Joe Papp An American Life

Self-made impresario, controversial producer, contentious champion of human rights and the First Amendment, founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival, and unquestionably the most dynamic force in American theater in the last quarter century, Joseph Papp (19211991) changed forever America's cultural landscape. He was the first to demand and to provideagainst enormous oddsfree Shakespeare to the public, and the first to pioneer colorblind casting and minority-group theater. He discovered and showcased at the Public Theater playwrights like David Rabe, John Guare, and Vaclav Havel; directors like Michael Bennet and James Lapine; actors like Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Denzel Washington; and produced such classic American plays asHair, Sticks and Bones, Streamers, The Normal Heart, andA Chorus Line,the longest running musical in Broadway history.Joe Pappoffers readers a compassionate, unsparing portrait of a complex man who inspired both anger and admiration, but whose far-reaching impact on American theater remains unsurpassed.

Helen Epstein is a cultural journalist for New York, ARTNews, Esquire, and theNew York Times, and author of the groundbreaking Children of the Holocaust.