By JESSE McKINLEY
Mr. Eustis, who officially takes over full time on June 1, is to direct just one show in the 2005-6 season: "The Ruby Sunrise," by Rinne Groff, which he directed last year at the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence,R.I., where he was the artistic director. That play, a drama about a young woman in 1927 who dreams of inventing television, is one of twoNew York premieres scheduled for the fall. The second, "See What I Wanna See," is a new musical by Michael John LaChiusa based on a collection of early 20th-century stories by the Japanese writer Ryunosuke Akutagawa.
The season includes four world premieres, among them a new piece by Anna Deavere Smith, "Let Me Down Easy," about the human body and the right to die; "Satellites," a family drama by Diana Son; "School of the Americas," Jose Rivera's new drama about Che Guevara (a historical figure he also explored in his Oscar-nominated screenplay for "The Motorcycle Diaries"); and "Measure for Pleasure," a sex farce written in Restoration-comedy style by David Grimm.
In the tight-knit world of nonprofit theater, almost everyone knows everyone else, and Mr. Eustis is acquainted with all the artists on next season's schedule, particularly Ms. Smith, with whom he has worked as a dramaturge. But Mr. Wolfe has had a large hand in the careers of Mr. Rivera, Mr. Grimm and Ms. Son, all emerging playwrights who have had shows produced at the Public in recent years. Mr. Wolfe also directed both Ms. Smith's "Twilight:Los Angeles, 1992" and Mr. LaChiusa's "Wild Party" on Broadway.
Yesterday, Mr. Eustis said Mr. Wolfe's influence was no accident.
"I feel this isn't so much a mix of taste as a mix of relationships because I love all these shows," he said. "But it's not as if I planned all of this. I'm stepping into the planning, but I love all of it."
There was also a suggestion that the 2006-7 season would bear more of Mr. Eustis's mark, including a new play by David Henry Hwang, with whom Mr. Eustis has worked closely in the past, as well as new plays by John Guare (to star Jeffrey Wright) and Craig Lucas. Most flashily, Mr. Eustis has also put together a summertime 2006 revival of Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children," with Meryl Streep in the title role and Tony Kushner adapting. In a sign of Mr. Wolfe's continuing connection with the Public, he is to direct the production.
The Public's executive director, Mara Manus, also had rosy financial announcements, including the facts that the theater, which struggled financially after Sept. 11, was operating debt-free and that it had expanded its endowment to $18.5 million. She also outlined partnerships with local institutions like the 92nd Street Y and New York University; a series of play readings of works originally produced at the Public (a new program called New Work Then); and a number of panels devoted to the history of the institution. (The New York Times is a sponsor of the Public Theater.)
Mr. Eustis said the Public's financial health would be instrumental in allowing him freedom to "reimagine and expand the mission of the place," a goal he said he hoped to achieve by concentrating on the Public's traditional strengths: new work, new artists and Shakespeare.
"When this place works the best," he said, "is when as many artists as possible feel they can call it home."
