'Say Their Names' at the Public Theater

Starting this evening, the Public Theater will convert their facade at 425 Lafayette St. into a blank canvas for a new installation.

Via the EVG inbox:

Say Their Names will honor, remember, and include over 2,000 names and accompanying sentences of Black lives murdered at the hands of the police.  

Curated by Garlia Cornelia Jones and designed by Lucy Mackinnon, this installation will cover the entire front of the landmark building and feature work by 10 visual artists from varying mediums ... responding to one single prompt: 

For centuries, the murders of Black Americans have been overlooked, covered up and disregarded.
We invite you to remember.
We invite you to honor.
We invite you to Say Their Names.

The installation will take place from 5 p.m. to midnight daily through Dec. 5. You can read more about Say Their Names at the Public Theater's website.

Image via the Public Theater

Performance Space New York is now a rest stop for protestors; donations needed

Performance Space New York on First Avenue at Ninth Street is now offering protestors water and other supplies as well as use of their restrooms ...



And they are the latest East Village theater space to do this as part of the Open Your Lobby campaign... we mentioned yesterday that both the Public Theater and the New York Theatre Workshop are providing similar services in the afternoon and early evening hours.

At the Public Theater

As mentioned this morning, the Public Theater on Lafayette is one of the venues offering water and restrooms to protestors as part of the Open Your Lobby campaign... they'll be open daily from 2-6 p.m for people taking part in marches.

Outside, they're featuring the work of D.C.-based creator B. Peppers...

A Public lawsuit

ICYMI from The New York Times yesterday...The Public Theater on Lafayette filed a lawsuit against Ian Schrager's swank-o Public hotel, which opened in 2017 just below East Houston on Chrystie.

The Public Theater (officially known as the New York Shakespeare Festival) asserts that Schrager and Co. "violated its trademarks by using the name 'Public' — as well a strikingly similar logo — to advertise theater and musical performances."

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, argues that the hotel’s use of "Public" in marketing entertainment events is likely to confuse customers and cause some to assume that the performances are associated with the famed nonprofit theater on Lafayette Street. The Public Theater, which opened its first show in the 1960s, claims that the Public hotel is essentially siphoning off its business by riding on its theatrical coattails.

Public Theater officials told the Times that they didn't have any problem with Schrager using the name in association with the hotel. The issue comes with the hotel's performance space, called Public Arts.

And Schrager's response?

Mr. Schrager said in a statement through his spokeswoman that when his company registered its trademarks for the hotel, the Public Theater did not have any of its own. "We would not have gotten our trademarks if they did," he said.

And...

"After being in the business for 40 years with scores of projects having been completed, I think I know a little about registering trademarks to protect our brands and good will."

This is the second high-profile trademark lawsuit on the LES. Last year, MoMA took legal action against the MoMaCha tea room on the Bowery.

Random P.I.L. album art via Wikipedia Commons.

Rally in support the Public Theater this evening at Astor Place

[Photos by Steven]

There was a rally this evening at 6 on Astor Place to support the Public Theater and "condemn corporate censorship" ...



As you may have read, criticism in right-leaning media outlets prompted Delta and Bank of America to pull support of the Public Theater's production of "Julius Caesar" in Central Park ... which portrays Caesar as a Donald Trump-like character (and you likely know what eventually happens to Caesar...)

Per the Times:

A clash between Trump supporters and an iconic Manhattan arts institution over what kind of art is appropriate was perhaps inevitable in this hyperpartisan age. The proudly iconoclastic Public Theater is the birthplace of “Hair” (the Vietnam-era antiwar musical) and “Hamilton” (the hip-hop musical celebrating immigrants). And [Oskar] Eustis, the Public’s artistic director, is an unabashedly left-leaning theatermaker who believes in the value of provocative art.

Defenders of the production, including some theater critics, describe the Public’s “Julius Caesar” as nuanced, complex and loyal to Shakespeare’s text — a cautionary tale about the costs of political violence.

The Public, located nearby on Lafayette, released this statement on Monday...

#WeAreOnePublic. pic.twitter.com/HkOKxFIKsT

— The Public Theater (@PublicTheaterNY) June 12, 2017