The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts > Exhibitions

A Community of Artists: 50 Years of the Public Theater

From June 21, 2005 through October 15, 2005
Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498 (directions)

In conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the New York Shakespeare Festival and Public Theater
Joseph Papp founded the The Public Theater, originally known as The New York Shakespeare Festival, in 1954, as an actors' workshop presenting free Shakespeare in an East Village church basement. This small beginning eventually grew to include The Mobile Theater (1957- 1962), which toured Shakespeare to the boroughs on the back of a flatbed truck, Shakespeare in Central Park at the Delacorte Theatre (1962 - ), five downtown stages, which are housed in The Public Theater’s historic landmark building on Astor Place (1965-), and Joe’s Pub (1998- ), one of NYC’s most celebrated showcase venues for live music and performance. In addition to producing groundbreaking performances of Shakespeare, The Public Theater has been integral in developing five generations of American playwrights, composers, directors, designers, and performers. The exhibit will feature intimate correspondence, poster art, never-before-seen photographs, original production designs, and audio and video clips from the Joseph Papp Archives and New York Shakespeare Festival Records, which were donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Collection in 1993, as well as collections of Public Theater collaborators, such as director A. J. Antoon and A Chorus Line lyricist Edward Kleban.

Press Release