Kevin Landis One Public New York's Public Theater in the Era of Oskar Eustis
Bloomsbury Academic, Methuen Drama 2022.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the land on which The Public and its theaters stand is the original homeland of the Lenape people.

Kevin Landis’s history of One Public, the New York theatres Delacorte in Central Park and The Public, Lafayette Street in the East Village is replete with nostalgia; politics; well-known and not so well known theatrical names – directors, writers and actors; current events and ideology woven into financial and business needs; and an introduction and then immersion into the joy of learning more about a thriving theatrical creation in which ideological demand to produce works about hope and a better world is woven side by side with the practicalities of fund raising, purchasing buildings, and even ticket sales.

Two features will resonate with the Australian reader: the acknowledgement with which this review is introduced, and the role of Shakespeare in bringing theatre to a broad range of people – in the case of Shakespeare in the Park, free. In Australia there is a similar acknowledgement of country and the traditional owners, and Shakespeare is the source of numerous inventive productions throughout the country. These include Shakespeare by the Lake in Canberra and the innovative Bell Shakespeare Company. One of the features of Shakespeare in the Park that Landis describes are racoons that become part of the theatrical events, and a duck nest that remained on stage throughout a season. Kangaroos do appear in the Australian capital, but to my knowledge have not interrupted Shakespeare on the Lake. However, peacocks made an elegant addition to a production of A Midsummers Night Dream at the at the New Fortune Theatre at the University of Western Australia I attended many years ago.

The paragraph above is rather discursive and might seem out of place. However, I believe that readers will have their own Shakespeare production stories, demonstrating the universality of the narrative Kevin Landis has to tell. His story, connecting the theatre and its work to the community in which performances take place, inform the way in which readers can approach One Public – the theatres and Kevin Landis’s work.

In the 425 Lafayette environment the link with the community is achieved through architecture and, instead of the racoons, the presence of the subway. The story of the development of this theatre is as fascinating as the (to me) more familiar Delacorte and Shakespeare in the Park.

In this section of the book there is a stronger attention to the principles that underlie the theatres, and whether these are a reality, or being followed. Or whether they can in any pure sense. The discussion of access, by playwrights, actors and directors as well as audiences is particularly well realised here. The importance of the partnership of Oskar Eustis and Tony Kushner is central to the discussion.

Throughout, anecdotal statements bring the theatres, productions, the personnel and the ideas of One Public to life. A case study of Cullad Wattah provides more insight into the selection of a play, actors, director and realisation on the stage. However, the special attention given to Here Lies Love, Fun Home and Hamilton also provides detail about the work and aspirations of One Public. At the same time, the debates over funding, representation, audience reach and maintaining the theatres through the Covid 19 pandemic ensure that the whole theatre world is explored.

A section on Courting Controversy begins with an exchange on Facebook in 2021 and goes into the history of One Public and the idealistic goals it adopted. This is a worthwhile read in itself, with its outlining of the financial and budgeting roles that underpin bringing One Public productions to fruition. Social justice, not for profit, the lure of Broadway and the success there of Hamilton are a mixture that Landis places before the reader – like the stage productions in which we become involved through his descriptive and detailed narrative, the less exciting, but none-the-less important, features of the finances are rolled out.

The epilogue comprises an interview with Oskar Eustis that makes a fine ending to this thoroughly inspiring book. On a practical note, the endnotes are extensive and detailed, the notes and sources section explain the process of bringing Landis’s oral history archive to a wider public and provide details of the people who have contributed though interviews and anecdotes.

Kevin Landis has provided me with a few days’ inspirational reading. Inspirational because of the social justice idealism underlying the work of One Public, but also because of the manner in which Landis has brought together such a wealth of information. The narrative around the Shakespearean productions will resonate, but so too will references to Angels in America, Hair, Hamilton, and the heartrending White Voices (other readers will have their works with which they are familiar). This is a book worth reading and rereading. I am thrilled to have had my first read and look forward to another.

I love theater as much as I love reading so I was thrilled to have the chance to read Kevin Landis’ One Public, an exploration of New York City’s Public Theater.

For those unfamiliar, the Public Theater was founded in NYC in the 1950s with the aim of showcasing new works of theater, and making the art form accessible to a larger group of people. During its operation, The Public has produced shows such as Here Lies Love, Hair, and, of course, Hamilton.

Landis’ book focuses primarily on Oskar Eustis’ tenure as head of the theater, but it does offer brief glimpses into other eras to provide context for the present day. I found this book to be thoroughly researched and loved that Landis adopted an oral history format to include stories from many key players (My personal favorite was Allison Janney discussing the Central Park raccoons). One Public is not simply a recitation of facts, but rather an exploration into how the Public functions, and whether or not it has succeeded in upholding the principles it espouses. Landis doesn’t hold back from critiquing the organization which gives this book a well-reported and unbiased feel.

While I personally enjoyed this one and read it over the course of several months, I must caution that this reads as a very academic book. If you prefer narrative non-fiction or are only casually interested in theater history, this one might not be for you.

Thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

As a theatre lover whose first trip to New York was solely to visit the Public Theater for it's 2019 production of Tony Kushners A Bright Room Called Day I was excited to see this listing on NetGalley. It had long been a dream to visit the Public and discover more about its creation and ethos and this is an excellent oral history. Landis offers enough context and filling in of gaps to keep a narrative feel but also lets those he interviewed carry the bulk of the anecdotes and personal aspects. Together, this makes for a fun read.

I would definitely recommend this to those who enjoy the theater, whether Broadway, off-Broadway, or community theater. I think this will also appeal to those with more experience in the production and business side of theater.

It will be impossible to discuss Kevin Landis' "One Public" without mentioning Kenneth Turan's "Free For All," so let's get that out of the way - "One Public" picks up where "Free For All" leaves off, discussing The Public in the 21st century under the leadership of Oskar Eustis. Landis has had a fly on the wall perspective as scholar in residence at the Public, seeing first hand the work that went into the Mobile Unit and Public Works, which Eustis claims as his largest achievement (though the upscaling and corporate money of 2019's Hercules still raises some eyebrows).

As someone who's been seeing content at the Public since 2009 and as a patron since 2014, this is a must read for what's been going on behind the scenes, be it why "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" might have been a mistake or what could have been done better to make the racial reckoning of 2020 go easier. Plus there's a discussion of "White Noise" and whatever the fuck that play may have been trying to talk about.

The Public isn't America's National Theater. We're too big a country for that and we don't invest in the arts like the UK does. But it's the closest thing we've got, if only as evidenced by the people who trained under Oskar who now oversee their own theaters.

A must-read for any theatre lover; I learned so much about the Public Theatre through this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves musical theatre. I'd known about some of the Public's work, but didn't know just how influential it is!