Playwright Richard Nelson thought he had finished with the Apple family in September 2020. After 10 years, four in-person plays, and three virtual installments produced during the pandemic, the political dramas centered on the anxious, liberal Rhinebeck, New York, family appeared complete. But following Donald Trump’s election to a second term, Nelson decided he wanted to hear from the Apples again.
When Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Manhattan-based Public Theater, asked him last summer if he had a new script in development, Nelson suggested reviving the Apple family. Eustis immediately agreed. Rehearsals for the new production, titled “We’ll See,” began in late September at the Public Theater, with an opening scheduled for Election Day on November 3, 2026. The play is set on the night of the 2026 midterm elections.
Four of the five original cast members are returning, maintaining a rare 13-year continuity of actors working together across the series. The returning cast includes married stars Jay O. Sanders and Maryann Plunkett, who portray siblings. Sanders, 73, plays Richard, a recently retired lawyer, while Plunkett, 73, portrays Barbara, a high school English teacher. Nelson, 76, called the cast reunion a gift, noting that working with actors over more than a decade creates a uniquely lived-in atmosphere on stage.
Sanders praised the series for offering believable depictions of characters navigating difficult conversations without feeling overtly scripted. “That’s what audiences miss when they get together with their own brother or sister,” Sanders said, pointing out how the dialogue avoids hollow check-ins in favor of genuine engagement. Nelson originally launched the series in 2010 during the second year of Barack Obama’s presidency with “That Hopey Changey Thing,” a play set on the eve of the midterm elections that followed four middle-aged Democratic siblings gathering for dinner.
Over meals featuring baked ziti, three-bean salad, and pound cake, the characters have wrestled over the years with grief, aging, and the shifting landscape of American politics. Plunkett noted that audiences often remark that they wish their own families could talk with such candor. In the upcoming installment, Barbara faces the reality of retirement after losing her temper during a heated classroom discussion and accidentally striking a student’s desk with a piece of chalk.
Aging serves as a central theme of the new drama. Nelson pointed out that the characters and actors who began the series in their late 50s are now in their 70s, reflecting a genuine passage of time that he aims to articulate on stage. Beyond his work in New York, Nelson’s recent theatrical efforts have extended internationally. Over the past two years, he has directed three plays in Kyiv, Ukraine, an experience that deeply influenced him as he observed citizens attempting to maintain cultural life despite ongoing Russian air raids.
“We don’t know what we would do if we were sitting in a shelter, and the bombs are getting closer,” Nelson said. “And what do they do? They put on a play. That’s pretty amazing. That gives you hope.” Following the premiere of “We’ll See,” Nelson intends to continue writing a new play for the company in Kyiv. As for the Apple family, another presidential election looms in 2028, leaving the door open for future reunions. “Who knows,” Nelson said. “We’ll See.”
