Set Designer

 Handel’s Baroque blockbuster is viewed through the lens of a child’s fantasy in a contemporary pediatric ward. The young patients venture on a heroic journey, where knights, sorcerers, monsters, and magic are used as a salve for unimaginable challenges.

EPSG:4326

Rinaldo

Detroit Opera House

**World Premiere: JORDANS by Ife Olujobi**

This April 2024, The Public Theater is thrilled to present the world premiere of "JORDANS," a bitingly funny and wildly imaginative new play by Emerging Writers Group alumnus Ife Olujobi. Directed by Obie Award winner Whitney White, "JORDANS" offers a piercing exploration of assimilation, racial capitalism, success, and survival within the confines of an overwhelmingly white workplace.

The narrative unfolds around a long-suffering receptionist whose life spirals into personal, professional, and psychic jeopardy following the hiring of a hip new employee by her ruthless boss. This move, aimed at improving the company’s image and culture, forces two young, Black social climbers into a complex dance of competition and survival, tearing them apart and pushing them together through their race, ambition, and otherworldly circumstances.

"JORDANS" is more than a play; it's a story of mistaken identity, subverted power, and unleashed rage, offering a bold commentary on the true cost of diversity in the workplace.

**Ticket Information:**
All ticket access details will be announced in the Fall of 2023. To ensure you don't miss out on this groundbreaking production, sign up to stay updated and consider becoming a Public Theater Partner or Supporter. By doing so, you'll not only secure priority access and savings on tickets but also support the creation of art, music, and theater for the 23/24 season.

**Creative Team:**
- **Playwright:** Ife Olujobi
- **Director:** Whitney White

Don't miss this bold new play that challenges perceptions and invites conversation. Join us at The Public Theater in April 2024 for a performance that promises to be as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

Jordans

Public Theater

A child’s imagination gives rise to knights, sorcerers, monsters, and magic in this new take on the most fantastical of Handel’s operas. With hit tunes, coloratura showstoppers, and battling countertenors, Rinaldo has something for everyone. Beethoven called Handel “the greatest composer that ever lived,” and works like the “Hallelujah Chorus” have cemented his place in history. But his dramatic genius was never more on display than in his over 40 operas, of which Rinaldo ranks as one of the greatest.

2023 Rinaldo

Alice Busch Opera Theater

On the run after a series of tragic incidents, five North Philadelphia teens find refuge in an abandoned, condemned house in West Philadelphia at the exact location that served as headquarters of the MOVE organization, where a 1985 standoff with police infamously ended with a neighborhood destroyed and 11 people dead, including five children. This self-defined family is assuaged and even inspired by the ghosts who inhabit this home and begin to see their squatting as a matter of destiny and resistance rather than urgent fear.
Combining spoken word, contemporary movement, video projection, classical, R&B, and jazz singing, and a brooding, often joyful score filled with place, purpose, and possibility, We Shall Not Be Moved is a timely exploration of past and present struggles that suggests an alternate future through the eyes of its young protagonists.

We Shall Not Be Moved

August Wilson African American Cultural Center

A miserly and miserable man, Ebenezer Scrooge greets each Christmas with “Bah! Humbug!” until he is visited one Christmas Eve by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. In Charles Dickens’ beloved classic, the three spirits show Scrooge happy memories from his past, difficult realities from the present and a grim future should he continue his closed-hearted ways. Throughout his journey, Scrooge is forced to reckon with the man he has become and contemplate the man he could be — but only if his restless night leads to a change of heart by morning. Artistic Director Joseph Haj returns to direct this heartwarming holiday tradition for all ages.

Set Designer

Matt Saunders

Events

Past events

Feb 22 - Mar 2, 2025

Rinaldo · Detroit Opera

Apr 11 - May 19, 2024

Jordans · Public Theater

About

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