The Public Theater has just announced the cancellation of the free Shakespeare in the Park festival this summer due to coronavirus precautions. While it's the right thing to do, of course, it's also a real shame, as they had planned to mount a full production of their joyous musical adaptation of As You Like It, which my family and I saw during its limited run a few summers ago.
If you aren't familiar with them, these musicals are truly special events. Unlike the Public's regular Shakespeare offerings, these shows -- organized through their Public Works program -- bring together hundreds of amateur performers from community groups all around NYC, along with a handful of professional actors, to create inspiring participatory theater. As Oskar Eustis, the Public's artistic director, puts it: "The core idea is to embody the fact that everybody is an artist. It's part of what makes you a human being. And we need to change the theater from being a commodity back into being a set of relationships among people, which is what it really is."
That ethos shone brightly in the Public Works performances I've seen. Yes, there are theater-trained pros involved; but there are also wonderful amateur actors playing lead roles -- as well as children's choirs, military veteran groups, domestic worker associations, interpretive dance troupes performing with ASL, taiko drummers, lucha libre wrestling federations, and much more. A messenger delivering a letter to the Duke might be an actual postal carrier, proudly wearing her uniform. The authorities who drag away the thwarted villain might be real police officers, perhaps retired, volunteering their time. A hero training for a big confrontation might receive aid from members of martial arts dojos and fencing clubs, showing off their dazzling skills. Everyone brings something to the potluck, and it just feels like a big party, filled with laughter and palpable joy -- a celebration by, and for, all the people who make New York the city that it is.
Singer and composer Shaina Taub's music for these productions -- smart, playful, and bighearted -- is a key part of that joy. Her songs get to the heart of characters' quandaries, and she highlights and even expands upon the themes that make them compellingly relevant today. "Still I Will Love," stirringly sung by the entire cast in the finale to As You Like It, is a great example. The ending of Shakespeare's play pairs off multiple couples and celebrates romantic love; but as her lyrics (written in the early years of the Trump administration) make plain, Taub has something more on her mind: a general commitment to keep choosing to love, as an act of joyful resistance that endures the worst that this darkening world can throw at it.
When the world tries to tear us apart at the seams
When life makes it hard to keep chasing our dreams
When we're messy and weepy and feeble and old
And we don't have a clue what the future will hold
Still, I will love.
Here's video from the 2017 production, featuring a rousing Arab folk dance by the Freedom Dabka Group -- just one part of the huge ensemble reflecting the vibrant tapestry of the city. It's a song to hold in our hearts until this show, and theater in general, can come alive onstage again.Â
BONUS: When it comes to Public Works and the music of Shaina Taub, there's so much to recommend.
Here's a moving performance of "Still I Will Love" sung by people sheltering at home (including Taub on keyboards) -- more than 150 community members involved in various theater groups around the country.Â
Here are highlights from the productions of As You Like It and Twelfth Night, both featuring scores by Taub, who also performs as a cast member. (Twelfth Night has a cast album you can check out via Spotify, Amazon, or other music vendors.)
Here's a wonderful behind-the-scenes video about the mission of Public Works and how it's expanding to other theater programs in the US and beyond:
More information about Public Works here. I highly recommend checking out Shaina Taub's work in general; you can stream songs, read lyrics, and purchase music on her website and Bandcamp store. Her latest album Die Happy has many standout tracks, including "Where Are the Grownups?," "Huddled Masses," and "She Persisted" -- as well as her solo version of "Still I Will Love," which is the track I'll include on the Spotify list. -----
Listen to the Spotify playlist here.
Watch the YouTube playlist here.