Theater News

Casting Announced for Public Studio's The Urban Retreat and Manahatta

The Public Theater launches the first two productions of its Public Studio writers’ initiative.

| New York City |

April 10, 2014

Liesl Tommy directs the Public Studio production of The Urban Retreat, running in repertory with Manahatta at the Shiva Theater from May 15-May 25. — Liesl Tommy directs the Public Studio production of *The Urban Retreat*, running in repertory with *Manahatta* at the Shiva Theater from May 15-May 25.
(© Tristan Fuge)

Complete casting has been announced for the Public Theater's inaugural Public Studio productions, The Urban Retreat and Manahatta, running in repertory in the Public's Shiva Theater from May 15-May 25.

The Urban Retreat, written by A. Zell Williams, follows Chaucer Mosley, a teacher and oft-rejected writer hired to turn a rap star's ramblings into a memoir, only to find out that that the performer is a student he failed years earlier. Liesl Tommy directs a cast featuring Chris McKinney (Chaucer), Jeremie Harris, Jennifer Lim, Christopher Livingston, Postell Pringle, and Meaghan Sloane.

Manahatta, written by Mary Kathryn Nagle and directed by Kate Whoriskey, tells the story of Jane Snake, a young Native American woman who must reconcile her new life with the traditions of the family she left behind after she moved to her ancestral homeland in New York. The cast features Kimberly Guerrero, Neal Huff, Brandon Oakes, Daniel Oreskes, Tanis Parenteau, Andrew Weems, and Albert Ybarra.

For tickets and more information, click here.