JOE PAPP IN FIVE ACTS
JOE PAPP IN FIVE ACTS
JOE PAPP IN FIVE ACTS
JOE PAPP IN FIVE ACTS
A legendary champion of the arts who believed theater was for everyone, not just a privileged few

JOE PAPP IN FIVE ACTS

Regular price $129.00
/

WATCH ON DOCUSEEK

IF YOU ARE A NON-PROFIT OR A COMMUNITY GROUP, PLEASE FILL OUT THIS FORM

AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Atlanta Jewish Film Festival | BEST DOCUMENTARY - Fort Myers Beach Film Festival

Theatre • Performance Studies • American Studies • Jewish Studies • Social Studies • Social History • Acting • Playwriting

Date of Completion: 2012 | Run Time: 84 minutes​​ | Language: English with Spanish subtitles | Captions: Yes | Includes: Transcript | Directors & Producers: Tracie Holder and Karen Thorsen

JOE PAPP IN FIVE ACTS is a documentary classic that tells the story of New York’s indomitable, street-wise champion of the arts who introduced interracial casting to the American stage and founded The Public Theater and Free Shakespeare in the ParkFrom 1954 until his death in 1991, Joe Papp brought theater to more people than any other producer in history. In his eyes, art was for everyone, not just a privileged few. “We have public libraries,” he would argue, “Why not public theaters?” Papp recognized the role art could play in building a more democratic, inclusive society, and he raised an enduring debate about the value of the arts to the lives of all people and to the health of all communities. His goal was a 'theater of inclusion': on-stage, backstage, and in the audience. He was convinced that women, LGBTQ+, Black, Brown, Asian and other marginalized communities, denied power elsewhere in society, could develop it on the stage.  Featuring interviews with Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, James Earl Jones, Christopher Walken, Olympia Dukakis, Martin Sheen, David Hare, Larry Kramer and George C. Wolfe, and others, JOE PAPP IN FIVE ACTS aims to keep the legacy of this larger-than-life visionary alive.

American Theater
“...the highest tribute we can offer to the revolutionaries of the past is to dream, as they did, beyond the given circumstances of the current moment, and to fight for a future that’s better than the past bequeathed to us. That’s what we can see in Joe Papp in Five Acts if we look for it.”

Wall Street Journal
“...a well-timed tribute to one of the more influential figures of the American stage…”

Los Angeles Times
“...an enlightening 2012 documentary…”

David Hare - Playwright/Screenwriter
"I never hear a genuinely progressive artistic director speak about their ambitions without hearing an echo of Joe – whether they know it or not. Everything today’s theatre wants – racial diversity, gender equality, equal opportunity – are the values that Joe fought for, and to an astonishing extent, achieved fifty years ago."

AWARDS
Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature | Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
Best Documentary | Fort Myers Beach Film Festival

FESTIVALS
Tribeca Film Festival (Premiere)
Berkshire International Film Festival
Lake Placid Film Festival
Silverdocs
Melbourne International Arts Festival
Bend Film Festival
Rio International Film Festival
Hot Springs Film Festival
Brisbane International Film Festival
exground filmfest
Pravo Ljudski
New York Jewish Film Festival
Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival
Atlanta Jewish Film Festival
San Diego Jewish Film Festival
Denver Jewish Film Festival
Westchester Jewish Film Festival
Ashland Independent Film Festival
Fort Myers Beach Film Festival
Toronto Jewish Film Festival
Palm Beach International Film Festival
DOXA
Jewish Film Festival
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Sonoma Jewish Film Festival
Houston Jewish Film Festival
Columbus Jewish Film Festival
London Jewish Film Festival
Havana Film Festival
Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival
Tucson International Jewish Film Festival
Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival
Washington, D.C. Jewish Film Festival
New Jersey Jewish Film Festival
East Bay International Jewish Film Festival
Salt Spring Film Festival
Seattle Jewish Film Festival
Ventura County Jewish Film Festival
American Documentary Film Festival
Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival
National Center for Jewish Film Festival
St. Louis Jewish Film Festival

Non-Film Festivals
Aspen Institute Summer Arts Program
SoHo House
Gotham Center for New York City History at the CUNY Graduate Center
Public Theater, New York
Southern Circuit
Aspen Institute, Shakespeare Theatre Company
Annual Conference of the American Shakespeare Association
Bushwick Inlet Park, NYC Parks Dept.