Initiative
by Else Went
Directed by Emma Rosa Went
Public Theater, Nov-Dec 2025 — World Premiere
Vulture, Best Plays of 2025
Featuring: Olivia Rose Barresi, Greg Cuellar, Harrison Densmore, Carson Higgins, Andrea Lopez Alvarez, Jamie Sanders, Christopher Dylan White, with offstage voices performed by Brandon Burk. Understudies: Marisa Brau-Reyes & Jose Useche
Creative Team:
Scenic by Mikiko Suzuki Macadams
Lighting by Chris Akerlind
Video by S. Katy Tucker
Sound by Angela Baughman
Costumes by Kindall Almond
Costume dramaturgy by Susan Hilferty
Dramaturgy by Sarah Lunnie
Intimacy by Laura Hackman
Fights by Dan Renkin
Props by Aisha Hamida
Associate director Tessa Bagby
Associate dramaturg Harris Kiernan
PSM Janelle Caso
Stage Manager Molly Foy
PA Emma Battle
Script PA Dailee Morrone
Some press:
“The show has both the patience and the pain of maturity. It feels slow-cooked, basted in rich juices and allowed to simmer…profoundly moving in its generosity… it might take you back, but its real achievement, bracing and compassionate, lies in its encouragement to keep walking forward.” -Sara Holdren, Vulture
“Witty, evocative, and ever-prescient, the emotional saga at NYC's Public Theater is well worth every second.”
-Entertainment Weekly
“the Wents present a mesmerizing portrait of adolescents trying to survive” -TimeOut
“Emotionally immersive” - The Guardian
“a major cadre of talents engaged with a major American play… this is storytelling at its most audacious” -New York Stage Review
“I so admired its ambition and frequent beauty… I’ll remember the vividness of the characters, developed over a long period of time with director Emma Rosa Went.”
-Helen Shaw
”Director Emma Rosa Went (who is married to the playwright) seamlessly pulls together elements from designers who are all outdoing themselves.” -Theatremania
“Initiative is an exquisitely produced work from emerging artists of almost boundless talent… It’s a story of promise as well as of achievement. ★★★★★” -CultureSauce
New York Times, Feature
