Heroes of the Fourth Turning Reading Postponed: 'We Want to Create Space for Activism'

Will Arbery’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist ​Heroes of the Fourth Turning was previously scheduled to be presented on Play-PerView on June 13. Playwright Arbery and director Danya Taymor have decided to postpone the reading of the acclaimed off-Broadway show; the original Playwrights Horizons cast was scheduled to reunite remotely.

"After careful consideration, we have decided to postpone our reading of ​Heroes of the Fourth Turning​ on June 13. Because Black Lives Matter," they said in a statement. "Heroes of the Fourth Turning​ takes place on the precipice of crisis. It is a challenging, rigorous examination of whiteness, intended to excavate and expose corrosive and surreptitious ways that whiteness works in its safest corners. While, at the moment, we want to create space for activism, resistance and reflection, we know that this play can contribute to the fight for antiracism when the time is right."

Heroes of the Fourth Turning had its world premiere off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons last fall. The play is set around midnight in Wyoming, where four young conservatives have gathered at a backyard after-party. They’ve returned home to toast their mentor Gina (Pawk), newly inducted as president of a tiny Catholic college. But as their reunion spirals into spiritual chaos and clashing generational politics, it becomes less a celebration than a vicious fight to be understood.

In addition to being a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Heroes of the Fourth Turning has earned many accolades, including the 2020 Whiting Award for Drama for Arbery, two Outer Critics Circle Award honors, three Lucille Lortel Awards and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.