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Joseph Papp, Broadway and the Invention of American Shakespeare

Joseph Papp, Broadway and the Invention of American Shakespeare cover

Joseph Papp, Broadway and the Invention of American Shakespeare

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Pre-order. Available 18 Mar 2027
£61.20 RRP £76.50 Website price saving £15.30 (20%)

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Description

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.

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Table of Contents

List of illustrations
Introduction: The Maker of Manners: How Joseph Papp Shaped American Shakespeare
Chapter One: Shakespeare in the Parks
Chapter Two: Shakespeare for the Masses
Chapter Three: American Shakespeare
Chapter Four: Rockin' Shakespeare
Chapter Five: Middlebrow Shakespeare
Chapter Six: Serious Shakespeare
Chapter Seven: Celebrity Shakespeare
Notes
Index

Product details

The Arden Shakespeare
Published 18 Mar 2027
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Pages 256
ISBN 9781350497153
Imprint The Arden Shakespeare
Illustrations 08 bw illus
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Louise Geddes

Louise Geddes is Professor of English at Adelphi U…

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