With the creation of Shakespeare in the Park and the birth of the public theater Joe Papp was responsible for building an unparalleled nonprofit institution. In the new book Free for All: Joe Papp, The Public, and the Greatest Theater Story Ever Told, Kenneth Turan (Los Angeles Times, NPR's Morning Edition) charts its course.
Turan talks about why the book took over twenty years to be published and what he had in common with theatre impresario Papp, the driving force behind New York's Shakespeare Festival and the Public Theater. He says Papp understood the power of theater and that it was not just for the elite. To demonstrate that fact he took a portable stage around the five boroughs of New York City to bring Shakespeare to the masses.