John Magaro Will Play Public Theater Co-Founder Joseph Papp in Richard Nelson's Illyria

John Magaro is set to play Joseph Papp, co-founder of off-Broadway's Public Theater, in Illyria, the new work written and directed by Richard Nelson, which will debut at the Public. Previews will begin on October 22 with an opening set for October 30 for a limited engagement through November 26.

The previously announced Illyria focuses on a young Papp and his colleagues in 1958 New York City. Joining Magaro will be Rosie Benton as Colleen Dewhurst, Will Brill as Bernie Gersten, Kristen Connolly as Peggy Papp, Blake DeLong as David Amram, Emma Duncan as Gladys Vaughan, Naian González Norvind as Mary Bennett, Fran Kranz as Merle Debuskey, John Sanders as Stuart Vaughan and Max Woertendyke as John Robertson.

Illyria will feature scenic design by Susan Hilferty and Jason Ardizzone-West, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Jennifer Tipton and sound design by Scott Lehrer.

John Magaro makes his off-Broadway debut in Illyria. He was seen on Broadway in the 2016 revival of The Front Page. Magaro's screen credits include Orange Is the New Black, War Machine, Crisis in Six Scenes, Angie Tribeca and The Good Wife.

The 2017-2018 Public Theater season also includes Luis Alfaro’s new play Oedipus El Rey, Elevator Repair Service's world premiere take on Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, an encore engagement of Nia Vardalos' Tiny Beautiful Things, Julia Cho's New York premiere play Office Hour, Sarah Burgess' world premiere Kings, Bruce Norris' new work The Low Road, Lynn Nottage's world premiere play Mlima's Tale and Rinne Groff's New York premiere Fire in Dreamland.