The Public Sets Spotlight Series Lineup from Emerging Writers Group

The Public Theater announced the line-up for the popular Spotlight Series of free staged readings of new plays by The Public's Emerging Writers Group, beginning on Tuesday, April 7 and running through Tuesday, May 26 at the Sheen Center Black Box Theater (18 Bleecker Street). Now in its seventh year, the Emerging Writers Group is an important part of The Public's commitment and long legacy of supporting current and future generations of our country's most important writers.

This year's Spotlight Series will present readings of a full-length play by each writer of the 2014-15 Emerging Writers Group: Kevin Artigue, Damon Chua, Keli Goff, Ricardo Pérez González, Glenn Gordon, Elizabeth Irwin, Paola Lázaro-Muñoz, Patricia Ione Lloyd, Jiehae Park, and Sarah Sander. These evenings are directed and performed by experienced artists from the theatrical community.

Tickets for the EWG Spotlight Series are free, but must be reserved in advance by calling (212) 967-7555, www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street.

The Emerging Writers Group is a component of The Public Writers Initiative, a long-term program that provides key support and resources for writers at every stage of their careers. In doing so, The Public hopes to create an artistic home for a diverse and exceptionally talented group of up-and-coming playwrights. The Public Writers Initiative creates a fertile community and fosters a web of supportive artistic relationships across generations.

Time Warner is the Founding Sponsor of the Emerging Writers Group, and provides continued program support through the Time Warner Foundation.

"As a global company, Time Warner is committed to lighting up the world with the best storytelling," said Lisa Garcia Quiroz, SVP Cultural Investments & Chief Diversity Officer, Time Warner Inc., and President, Time Warner Foundation. "That commitment is the inspiration for the mission of the Time Warner Foundation - to discover, nurture and celebrate the next generation of storytellers. Through innovative partnerships with leading arts organizations like The Public Theater, the Time Warner Foundation invests in programs that develop promising talent from all backgrounds. This is why the Emerging Writers Group continues to be such a wonderful example of our mission brought to life."

"How exciting to be in this moment when 10 thrilling new plays are introduced to the world from our talented and passionate Emerging Writers Group," said Public Theater Associate Artistic Director Mandy Hackett. "At the peak of their two-year residency with us at The Public, the writers have forged a meaningful sense of community and camaraderie, held observerships, and participated in master classes, and now we couldn't be more excited to kick-off another year of our Spotlight Series and introduce their work to larger audiences."

In just seven years, The Public's Emerging Writers Group has nurtured numerous playwrights who have gone on to have their plays staged at The Public and elsewhere around the country. In February 2013, The Public presented the Public Lab production of Detroit '67, written by EWG alum Dominique Morisseau. The Obie Award-winning No Place To Go written by Emerging Writers Group alum Ethan Lipton was presented at Joe's Pub at The Public in March 2012. Emerging Writers Group alum Mona Mansour's Urge For Going was presented in The Public Lab in March 2011, as well as Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Neighbors in February 2010 and Raúl Castillo's Knives and Other Sharp Objects in March 2009. In 2014, The Public launched a new initiative, Public Studio which features pared-down productions by up-and-coming writers, including two Emerging Writers Group alums. The inaugural Public Studio season featured Mary Kathryn Nagle's Manahatta and this year's line-up included Fidelis by Christina Gorman.

2015 SPOTLIGHT SERIES SCHEDULE:

Tuesday, April 7
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
IN THE MIDWEST
Written by Sarah Sander
Directed by Lucie Tiberghien

The Jacobs live a seemingly average American life in suburbia: Celia is a cheerleader, Henry is a star student, Louise grows tomatoes and David teaches college. However, when John Keller and his mother Jocelyn move in across the street, the Jacobs' wholesome façade begins to crack. In the Midwest is a play about sex, sibling rivalry and the importance of neighbors.

Monday, April 13
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
THE FORCINGS
Written by Kevin Artigue
Directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz

Company man Ernie Ledezma is the public face of Exxon in Mexico. As his family gathers at his vacation home in coastal North Carolina, seventeen anti-fracking activists remain missing in Mexico. The truth behind their disappearance will set off a chain of events with shocking repercussions for Ernie and his entire family. A contemporary riff on Arthur Miller's All My Sons, The Forcings depicts a tragedy of power, self-delusion and civilization barreling towards extinction.

Tuesday, April 14
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
THE BLACK FRIEND
Written by Keli Goff

Shortly after accepting her dream job as the first African-American executive at a cosmetics company owned by a lifelong friend, Erica Reynolds discovers that the company and her friend are being sued for racial discrimination. The revelation places Erica firmly in the crossfire of the debates taking place among her family and friends and the nation at large in the Obama era.

Thursday, April 16
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
SEPARATE & EQUAL
Written by Ricardo Pérez González

It's an old-fashioned love story set in a pair of racially segregated gay bars in 1950s Houston, Texas. And Tom and Russ are a pair of old-fashioned lovers-one white, one black-risking their lives in an old-fashioned world that would rather see them dead than together.

Monday, April 27
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
GETTING OVER
Written by Elizabeth Irwin
Directed by Kip Fagan

Give a working class kid from desolate-ass Holyoke a dollar, he might buy a scratch ticket or a few looseys; give him a free prestigious liberal arts college education in the bucolic town next door, he'll turn that dollar into a million working at an elite investment banking firm and get down on his knees and thank you every day. Right?

Tuesday, April 28
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
OPTIMISM
Written by Damon Chua

What does the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows have to do with Wall Street in the 1980s? Quite a lot according to Larry Yang, a true optimist who grows up in Flushing and becomes a junk bond salesman during the Reagan years. Optimism simultaneously tells the story of an inter-racial romance between Larry's mom and a black man in the sixties and Larry's financial misadventures in the eighties, showing how Space Age boosterism and capitalistic exuberance is often at the expense of minority rights.

Thursday, April 30
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
SYNCING INK
Written by Glenn Gordon
Directed by Niegel Smith

"When I'm alone in my room/sometimes I stare at the wall/and in the back of my mind I hear my conscience call" telling me I have a hidden gift I need to tap/could it be...this suburban teen is destined to rap?

Monday, May 4
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
LA GEMA
Written by Paola Lázaro-Muñoz
Directed by Jose Zayas

You're in Puerto Rico. Old San Juan. You're a tourist, you walk down the stairs of this beautiful old fort built by the Spaniards. When you reach the bottom, you realize you're in the hole, a slum. Welcome to La Gema, the barrio and the underbelly that lies under the tourism and behind the fort walls. You spend three days there, you don't want to leave. Oh no, you're addicted to the beauty, the women and the drugs.

Tuesday, May 19
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
PRETTY HUNGER
Written by Patricia Ione Lloyd
Directed by Robert O'Hara

Leah, a biracial seven year old girl with an epic imagination, takes us on a journey of growing up as she realizes that her babysitter is actually her father and that she is actually Black. Guided by her imaginary friend Bette Davis, Leah explores what it means to be a woman of color and how to come to terms with both of her parents and the baggage they carry with them.

Tuesday, May 26
3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
THE GOOD ONES
Written by Jiehae Park
Directed by Eric Ting

Education is broken. Jenna, Karol, and Matt want to fix it. Shouldn't be too hard, right? A story of what happens when idealism meets reality (and a robot named Bob).

The Emerging Writers Group creates an artistic home for a diverse group of exceptionally talented up-and-coming playwrights. Developed in collaboration with Time Warner's Office of Corporate Responsibility, the Emerging Writers Group is one element of The Public Writers Initiative, a long-term program that provides key support and resources for writers at every stage of their careers. Each emerging writer receives a two-year fellowship at The Public which includes a $7,500 honorarium; participation in a biweekly writers' group led by Literary Manager Liz Frankel and The Public's Literary Department; master classes with established playwrights; career development advice and artistic support from acclaimed writers and Public artistic staff; complimentary tickets to Public shows and supplemental stipends for productions at other theaters; and a reading of their work in the Emerging Writers Group Evening of Excerpts and Spotlight Series. Bios for the 2014-15 Emerging Writers group can be found at www.publictheater.org.