One Public

A contemporary study of New York’s Public Theater through the eyes of the artists and practitioners who made it a cultural touchstone.

Since its founding in the 1950s, The Public Theater has been a leading cultural force in American theater. Notable for its breadth of programming, from Hair and A Chorus Line to Free Shakespeare in the Park, the landmark theater’s more recent history has been equally remarkable, even as world crises and social changes have tested its mettle. Framed by the tenure and leadership of its current artistic director, Oskar Eustis, this book looks at the social, financial, and political challenges in American professional art creation.

One Public tells the theater’s contemporary story, aided by interviews with iconic practitioners and performers including Tony Kushner, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bridget Everett, Kevin Kline, Lynn Nottage, Chelsea Clinton, and many more. Exploring the recent critical and financial successes of such hits as Fun Home and Hamilton, the book presents the broader organization, its creative methodology, and its enormous growth over the past twenty years.

Kevin Landis highlights the successes and challenges of an institution that espouses inclusivity and community-based arts creation while developing major Broadway hits and international fame. In assessing the promise of this famed cultural institution, the book puts a microscope up to American theater writ large.