Production Photos by Joan Marcus

 

At The Public This Fall: A New Coming-of-Age Epic Premieres

Playwright Else Went, an alumnus of The Public Theater’s celebrated Emerging Writers Group, returns to the institution this fall with INITIATIVE, a sweeping new play that revisits adolescence at the turn of the millennium. Set in “Coastal Podunk, California,” the work follows seven teenagers between 2000 and 2004 as they test the limits of friendship, navigate first love, confront unexpected loss, and search for a way out—or a way forward.

Directed by Emma Rosa Went, the production marks a world-premiere collaboration that captures the fragile optimism of the early 2000s. The play unfolds as a bittersweet reflection on growing up, asking audiences to remember both the hardest and most hopeful moments of finding one’s place in the world.

The cast includes Olivia Rose Barresi (Clara), Marisa Brau-Reyes (understudy Clara/Kendall), Brandon Burk (Mr. Stone et al./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).

The creative team brings together a slate of noted designers: scenic design by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams; costume design by Kindall Almond, with costume 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 serves as production stage manager, with Molly Foy as stage manager.

INITIATIVE adds another milestone to The Public’s commitment to supporting new voices, offering a poignant and expansive look at the generation that came of age just as the world was changing under their feet.