A Poignant World Premiere Work
With five Pulitzer, 54 Tony, 152 Obie and 42 Drama Desk Awards under its belt, the Public Theater has long been a champion of groundbreaking and thought provoking theatre, as well as a place of nurturing, inclusion and creation since its founding by Joseph Papp in 1954. Its latest 2019/20 season brings together a host of diverse, new and old voices in the theatre world as well productions that reflect today's contemporary issues, eight new works, three world premieres, an NYC premiere and two major revivals amongst them!
One of the aforementioned world premieres is a gripping new work from socially conscious husband and wife duo Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen (The Exonerated). Directed by Blank herself, Coal Country explores the devastating events surrounding the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion in Raleigh County, West Virginia, vividly bringing together first person accounts from those directly and indirectly affected by the tragedy, and the music of country icon Steve Earle, to paint a deeply moving portrait of sorrow, hope and resilience.