final stop
THE BEST PLACES TO …
AISLINN WIEDELE; COUR TESY OF VESELKA
Pick Up Your
Next Book
THE STRAND
“This is one of the great used
bookstores of the world,” says
Eustis. “They have almost everything
imaginable, including a great rare
books collection. Browsing there is
one of my favorite pastimes.”
;;; Broadway; strandbooks.com
Grab a
Pre-Show Bite
THE LIBRARY
This restaurant, inside the Public,
serves gently priced American
fare by star chef Andrew
Carmellini. “We modeled this
after a speakeasy, and the food is
genuinely good,” says Eustis.
;;; Lafayette St.; publictheater.org
Taste History
VESELKA
Eustis has frequented the
restaurant since the ’;;s. “It gives
a real feel for the ethnic history of
this neighborhood, because there
was a huge influx of Ukrainian
refugees from the ;;;;s to
;;;;s. Its longevity in this rapidly
changing city is admirable.”
;;; Second Ave.; veselka.com
View Exciting Shows
NEW YORK THEATRE
WORKSHOP
LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL
THEATRE CLUB
“They are proud carriers of the best
bohemian traditions of the East
Village—exciting, groundbreaking
work from New York and all over the
world.” ;; E. Fourth St., nytw.org;
;; E. Fourth St., lamama.org
In his East Village, New York o;ce, Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis dis- plays a caricature that Fun Home author Alison Bechdel drew of him having two faces.
One shows Eustis sobbing, while the
other is him laughing hysterically.
“I am noted here for my overemotive
responses to work, and I actually believe
that is my job,” says Eustis. “I need to
the Park in Central Park every summer,
which is free. This year Troilus and Cres-
sida, a tale of hot-blooded romance dur-
ing the Trojan War, runs July 19–Aug. 14.
“Shakespeare in the Park is a party, a
picnic and a great New York experience,”
says Eustis. “Audiences know it belongs
to them, and that’s exhilarating.”
Eustis grew up in Minnesota, an
outsider who felt most at home in the
theater. He moved to Manhattan at 16
and lived downtown in the Performing
Garage, a former flatware factory turned
artist residence.
“I was scared, but I made it my project
to overcome my fear,” he says. In 1976, he
wandered into the Public Theater to see
the experimental show Mabou Mines and
fell in love with the space. After going to
work in theater, he was named the venue’s artistic director in 2005.
The Public Theater’s East Village
location, a crossroads of culture and
people, provides an ongoing spark of
creativity that feeds into the diverse
range of performances held there.
“The Village is a place where, for a
couple of hundred years, people from
all over the world who didn’t fit in could
come and feel like citizens,” says Eustis.
“The advantage is that bohemia can take
the disadvantaged and give them a franchise.” —Matt McCue
Why I Love …
the East Village
THE PUBLIC’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, OSKAR EUSTIS, CELEBRATES
HIS THEATER’S DOWNTOWN NEW YORK CITY NEIGHBORHOOD
be as wide open in my human
responses to the work as I can.”
By greenlighting shows
about a lesbian tying to under-
stand her gay father, a hip hop
musical about the founding of
America, and the struggle of
women held captive during the
second Liberian civil war, Eus-
tis is prying open the doors of
the American experience a little
wider.
“If I believe in an artist, then
my job is to knock down any
obstacle between that artist
and the full realization of their
vision,” he says.
Established in 1962, the Public The-
ater serves as a way station between
uptown and downtown culture, where
emerging artists can try to transition
from neighborhood to national stage.
The Public Theater presented the
world premiere of Hair and has cultivated other mainstream hits like A Chorus Line and Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in
’da Funk. It also puts on Shakespeare in
