Friday, June 16, 2023 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2 (no longer available to stream on demand)
Ahead of the 60th Anniversary Season of Free Shakespeare in The Park at New York City’s Delacorte Theater in Central Park, AMERICAN MASTERS “Joe Papp in Five Acts” tells the story of this indomitable, street-wise champion of the arts. As founder of The Public Theater, Free Shakespeare in the Park and producer of groundbreaking plays like “Hair,” “A Chorus Line” and for colored girls…, Papp believed great art was for everyone, not just a privileged few. A cultural change agent for more than fifty years, Papp’s stages held up a mirror to society with work that reflected the reality of people’s lives.
More than perhaps any other cultural figure in recent history, Papp worked to expand public access to the arts. “We have public libraries,” he would argue, “Why not public theaters?” Papp recognized the role artists could play in building a more democratic, inclusive society.
At a time when theatre was largely the domain of white men, he was convinced that women, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC and other marginalized communities, denied power elsewhere in society, could develop it on the stage. His goal was a “theater of inclusion” on-stage, backstage, and in the audience.
Featuring rare footage from the 50s to Papp's death in 1991 and up-close scenes from the performances themselves, "Joe Papp in Five Acts" tells his story without narration. His great accomplishments and his own, often tumultuous, personal history are told by the artists he helped create — and, in some cases, tried to destroy — including:
- David Hare ("The Hours," "The Reader," "Plenty")
- James Earl Jones (the Star Wars trilogy, "The Lion King")
- Kevin Kline ("Dave," "A Fish Called Wanda")
- Larry Kramer (playwright, "The Normal Heart," "The Destiny of Me")
- Mandy Patinkin ("Sunday in the Park with George," Homeland)
- Martin Sheen ("Apocalypse Now," WEST WING)
- Meryl Streep ("Sophie’s Choice," "Mamma Mia")
- Christopher Walken ("The Deer Hunter," "Pulp Fiction")
- George C. Wolfe (director "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches," "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom," former Artistic Director of The Public Theater)
Using his life and work as its prism, “Joe Papp in Five Acts,” aims to keep the legacy of this larger-than-life visionary alive and spark a national conversation about what it means to be American and the role of art in a democracy for a new generation.
Credits:
A production of The Papp Project, LLC in association with American Masters Pictures. Directed by Tracie Holder and Karen Thorsen. Produced by Tracie Holder and Karen Thorsen. Susan Lacy and Michael Kantor are executive producers for AMERICAN MASTERS.
#PBSForTheArts is a multiplatform campaign that celebrates the arts in America. For more than 50 years, PBS has been the media destination for the arts, presenting dance, theater, opera, visual arts and concerts to Americans in every corner of the country.
