Inspired by public libraries, Joe Papp made it his mission to have theater be accessible to the public. “I just don’t do shows,” he said. “They must have meaning.”
S36E4: Joe Papp in Five Acts | Clip
Written Features
Joe Papp biography and life timeline
From 1954 until his death in 1991, Joe Papp brought more theater to more people...
10 photos from Shakespeare in the Park’s incredible history
How Joe Papp fought for a new American theater and won
Theater critic David Cote explores the legacy of the man who brought free Shakespeare to...
Playwright David Henry Hwang answers 5 questions about launching his career with Joe Papp
A hard act to follow – my time as Joe Papp’s intern in 1989
What it was like interning in 1989 under the infamous and indomitable Joe Papp
Video Features
When Joe Papp asked Meryl Streep to take over the theater
Meryl Streep was touched, but perplexed when Papp asked her to run the theater.
Papp turned a dilapidated building into The Public Theater
Joe Papp saved a historic building from demolition, which evolved into The Public Theater.
The origins of Shakespeare in the Park
Papp built a stage on a 35 foot truck so he could bring Shakespeare to other communities.
Representation in theater was important to Joe Papp
When developing Free Shakespeare in the Park, Joe Papp wanted people to feel represented.
Why Joe Papp thinks the theater should be free for all of us
Joe Papp made it his mission to have theater be accessible to the public.
TRANSCRIPT
- He wanted the theater to be as public as the library was.
And he said, if the library had not been public, he would never have discovered Shakespeare.
- The theater was his pen.
It was the means by which he wrote his commentary on what was going on in the society.
And we were the ink.
(upbeat music) - He felt that his theater could lead an army, that he could fight the good fight, that he could put his theater on a tank and lead a division.
- I must do something that has some value.
I can't just, can't be in show business.
I just don't do shows. They must have meaning.
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