PBS’ American Masters series is currently streaming “Joe Papp in Five Acts”, a documentary on New York’s Public Theater founder Joe Papp, who gave Meryl Streep her big break in the New York theatre right after her graduation from Yale. The documentary is a bit of an oddity, because it premiered 10 years ago at the Tribeca Film Festival and then at various festivals around the US, but it has never been broadcast on tv, so this is a premiere with a 10-year-gap. Meryl Streep’s interview has been filmed even longer ago, as it looks. While I’m bad at guessing, I would say most probably around the late 90s/early 00s. Two preview clips can be found below. Thanks to everybody for the heads-up.
“Joe Papp in Five Acts” is the story of New York’s indomitable, street-wise champion of the arts who introduced interracial casting to the American stage and brought us free Shakespeare in the Park, Hair, and A Chorus Line. Convinced that women and minorities, denied power elsewhere in society, could develop it on the stage, Papp became a tireless fighter for the arts who raised enduring debate about our founding ideals and the role of the arts in a pluralistic society. Using his life and work as its prism, the film explores the issues he chose to champion: freedom of expression, democracy in the arts, and the definition of American culture.
