World premiere play by Else Went, directed by Emma Rosa Went, at the Public Theater’s LuEsther Hall. Opening in November 2025. Featuring Marisa Brau-Reyes, Brandon Burk, Greg Cuellar, Harrison Densmore, Carson Higgins, Andrea Lopez Alvarez, Jamie Sanders, Jose Useche, Christopher Dylan White, and Olivia Rose Barresi originating the role of Clara.

Playwright Else Went, alumnus of The Public’s acclaimed Emerging Writers Group, brings her transformative new play Initiative to The Public this fall. A bittersweet reflection on adolescence at the dawn of the new millennium, Initiative charts the intertwined lives of seven teens from 2000-2004, as they become friends and more than friends, wrestle with their potential, face incalculable loss, and struggle to find their way in (and get out of) “Coastal Podunk, California.” Emma Rosa Went directs this epic world premiere guaranteed to make you remember the most difficult and beautiful things about growing up.