Joe Papp in Five Acts (2012)
82 min
Joe Papp, the founder of the New York Shakespeare Festival and, subsequently, The Public Theater—arguably the most important theatre in North America—is profiled in this documentary that neither sanctifies nor vilifies him. He brought us free Shakespeare in the Park, Hair and A Chorus Line, and nurtured many of America’s greatest playwrights, directors and actors. His complex personality and mercurial behavior are much in evidence and spoken of with frankness through interviews with some of America’s most celebrated artists, including Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Kevin Kline, and James Earl Jones.
- Release date
- April 30, 2012
- Country of origin
- United States
Cast
- Olympia Dukakis as Self
- David Hare as Self
- David Henry Hwang as Self
- James Earl Jones as Self
- Larry Kramer
- David Rabe as Self
- Meryl Streep as Self
- Christopher Walken as Self
- George C. Wolfe as Self
Crew
- Joseph Papp · Archive footage
- Tracie Holder · Director
- Karen Thorsen · Director
- Tracie Holder · Writer
- Karen Thorsen · Writer
- Don Byron · Composer
- Toshiaki Ozawa · Cinematographer
- Brad Fuller · Editor
- Deborah Peretz · Editor
- Sam Pollard · Editor