Triumph

The Lowdown

Caryl Churchill has a new play, and New York gets it at the same time as London. Triumph is a short new work from the writer of Top Girls and Cloud 9, running at The Public as a joint world premiere with London's Almeida Theatre.

Inspired by Suetonius's The Twelve Caesars, it follows Iris, press secretary to a line of Roman emperors, which may be the hardest PR job in recorded history. Expect ancient Rome and right-now headlines to bump into each other more than once. Saheem Ali directs, and Annaleigh Ashford and Joe Tapper star.

Here is the best part: these are free pop-up performances in the Shiva Theater, a 99-seat room at 425 Lafayette Street, running October 8 to 18, 2026. Free means advance registration is required, and 99 seats means you should not wait around. Ten days of Churchill for zero dollars is about as good a deal as New York theater gets.