From left: Joe Dowling of the Guthrie Theater, playwright Tony Kushner and director Michael Greif at the Guthrie in May 2009. / Star Tribune photo by Bruce Bisping.
Speculation about when playwright Tony Kushner's newest play will open in New York has been put to rest with the news that "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures" will open next year at the Public Theater.
The play premiered in Minneapolis in May 2009 as part of a Kushner celebration that occupied all three stages at the Guthrie Theater. It will open at the Public for a limited run from March 22 to June 12, 2011, directed by Michael Greif, who also directed the show at the Guthrie. No casting has been announced.
Since the Public is not a Broadway theater, this production would not be eligible for Tony Award consideration next year. It will be co-produced by the Public and Signature Theatre Company, in association with the Guthrie. The Signature already announced an all-Kushner 2010-11 season that includes a revival of the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning "Angels in America."
The Public workshopped the play in fall 2009, but no New York production materialized. Joe Dowling of the Guthrie said in December of last year that New York producers sought to give Kushner more time for revisions. "In the end, it will be a much different play" than was seen in Minneapolis, Dowling said.
Critics in the Twin Cities gave mixed reviews to the new play, and national critics were asked to hold off on seeing it until it transferred to New York.
