Joseph Papp, Broadway and the Invention of American Shakespeare

Shakespeare on Broadway examines Papp’s legacy exploring the ways that Shakespeare has been adapted, appropriated, commercialised, and exploited in order to turn a profit. It discusses how Papp’s vision resonated on stages across America and considers how his dream of a multicultural, contemporary Shakespeare is finally coming to fruition, almost seven decades after the Festival began. In 1954, Joseph Papp established the New York Shakespeare Festival, insisting that access to free Shakespearean theatre was as socially important as public libraries. Papp’s belief in the civic value of Shakespeare, alongside his conviction that Shakespeare be performed by multi-racial casts in an accessible style, revolutionised Shakespeare performance in the United States. It also created a problem for commercial stage producers – when Shakespeare is freely available in public parks, why should anybody pay to see it? In New York theatre, particularly on Broadway, Shakespeare has always been a commercial enterprise – is there a place for Shakespeare on the commercial stage after Papp made it communal theatrical property? This book proposes that Papp’s work on the Shakespeare Festival established a standard for Shakespeare in America that continues to exert its influence almost seventy years after the Festival’s inception. Part Shakespeare study, part theatre history, part cultural commentary, Shakespeare on Broadway offers a wide-ranging argument for why Papp’s artistic philosophies still set the tone for Shakespeare in the United States.