spring seasons will be announced at a later date.

THE SURGE

By Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen
Directed by Jessica Blank
Produced in Association with the Guthrie Theater
Martinson Hall
Winter/Spring 2027

Conceived as a direct response to Operation Metro Surge, which unleashed an estimated 3,000 ICE agents across Minnesota, new documentary play THE SURGE addresses ICE's actions in the Twin Cities, the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and Minnesotans' collective response. Commissioned by The Public Theater and the Guthrie Theater in January 2026, acclaimed documentary theater artists Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen engaged with affected communities, capturing firsthand interviews with individuals from all corners of the Twin Cities to create this new play about the emergent mobilization created to protect and care for one another.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK

New York Premiere
Written by Nathan Englander
Directed by Patrick Marber
Barbaralee Theater
April 8-May 2 (Opening: Tuesday, April 20)

The Olivier Award-nominated play WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK, by Pulitzer Prize finalist Nathan Englander, is an edgy contemporary comedy about two Jewish couples—one secular, the other ultra-Orthodox—having the argument they swore they'd never have. Thought-provoking and “uproariously funny” (The Times), WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK explores identity, politics, and parenthood. Tony Award winner Patrick Marber directs the New York premiere of this thrilling new production about what we talk about (when we talk about Anne Frank).

MEET ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD

Joe's Pub Presents
Written by Jesse Malin and Wilder L. Ludwig
Directed by Ellie Heyman
Produced by ArKtype & David Bason
Shiva Theater
May 4-June 13 (Opening: Wednesday, May 12)

Following an acclaimed sleeper-hit run at Bowery Palace, MEET ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD (formerly Silver Manhattan), the 2026 Drama Desk-nominated rock musical that “succeeds on every level” (Variety) returns to share the rise, fall, and rise again of beloved singer-songwriter Jesse Malin. A true New York original and your favorite songwriter's favorite songwriter, Malin built a remarkable career, from CBGB at 12 years old to Madison Square Garden and stages around the world, collaborating with Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams, Green Day, and more. Then, in 2023, everything changed when Malin suffered a rare and unexpected spinal stroke that left him paralyzed from the waist down. When you've been to the top, the bottom hits hard. MEET ME AT THE END OF THE WORLD is a raw, funny, moving and ultimately inspiring story of a life fully lived.

PHIL

World Premiere
Based on The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders
Created by Elevator Repair Service
Directed by John Collins
Elevator Repair Service in Residence
Martinson Hall
May 25-June 27 (Opening: Thursday, June 10)

Elevator Repair Service (ERS) stages George Saunders' witty, absurd, and frighteningly timely novella about a despotic populist leader in the tiny country of Outer Horner and its troubled relationship with the even tinier country of Inner Horner. ERS' award-winning approach to staging the written word brings Saunders' brilliant work to life in PHIL.

HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2

Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Delacorte Theater

The Free Shakespeare in the Park season will open with HENRY IV, PARTS 1 & 2, staged as one epic story at The Delacorte for the first time in nearly 60 years. At the heart of the story is Prince Hal who is struggling to find his place in the world, torn between rising to his father's royal expectations and spending his days in the tavern with Falstaff—one of Shakespeare's greatest and most beloved characters—and his raucous band of friends. The prince must learn to integrate these two worlds, which together form the widest representation of society in any Shakespeare play. Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin directs this study on the true cost of a crown.
Featuring Wendell Pierce (Falstaff).

COUNTING AND CRACKING

எண்ணிக்கை, இல்லையேல் கையோங்குගණන් නොගන්නේ නම් ගණන් කරන්න
Presenting a Belvoir St Theatre & Kurinji Co-Production
Written by S. Shakthidharan with Eamon Flack
Directed by Eamon Flack with S. Shakthidharan

Belvoir St Theatre’s COUNTING AND CRACKING, from the creative team of S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack, returns to New York after critically acclaimed productions at NYU Skirball and in Australia and the United Kingdom. The sweeping, episodic play features 19 performers from across the globe on a multi-generational journey of a Sri Lankan-Australian family from 1956-2004. Radha fled Sri Lanka with her unborn child as the nation struggled with conflict. Two decades later, her son Siddhartha, now an Australian man who knows little of his family’s background, receives a call from the past that changes everything he thought he knew, and who he thought he was. Named a New York Times’ Critic’s Pick, COUNTING AND CRACKING is a joyous, epic story of family, forgiveness, the ghosts we leave behind, and the power of love.

MOBILE UNIT

The Public Theater’s MOBILE UNIT is a modern reimagining of Joseph Papp’s Mobile Theater, celebrating 70 years since founder Joseph Papp’s original Mobile Theater in 1957. Mobile Unit reaches across economic and geographic barriers to the arts by meeting our communities where they are—staging free and accessible professional theater productions in local neighborhood venues such as parks, correctional facilities, and community centers. Mobile Unit will tour a free Shakespeare production directed by Lori Elizabeth Parquet across all five New York City boroughs in Summer 2027; further details will be announced at a later date.

PUBLIC WORKS’ A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

World Premiere Musical Adaptation
Written by William Shakespeare
Music and Lyrics by Michael Thurber
Adapted and Directed by Saheem Ali
Delacorte Theater

Public Works celebrates its 15th anniversary and closes the summer with a city-sized celebration of imagination and collective creation. Professional artists perform alongside a large, multigenerational ensemble of New Yorkers, transforming Shakespeare’s comedy into a joyful act of community. Inspired by The Public’s history of bringing theater directly to the people, this A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM asks what becomes possible when everyone has a place in the story.

When two pairs of mismatched lovers flee into the woods, the mischievous fairy Puck meddles and chaos ensues. With music and lyrics by Michael Thurber and adapted and directed by Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali, this Public Works production is a love letter to The Delacorte Theater and New York City, capturing the magic of making theater together in Central Park.

JOE’S PUB

Joe’s Pub, an artistic program of The Public Theater, marks 28 years as a beacon for innovative, exceptional artists in music, comedy, cabaret, and other forms of live performance, with a new season of artist development programs and nightly performances.

The recipient of the 2026-27 Joe’s Pub Vanguard Residency is groundbreaking comedian, host, actor, author, producer, and self-proclaimed hardest working middle-aged man in show business, Murray Hill. Hill’s residency continues into 2027 with curated programming including Jenny Hagel, Pressure K, Anania, and more.