Public Theater Receives $2.7 Million Grant

The Public Theater has received a $2.7 million, five-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to launch the inaugural season of a new play initiative, PUBLIC LAB, the theater announced today. The program, in collaboration with the LAByrinth Theater Company, will develop and stage a new work every month this spring and will offer all tickets to its shows for $10. PUBLIC LAB's first production will be Adam P. Kennedy and Adrienne Kennedy's "Mom, How Did You Meet The Beatles?" The work's world premiere will open on February 4, and the first run of the program will continue through June. Other playwrights and directors involved include the artistic director of the company The Civilians, Steven Cosson, recipient of the MacArthur Foundation "genius" fellowship, Naomi Wallace, and director Jo Bonney. The grant is one of the largest ever received by the theater.