The Public Theater has added the world premiere of Girl, Interrupted to its 2025–2026 season, with performances set to begin in May 2026 in the Martinson Hall. The new play with music marks a major theatrical event, bringing Susanna Kaysen’s influential memoir to the stage through a high-profile creative team led by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok.
Majok, whose work is known for its emotional precision and social urgency, has written the book for the stage adaptation, offering a fresh and intimate theatrical lens on Kaysen’s account of her time in a psychiatric hospital as a young woman. The production explores themes of autonomy, mental health, connection, and survival, centering on the complicated relationships formed among women navigating a system that is at once protective and deeply flawed.
The production features original music by Grammy Award–winning singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, whose work has long examined vulnerability, alienation, and emotional endurance. Mann’s involvement deepens the psychological texture of the piece, blending music with narrative to underscore the inner lives of the characters. Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh provides choreography, bringing her distinctive physical language to a story rooted in the body, the mind, and restraint. Direction is by Tony Award nominee Jo Bonney, a longtime collaborator of Majok and a respected force in developing new American work.
Casting will be announced at a later date.
The addition of Girl, Interrupted further strengthens The Public Theater’s ambitious 2025–2026 season, which continues its tradition of premiering bold, socially engaged storytelling. The season already includes the return of John Leguizamo in The Other Americans, Jordan E. Cooper and Stevie Walker-Webb’s Oh Happy Day!, and new works developed in collaboration with Ma-Yi Theater Company and other innovative artists. Together, the lineup reflects The Public’s commitment to centering complex voices and urgent contemporary themes.
Founded by Joe Papp, The Public Theater remains one of the nation’s most influential nonprofit theaters, with a legacy of shaping American theater through groundbreaking premieres and expansive community engagement. From its downtown New York stages to Free Shakespeare in the Park and national Broadway successes, The Public continues to serve as a cultural engine for artists and audiences alike.
Produced by special arrangement with Barbara Broccoli and Angelica Zollo, Girl, Interrupted is poised to be one of the most closely watched new theatrical works of the season, offering a powerful reexamination of a story that continues to resonate across generations.