Annaleigh Ashford Leads a Brief New Churchill Work at the Public
Caryl Churchill’s new 20-minute play, Triumph, is being staged for free at the Public through October 18. Annaleigh Ashford plays Iris, the emperor’s press secretary, in a work whose dialogue is drawn from Suetonius’s ancient history of the Caesars. The run is already fully booked, and the reviewer hopes it will be extended.
Caryl Churchill’s Triumph runs about twenty minutes at the Public, free to attend, through October 18, and is already fully reserved. The pop-up staging uses a daytime set borrowed from How Shakespeare Saved My Life, with Saheem Ali directing.
Annaleigh Ashford plays Iris, the emperor’s press secretary; Joe Tapper, her real-life husband, plays Marcus, and Christopher Ryan Grant plays Rufus. The work draws its reported imperial actions from Suetonius’s ancient Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Churchill, 88, also wrote Cloud Nine and Love and Information.
The free, brief run may draw theatergoers and Churchill admirers who otherwise might not attend Off-Broadway, while its ancient-source framing could encourage audiences to reflect on how power communicates with the public. Because tickets are already unavailable, its immediate reach may be limited; an extension could broaden access. The parallels may spark discussion among critics and viewers about political rhetoric and accountability, though responses will vary.