A long table, open scripts and a jar of flowers: the first rehearsal photographs of We'll See find the Apple family back where Richard Nelson always puts them, around dinner. His new play begins performances at The Public Theater on October 25.
Joan Marcus shot the company at work in the rehearsal room: Sally Murphy (Jane), Maryann Plunkett (Barbara), Laila Robins (Marian) and Jay O. Sanders (Richard) reprising their roles as the Apples, with Yvonne Woods new to the family table as Yvonne, Richard's partner. Nelson, who writes and directs, is in the frame with them.
The full title is We'll See: Conversations Among the Apple Family on the Night of the Midterm Elections, and the night in question is real. The play is set on November 3, 2026, election day, and that is also its official opening night. The Apples gather at Barbara's house, anxious and looking for a way through the evening; they eat, talk, sing and tell stories, and keep circling one question: whether they have come to define themselves by what they are against.
It is the newest piece of The Rhinebeck Panorama, Nelson's 12-play series about three families in Rhinebeck, New York, and the first time the Apples have been on The Public's stage since 2013. In between, they met audiences three times on Zoom during the pandemic.
The design team is Jason Ardizzone-West (scenic), Susan Hilferty (costumes), Jennifer Tipton (lighting) and Scott Lehrer (sound design and composition). Nicole Caroselli is production stage manager and Molly Foy is stage manager.
Performances in the Barbaralee Theater begin October 25 with a Joseph Papp Free Performance, and the world premiere runs through November 22. Tickets are $99, including a $10 service fee that is waived at the box office, and are available from PublicTheater.org.
