TED2018
Oskar Eustis: Why theater is essential to democracy
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Truth comes from the collision of different ideas, and theater plays an essential role in showing us that truth, says legendary artistic director Oskar Eustis. In this powerful talk, Eustis outlines his plan to reach (and listen to) people in places across the US where the theater, like many other institutions, has turned its back -- like the deindustrialized Rust Belt. "Our job is to try to hold up a vision to America that shows not only who all of us are individually, but that welds us back into the commonality that we need to be," Eustis says. "That's what the theater is supposed to do."
Oskar Eustis - Theater director
As the artistic director of New York's legendary Public Theater, Oskar Eustis nurtures new, groundbreaking works that shift the cultural conversation. Full bio
As the artistic director of New York's legendary Public Theater, Oskar Eustis nurtures new, groundbreaking works that shift the cultural conversation. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:13
Theater matters because democracy matters.
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Theater is the essential
art form of democracy,
art form of democracy,
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and we know this because
they were born in the same city.
they were born in the same city.
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In the late 6th century BC,
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the idea of Western democracy was born.
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It was, of course,
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a very partial and flawed democracy,
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but the idea that power should stem
from the consent of the governed,
from the consent of the governed,
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that power should flow
from below to above,
from below to above,
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not the other way around,
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was born in that decade.
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And in that same decade, somebody --
legend has it, somebody named Thespis --
legend has it, somebody named Thespis --
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invented the idea of dialogue.
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What does that mean, to invent dialogue?
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Well, we know that
the Festival of Dionysus gathered
the Festival of Dionysus gathered
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the entire citizenry of Athens
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on the side of the Acropolis,
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and they would listen to music,
they would watch dancing,
they would watch dancing,
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and they would have stories told
as part of the Festival of Dionysus.
as part of the Festival of Dionysus.
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And storytelling is much like
what's happening right now:
what's happening right now:
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I'm standing up here,
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the unitary authority,
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and I am talking to you.
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And you are sitting back,
and you are receiving what I have to say.
and you are receiving what I have to say.
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And you may disagree with it,
you may think I'm an insufferable fool,
you may think I'm an insufferable fool,
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you may be bored to death,
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but that dialogue is mostly
taking place inside your own head.
taking place inside your own head.
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But what happens if,
instead of me talking to you --
instead of me talking to you --
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and Thespis thought of this --
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I just shift 90 degrees to the left,
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and I talk to another person
onstage with me?
onstage with me?
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Everything changes,
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because at that moment,
I'm not the possessor of truth;
I'm not the possessor of truth;
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I'm a guy with an opinion.
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And I'm talking to somebody else.
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And you know what?
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That other person has an opinion too,
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and it's drama, remember,
conflict -- they disagree with me.
conflict -- they disagree with me.
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There's a conflict between
two points of view.
two points of view.
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And the thesis of that
is that the truth can only emerge
is that the truth can only emerge
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in the conflict
of different points of view.
of different points of view.
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It's not the possession of any one person.
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And if you believe in democracy,
you have to believe that.
you have to believe that.
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If you don't believe that,
you're an autocrat
you're an autocrat
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who is putting up with democracy.
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But that's the basic thesis of democracy,
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that the conflict of different
points of views leads to the truth.
points of views leads to the truth.
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What's the other thing that's happening?
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I'm not asking you to sit back
and listen to me.
and listen to me.
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I'm asking you to lean forward
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and imagine my point of view --
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what this looks like and feels like
to me as a character.
to me as a character.
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And then I'm asking you
to switch your mind
to switch your mind
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and imagine what it feels like
to the other person talking.
to the other person talking.
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I'm asking you to exercise empathy.
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And the idea that truth comes
from the collision of different ideas
from the collision of different ideas
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and the emotional muscle of empathy
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are the necessary tools
for democratic citizenship.
for democratic citizenship.
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What else happens?
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The third thing really is you,
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is the community itself, is the audience.
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And you know from personal experience
that when you go to the movies,
that when you go to the movies,
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you walk into a movie theater,
and if it's empty, you're delighted,
and if it's empty, you're delighted,
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because nothing's going to be
between you and the movie.
between you and the movie.
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You can spread out, put your legs
over the top of the stadium seats,
over the top of the stadium seats,
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eat your popcorn and just enjoy it.
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But if you walk into a live theater
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and you see that the theater is half full,
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your heart sinks.
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You're disappointed immediately,
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because whether you knew it or not,
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you were coming to that theater
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to be part of an audience.
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You were coming to have
the collective experience
the collective experience
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of laughing together, crying together,
holding your breath together
holding your breath together
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to see what's going to happen next.
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You may have walked into that theater
as an individual consumer,
as an individual consumer,
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but if the theater does its job,
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you've walked out with a sense
of yourself as part of a whole,
of yourself as part of a whole,
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as part of a community.
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That's built into the DNA of my art form.
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Twenty-five hundred years later,
Joe Papp decided
Joe Papp decided
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that the culture should belong to
everybody in the United States of America,
everybody in the United States of America,
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and that it was his job
to try to deliver on that promise.
to try to deliver on that promise.
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He created Free Shakespeare in the Park.
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And Free Shakespeare in the Park
is based on a very simple idea,
is based on a very simple idea,
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the idea that the best theater,
the best art that we can produce,
the best art that we can produce,
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should go to everybody
and belong to everybody,
and belong to everybody,
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and to this day,
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every summer night in Central Park,
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2,000 people are lining up
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to see the best theater
we can provide for free.
we can provide for free.
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It's not a commercial transaction.
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In 1967, 13 years
after he figured that out,
after he figured that out,
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he figured out something else,
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which is that the democratic
circle was not complete
circle was not complete
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by just giving the people the classics.
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We had to actually let the people
create their own classics
create their own classics
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and take the stage.
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And so in 1967,
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Joe opened the Public Theater
downtown on Astor Place,
downtown on Astor Place,
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and the first show he ever produced
was the world premiere of "Hair."
was the world premiere of "Hair."
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That's the first thing he ever did
that wasn't Shakespeare.
that wasn't Shakespeare.
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Clive Barnes in The Times said
that it was as if Mr. Papp took a broom
that it was as if Mr. Papp took a broom
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and swept up all the refuse
from the East Village streets
from the East Village streets
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onto the stage at the Public.
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(Laughter)
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He didn't mean it complementarily,
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but Joe put it up in the lobby,
he was so proud of it.
he was so proud of it.
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(Laughter) (Applause)
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And what the Public Theater did over
the next years with amazing shows like
the next years with amazing shows like
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"For Colored Girls Who Have Considered
Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,"
Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,"
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"A Chorus Line,"
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and -- here's the most extraordinary
example I can think of:
example I can think of:
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Larry Kramer's savage cry of rage
about the AIDS crisis,
about the AIDS crisis,
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"The Normal Heart."
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Because when Joe produced
that play in 1985,
that play in 1985,
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there was more information about AIDS
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in Frank Rich's review
in the New York Times
in the New York Times
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than the New York Times had published
in the previous four years.
in the previous four years.
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Larry was actually changing
the dialogue about AIDS
the dialogue about AIDS
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through writing this play,
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and Joe was by producing it.
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I was blessed to commission and work
on Tony Kushner's "Angels in America,"
on Tony Kushner's "Angels in America,"
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and when doing that play
and along with "Normal Heart,"
and along with "Normal Heart,"
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we could see that the culture
was actually shifting,
was actually shifting,
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and it wasn't caused by the theater,
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but the theater was doing its part
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to change what it meant to be gay
in the United States.
in the United States.
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And I'm incredibly proud of that.
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(Applause)
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When I took over Joe's old job
at the Public in 2005,
at the Public in 2005,
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I realized one of the problems we had
was a victim of our own success,
was a victim of our own success,
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which is: Shakespeare in the Park
had been founded as a program for access,
had been founded as a program for access,
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and it was now the hardest ticket
to get in New York City.
to get in New York City.
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People slept out for two nights
to get those tickets.
to get those tickets.
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What was that doing?
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That was eliminating
98 percent of the population
98 percent of the population
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from even considering going to it.
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So we refounded the mobile unit
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and took Shakespeare to prisons,
to homeless shelters,
to homeless shelters,
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to community centers in all five boroughs
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and even in New Jersey
and Westchester County.
and Westchester County.
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And that program proved something to us
that we knew intuitively:
that we knew intuitively:
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people's need for theater
is as powerful as their desire for food
is as powerful as their desire for food
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or for drink.
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It's been an extraordinary success,
and we've continued it.
and we've continued it.
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And then there was yet another barrier
that we realized we weren't crossing,
that we realized we weren't crossing,
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which is a barrier of participation.
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And the idea, we said, is:
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How can we turn theater
from being a commodity, an object,
from being a commodity, an object,
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back into what it really is --
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a set of relationships among people?
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And under the guidance
of the amazing Lear deBessonet,
of the amazing Lear deBessonet,
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we started the Public Works program,
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which now every summer produces
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these immense Shakespearean
musical pageants,
musical pageants,
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where Tony Award-winning
actors and musicians
actors and musicians
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are side by side with nannies
and domestic workers
and domestic workers
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and military veterans
and recently incarcerated prisoners,
and recently incarcerated prisoners,
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amateurs and professionals,
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performing together on the same stage.
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And it's not just a great social program,
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it's the best art that we do.
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And the thesis of it is
that artistry is not something
that artistry is not something
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that is the possession of a few.
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Artistry is inherent
in being a human being.
in being a human being.
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Some of us just get to spend
a lot more of our lives practicing it.
a lot more of our lives practicing it.
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And then occasionally --
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(Applause)
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you get a miracle like "Hamilton,"
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Lin-Manuel's extraordinary retelling
of the foundational story of this country
of the foundational story of this country
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through the eyes of the only Founding
Father who was a bastard immigrant orphan
Father who was a bastard immigrant orphan
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from the West Indies.
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And what Lin was doing
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is exactly what Shakespeare was doing.
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He was taking the voice of the people,
the language of the people,
the language of the people,
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elevating it into verse,
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and by doing so,
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ennobling the language
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and ennobling the people
who spoke the language.
who spoke the language.
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And by casting that show entirely
with a cast of black and brown people,
with a cast of black and brown people,
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what Lin was saying to us,
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he was reviving in us
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our greatest aspirations
for the United States,
for the United States,
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our better angels of America,
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our sense of what this country could be,
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the inclusion that was at the heart
of the American Dream.
of the American Dream.
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And it unleashed
a wave of patriotism in me
a wave of patriotism in me
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and in our audience,
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the appetite for which
is proving to be insatiable.
is proving to be insatiable.
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But there was another side to that,
and it's where I want to end,
and it's where I want to end,
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and it's the last story
I want to talk about.
I want to talk about.
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Some of you may have heard
that Vice President-elect Pence
that Vice President-elect Pence
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came to see "Hamilton" in New York.
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And when he came in,
some of my fellow New Yorkers booed him.
some of my fellow New Yorkers booed him.
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And beautifully, he said,
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"That's what freedom sounds like."
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And at the end of the show,
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we read what I feel was a very
respectful statement from the stage,
respectful statement from the stage,
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and Vice President-elect Pence
listened to it,
listened to it,
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but it sparked a certain amount
of outrage, a tweetstorm,
of outrage, a tweetstorm,
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and also an internet boycott of "Hamilton"
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from outraged people who had felt
we had treated him with disrespect.
we had treated him with disrespect.
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I looked at that boycott and I said,
we're getting something wrong here.
we're getting something wrong here.
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All of these people who have signed
this boycott petition,
this boycott petition,
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they were never going to see
"Hamilton" anyway.
"Hamilton" anyway.
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It was never going to come
to a city near them.
to a city near them.
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If it could come,
they couldn't afford a ticket,
they couldn't afford a ticket,
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and if they could afford a ticket,
they didn't have the connections
they didn't have the connections
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to get that ticket.
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They weren't boycotting us;
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we had boycotted them.
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And if you look at the red and blue
electoral map of the United States,
electoral map of the United States,
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and if I were to tell you,
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"Oh, the blue is what designates
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all of the major nonprofit
cultural institutions,"
cultural institutions,"
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I'd be telling you the truth.
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You'd believe me.
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We in the culture have done
exactly what the economy,
exactly what the economy,
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what the educational system,
what technology has done,
what technology has done,
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which is turn our back
on a large part of the country.
on a large part of the country.
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So this idea of inclusion,
it has to keep going.
it has to keep going.
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Next fall, we are sending out on tour
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a production of Lynn Nottage's brilliant,
Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Sweat."
Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Sweat."
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Years of research in Redding, Pennsylvania
led her to write this play
led her to write this play
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about the deindustrialization
of Pennsylvania:
of Pennsylvania:
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what happened when steel left,
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the rage that was unleashed,
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the tensions that were unleashed,
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the racism that was unleashed
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by the loss of jobs.
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We're taking that play
and we're touring it
and we're touring it
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to rural counties in Pennsylvania,
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Ohio, Michigan,
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Minnesota and Wisconsin.
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We're partnering with community
organizations there to try and make sure
organizations there to try and make sure
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not only that we reach the people
that we're trying to reach,
that we're trying to reach,
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but that we find ways
to listen to them back
to listen to them back
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and say, "The culture
is here for you, too."
is here for you, too."
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Because --
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(Applause)
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we in the culture industry,
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we in the theater,
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have no right to say
that we don't know what our job is.
that we don't know what our job is.
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It's in the DNA of our art form.
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Our job "... is to hold up,
as 'twere, a mirror to nature;
as 'twere, a mirror to nature;
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to show scorn her image,
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to show virtue her appearance,
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and the very age its form and pressure."
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Our job is to try to hold up
a vision to America
a vision to America
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that shows not only
who all of us are individually,
who all of us are individually,
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but that welds us back into
the commonality that we need to be,
the commonality that we need to be,
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the sense of unity,
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the sense of whole,
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the sense of who we are as a country.
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That's what the theater is supposed to do,
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and that's what we need to try to do
as well as we can.
as well as we can.
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Thank you very much.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Oskar Eustis - Theater directorAs the artistic director of New York's legendary Public Theater, Oskar Eustis nurtures new, groundbreaking works that shift the cultural conversation.
Why you should listen
Throughout his career, Oskar Eustis has been dedicated to the development of new plays and the classics as a director, dramaturg and producer. Among the plays he's helped bring into being, you can count Angels in America, the Tony-winning Hamilton and Fun Home, with more new work constantly on the bubble. Throughout his career, he has also produced and directed Shakespeare in venues around the US, from prisons to Broadway, including The Public's 2017 free Shakespeare in the Park staging of Julius Ceasar that generated a national conversation.
Eustis has also directed the world premieres of plays by Philip Kan Gotanda, David Henry Hwang, Emily Mann, Suzan-Lori Parks, Ellen McLaughlin and Eduardo Machado, among many others. He's a professor of dramatic writing and arts and public policy at New York University and has held professorships at UCLA, Middlebury College and Brown University, where he founded and chaired the Trinity Rep/Brown University consortium for professional theater training. He has been Artistic Director of The Public Theater in New York since 2005.
Oskar Eustis | Speaker | TED.com