About: African-American Theatre | History and Criticism | Production and Acting | Set Design, Costumes, and Makeup | Women in Theatre | Writers and Directors
Series and Performances: American Playhouse | Theatre, the Search for Style | Great Performances / Theater in America | Other Televised Performances
Please note: This resource is a guide and does not list all media resources in the Library collection about this subject. Please search DELCAT (limit to Media Collection using Search by Media Collection feature) for additional items.
Black Theater, 1950-1980: Artist Interviews; Insight Media; 1995; 38m. VHS 7787
Contents: Vol. 1 - Lloyd Richards, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Joseph Pap, Amiri Baraka (aka Leroi Jones); Vol. 2 - Vinnette Carroll, Douglas Turner Ward, Woodie King, Jr., Wynn Handman, Ed Bullins, and Barbara Ann Teer.
Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement; California Newsreel; 1995; 110m. VHS 4071
Recaptures the birth of a new theatre from the Civil Rights activism of the 1950’s, ’60s, and ’70s. Presents an encyclopedia of leading figures, institutions and events. Clips from historic productions include the first all-black production of Genet’s The Blacks, along with A Raisin in the Sun, Black Girl, Dutchman, and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. Contents: Pt. 1 - Pioneers (35 min.); Pt. 2 - Theatre of Our Own (37 min.); Pt. 3 - The Black Theatre and Beyond (35 min.)
The Negro Ensemble Company; RBK Productions; 1987; 55m. VHS 740
A documentary exploring the history of the Negro Ensemble Company, through interviews with the co-founders and some of the actors of this premier black theater company.
Panorama of African-American Theatre; GPN; 1991; 60m. VHS 4037
Contents: Pt. 1 - Dignity of Man and Origins of African-American Theatre; Pt. 2 - Emergence of the African-American Performing Arts; Pt. 3 - Power of the African-American Playwright; Pt. 4 - Present and Future Direction of African-American Theatre.
7th and T; Telescope Productions; 1987; VHS 1191
Discusses the Howard Theater located at 7th and T Streets in Washington, D.C. As the premiere stage for African-American performers, the theater was the focal point of the neighborhood. The history of the theater and the neighborhood are discussed.
As You Like It ; Insight Media; 1995; 108m. DVD 1898
An analysis, by means of excerpts from live performances, of Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
The Birth of Modern Theatre: Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in Perspective; Films for the Humanities; 1975; 47m. VHS 746
Analyzes Chekhov’s dramatic techniques as developed in Uncle Vanya. Includes a performance of the third act of the English translation by Constance Garnett.
Broadway, the Golden Age: By the Legends Who Were There; Dada Films; 2004; 111m. DVD 4004
Rick McKay filmed over one hundred of Broadway and Hollywood’s greatest stars and theatrical creators. In their own words they tell how they came to New York and created this legendary century in American theatre, thereby preserving the memories of historic Broadway performances.
Classical Comedy: Aristophanes: Ecclesiazusae Plautus: Miles Gloriosus (Women in Power); Films for the Humanities; 1976; 58m. VHS 725
Contents: Aristophanes, Women in power (Ecclesiazusae).—Plautus, The Braggart warrior (Miles Gloriosus). Presents adaptations designed to convey the differing characteristics of Greek and Roman comedy.
The Drama of Ancient Greece: from Ritual to Theater; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2006; 57m. DVD 2842
Traces Greek theater from ancient harvest rites to the golden age of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. Key scenes from Antigone, Oedipus Tyrranus, Medea, and Lysistrata show how these works remain relevant by exploring the timeless themes of honor, class, gender, sexuality, and politics. Essential concepts such as catharsis, hamartia, and the use of masks and a chorus are discussed. Scholarly commentary by Helene Foley of Barnard College, Jeffrey Henderson of Boston University, Princeton University’s Robert Fagles, and Peter Meineck of NYU’s Aquila Theatre Company emphasizes the vitality of classical drama and the essential role it played in the everyday lives of the ancient Greeks.
Dramatic Actions ; Banyan Archives; 1991; 29m. VHS 6355
Follows dramatic theater through its various incarnations: from folk festivals to the formal theatre of the playwright and entertainer to popular theatre for social action. Examples from the entire region are used in this brief survey of Caribbean drama.
The Federal Theater, Project 891, and the Mercury Theater; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2004; 30m. DVD 1750
This film appraises the impact of the drama groups that flourished during the Depression and their lasting contributions to theater. Among the topics explored is the American method style of acting as pioneered at the Group Theatre. Major companies such as the Federal Theater, the Classical Theatre (Project 891), and the Mercury Theater—incubators for some of the most innovative and controversial works ever seen on the American stage—are discussed. The program also covers the theatrical careers of Orson Welles and John Houseman.
Modern British Drama: Peter Saccio; The Teaching Company; 1993; 400m. VHS 3482
Dr. Saccio lectures at Dartmouth College.
Contents: Part 1, Lecture 1 - British Theatre, 1890-1990; Lecture 2 - Comedy of Manners: Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward; Lecture 3 - George Bernard Shaw, Socialist and Prophet; Lecture 4 - John Osborne Looks Back in Anger. Part 2, Lecture 5 - Samuel Beckett , Drama of Alienation; Lecture 6 - The Menace of Harold Pinter; Lecture 7 - The Invitations of Tom Stoppard; Lecture 8 - Caryl Churchill and David Hare.
The Restoration Theater: From Tennis Court to Playhouse; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2003; 45m. DVD 975
During the Restoration, new playhouses were built to replace the many theaters destroyed by Cromwell in the English Civil War. The new theaters, built to stage the probing social comedies of the era, were shaped by changes in English drama, politics, and society. This program shows how the Parisian tennis court theaters, attended by the court in exile of Charles II, influenced the new London theaters, particularly Christopher Wren’s Theatre Royal. Computer graphics illustrate important features of Restoration theaters. Wren’s influence on Georgian playhouses and modern theater design is also explored.
The Rise of Greek Tragedy: Sophocles’ Oedipus the King; Films for the Humanities; 1975; 45m. VHS 724
A presentation of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, performed in the authentic setting of a fifth-century Greek theater, with the use of masks made after ancient models. Shows how this drama developed from primeval sacrificial ceremonies to Dionysius.
Royal Shakespeare Company Great Performances: Volume One; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2003; 80m. DVD 1115
This program features excerpts from four Royal Shakespeare Company productions: King Lear, Coriolanus, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Each segment of the program includes key scenes from the play intertwined with interviews and explanations by actors and directors.
Sanford Meisner: The Theater’s Best Kept Secret; Films for the Humanities; 1985; 56m; VHS 1568
Sidney Pollack and Stephen Harvey describe the methods and character of seventy-eight-year-old Sanford Meisner, little-known but influential acting teacher and one of the principal adapters of Stanislavsky’s work for American theater. Stephen Harvey also interviews some of Meisner’s former students who have become actors, directors and writers.
Shakespeare; Thames Television Productions Ltd./BBC; 1988; 28m. VHS 863
Follows Shakespeare’s development as dramatist and supreme bender of the English tongue to his own ends. Includes interviews with Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Sir John Gielgud, and Sir Ralph Richardson.
Shakespeare: Drama’s DNA; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2004; 60m. DVD 969
Traces the evolution of Shakespearean drama, from the days of the Rose to the best performances of the last hundred years. Includes interviews with Peter Brook, Sir Tom Stoppard, Dame Judi Dench, Trevor Nunn, Sir Peter Hall and Sir John Gielgud, plus excerpts from avant-garde as well as traditional productions. Part of the series Changing Stages: 100 Years of Theater.
Stages of Theatre: Greece and Rome ; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2006; 22m. DVD 2876
Professor Richard Beacham of King’s College London guides viewers through the Theatre of Epidaurus and the Lycurgian, Hellenistic, and Roman manifestations of the Theatre of Dionysus. Also featured are the odea of Pericles and Agrippa and Rome’s Theatre of Pompey.
Stages of Theatre: Mediaeval & Renaissance; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2006; 20m. DVD 2877
Professor Richard Beacham of King’s College London surveys the evolution of Elizabethan and Renaissance stage formations and the conventions they established. Depicts the Globe, the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, and the Teatro Farnese in Parma. Program also studies the importance of Sebastio Serlio and Inigo Jones to the history of stage design.
Stanislavsky: Maker of the Modern Theatre; Films for the Humanities; 1982; 29m. VHS 85
Explores the life, times, and ideas of the theatrical innovator, Constantine Stanislavsky, who created method acting and founded the Moscow Art Theatre. Uses documentary footage, photographs, and dramatizations to show his memorable roles, his search for reality in character portrayal, and his staging of plays of Chekhov, Ostrovski, Ibsen, Maeterlinch, Gorki, and Turgeniev.
The Theatre of Social Problems: Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler; Films for the Humanities; 1976; 58m. VHS 747
Presents an abridged version of Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler, the story of a woman’s tormented search for self-fulfillment in a world dominated by men.
Three Greek Plays; Creative Arts Television; 1997; 57m. VHS 5461
Excerpts from the production at La Mama Experimental Theater Club (New York City) of Andrei Serban’s interpretation of the classic dramas Electra, Medea, and The Trojan Women, with music by Elizabeth Swados. Margaret Croyden provides introductions and commentary. Ellen Stewart, founder and guiding spirit of La Mama speaks briefly about her goals in the modern theater.
Contents: Part 1 - Electra and Medea; Part 2 - The Trojan Women.
The APA Rehearses; Creative Arts Television; 2000; 28m. VHS 8492
In this program, the Association of Producing Artists (APA), a renowned repertory company founded by Ellis Rabb in the 1960s, is seen at work rehearsing and discussing scenes from Henrik Ibsen’s classic play The Wild Duck.
Blocking a scene: Basic Staging with Actors, with Michael Joyce; Theatre Arts Video Library; 1990; 90m. VHS 5393
Michael Joyce and two new student directors explore essential and practical methods to help the novice in blocking first scenes. The presentation provides the viewer with a step-by-step process which features the elements of good blocking, script analysis, creating an effective floor plan, and collaborating with actors. Intended to supplement classroom instruction and provide students with a handy source of fundamental knowledge for blocking a scene.
Brian Cox on Acting in Tragedy; BBC-TV/Dramatis Personae, Ltd.; 1990; 60m. VHS 2398
Brian Cox shares his ideas about acting in tragedy. From the Applause Acting series.
Changing Stages: One Hundred Years of Theater; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2004; 314m. DVD 994
In this six-part series, Sir Richard Eyre (former director of the Royal National Theatre) explores the history of 20th century drama and its confluence with the theater of Ireland, America, and Germany. Evocative archival footage of many of the century’s most memorable productions is blended with firsthand testimonies from the writers, actors, and directors who made them possible.
Contents: Disc 1 – Shakespeare: Drama’s DNA; Disc 2 – Irish Theater: Raw Bones and Poetry; Disc 3 – America: Broadway and Dramatic Realism; Disc 4 – Looking Back: British Theater, Two Wars Later; Disc 5 – Between Brecht and Beckett; Disc 6 – The Future of Theater: But is it Art?
Discovering Hamlet; PBS Video; 1990; 53m. VHS 1910
A documentary that follows the week-by-week progress of a theatre company preparing to stage a production of Hamlet. The actors describe stage action and the characters they portray, and members of the technical crew discuss aspects of costuming, set design, lighting, and the problems of working with Shakespeare’s 400-year-old text.
Exploring a Character / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1982; 51m. VHS 583
Under John Barton’s direction, two members of the Royal Shakespeare Company explore Shakespeare’s character Shylock to demonstrate how Shakespeare develops a character, and the multiplicity of ways in which his characters can be understood. Given the same text from The Merchant of Venice, the different readings of the part demonstrate the infinite variety of Shakespeare’s work. From the Playing Shakespeare series.
Irony and Ambiguity / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1982; 51m. VHS 580
John Barton guides members of the Royal Shakespeare Company in a discussion and dramatization of Shakespeare’s use of irony and ambiguity. Barton analyzes some of Shakespeare’s texts with the actors, and demonstrates how understanding the intended irony in a phrase or speech totally changes the perception of the character speaking. From the Playing Shakespeare series.
Janet Suzman on Acting in Shakespearean Comedy; BBC-TV/Dramatis Personae, Ltd.; 1990; 60m. VHS 2396
Janet Suzman explains the fine points of acting in Shakespearean comedy through discussion and examples. From the Applause Acting series.
Language and Character / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1982; 51m. VHS 581
John Barton guides members of the Royal Shakespeare Company in a discussion and dramatization of Shakespeare’s use of language to define character, and his characters’ use of heightened language to achieve their intentions. Explores the Elizabethan relish of words and the use of Elizabethan English in the development of Shakespeare’s characters. From the Playing Shakespeare series.
Maria Aitken on Acting in High Comedy; BBC-TV/Dramatis Personae, Ltd.; 1990; 60m. VHS 2399
In a question and answer format with examples taken from Coward, Wilde, Sheridan, and Congreve; Aitken shows how to add spark to comedy readings. From the Applause Acting series.
Master Classes in Directing: JoAnne Akalaitis; University of Toronto, Information Commons; 1991; 35m. VHS 4721
During the first rehearsal of the production process, theatre director JoAnne Akalaitis leads three actors to an understanding of the complex physicality of Genet’s play The Screens. The actors offer their reactions to her method of approaching the text.
Master Classes in the Michael Chekhov Technique; Michael Chekhov Association; 2007; 3 videodiscs; 390m. DVD 3987
Michael Chekhov was a teacher and innovator in the art of acting. A student of the famed Stanislavsky and a nephew of author Anton Chekhov, Michael Chekhov developed a psycho-physical technique using an actor’s movement and gesture to show the psychological mindset of a character. Contents: Disc 1. Teacher conversation — Waking up the instrument — Feeling of ease, form, beauty, sense of the whole — Expanding, contracting — Qualities of movement I — Qualities of movement II — Disc 2. Radiating and receiving — Psychological gesture — Imaginary gesture — Remembering Michael Chekhov — Disc 3. Sensations (falling, floating and balancing) — Imaginary body — Atmosphere — Ghost exercise — Actor conversation.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: What to Make of Magic; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2003; 33m. DVD 2079
The problem of presenting magic and fairies in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream to modern theatergoers is addressed. Several versions of the play are compared, most notably director Peter Brook’s famous staging from the 1970s. Brook, Jonathan Miller, Ian Talbot, and Adrian Noble of the Royal Shakespeare Company offer their views on staging the play, as do audience members. This presentation is part of the series Shakespeare: Text and Performance.
One Step on a Journey: Tadashi Suzuki in Australia ; Insight Media; 1993; 56m. VHS 6097
Japanese theater director Tadashi Suzuki incorporates his technique and methodology in an Australian workshop and training session in preparation for the theatrical production of the Chronicles of MacBeth. Suzuki’s emphasis is on using the energy of the body to release emotion to the audience. A brief review of the production follows the performance.
OT, Our Town; Filmmovement; 2006; 77m. DVD 2774
In this documentary by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, the students at Dominguez High School set out to put on the school’s first theatrical production in more than 20 years. But what does Thornton Wilder’s famous play about life in rural Grover’s Corners have to do with Compton, California? OT follows the students on their discovery of the power of art and the human spirit.
Passion and Coolness / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1982; 52m. VHS 582
John Barton guides members of the Royal Shakespeare Company in a discussion and dramatization of Shakespeare’s use of passion and coolness, including his mixture of deep feeling, choric elements, and the balancing of heightened language and naturalistic performance. From the Playing Shakespeare series.
Poetry and Hidden Poetry / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1982; 53m. VHS 585
John Barton leads members of the Royal Shakespeare Company in a discussion of Shakespeare’s use of poetry and hidden poetry in seemingly unpoetic lines. Barton and the actors demonstrate how polysyllables trip easily off the tongue, while monosyllabic lines and words are packed with thoughts and feelings. They also explore Shakespeare’s use of the words “time” and “death.” From the Playing Shakespeare series.
Preparing to Perform Shakespeare / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1979; 53m. VHS 575
Members of the Royal Shakespeare Company present a workshop before a television studio audience to demonstrate how they rehearse and learn to perform Shakespeare’s plays.
Rehearsing the Text / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1982; 52m. VHS 577
Concentrating on a scene from Twelfth Night, John Barton guides members of the Royal Shakespeare Company in a discussion and reading of the lines in search of Shakespeare’s clues to character, language, and staging. Barton and the actors demonstrate how verse itself is a clue to the meaning. From the Playing Shakespeare series.
Richard II: Casting a King; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2004; 33m. DVD 2082
This series looks at how the choice of actors and the rendering of themes in Shakespeare’s drama impacts an audience. Because casting will determine where an audience’s sympathies lie, choosing an actor to play a major role can be a complex procedure, often requiring a specialist with considerable knowledge. Three different renditions of Richard as interpreted by Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Fiona Shaw are shown. Wendy Spon, head of casting at the Royal National Theatre, discusses some of the chief considerations when making casting choices.
Rockaby; Pennebaker Associates; 1982; 58m. VHS 3262
Shows the process of bringing Samuel Beckett’s short play Rockaby to the stage, including early informal discussions, costuming, lighting, and rehearsals. Concludes with a complete performance of the work with Billie Whitelaw as an aged woman coming to terms with death. Included in the film are some scenes from Beckett’s play Happy Days, also starring Ms. Whitelaw.
Set Speeches and Soliloquies / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1983; 52m. VHS 586
The members of the Royal Shakespeare Company discuss and dramatize Shakespeare’s use of dialogue and soliloquy for story and audience purposes. Barton explains the differences between the two, what they contain and how they arise. From the Playing Shakespeare series.
Shakespeare and His Stage: Approaches to Hamlet; Films for the Humanities; 1975; 45m. VHS 579
Recreates the theater of Shakespeare’s day through the staging of scenes from Hamlet in an Elizabethan courtyard near Stratford, England. Contrasts styles of Shakespearean role playing with excerpts from performances by Lawrence Olivier, John Gielgud, Nicol Williamson, and John Barrymore. The program includes views of various landmarks in London, Stratford, and Warwick which shaped Shakespeare’s approach to theatrical practice.
The Shakespeare Sessions; Storyville Films / Working Arts Library; 2002; 60m. DVD 1527
Royal Shakespeare Company directors John Barton and Sir Peter Hall travel to America to conduct workshops with the all-star cast of the Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice. Subjects covered include: creating a world with words, the clues are in the text, playing the story, Shakespeare’s advice to the actor, changing gears from prose to verse, the questions reveal the character, handling emotion, setting the word against the word, and connecting with the audience. Also includes the actors’ talking about their experiences working with John Barton.
Simon Callow on Acting in Restoration Comedy; BBC-TV / Dramatis Personae, Ltd.; 1993; 59m. VHS 2395
Simon Callow uses a question and answer format with four other actors along with audience participation to discuss his acting techniques in restoration comedies. From the Applause Acting series.
Speaking Shakespearean Verse / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1979; 56m. VHS 587
Members of the Royal Shakespeare Company present a workshop before a television studio audience in which they interpret the rhythms and pronunciation of Shakespeare’s English.
Tennessee Williams: Theater in Process; Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp; 1976; 29m. VHS 4093
A behind-the-scenes look at the production of Tennessee Williams’ drama The Red Devil Battery Sign. Shows the evolution of the play from early rehearsals through initial performances, focusing on the continuous collaboration between the playwright, director, and actors. Includes extensive comments by Williams as he discusses the creative process that is involved in making a successful theatrical production.
Thirtynine Today; British Universities Film; Video Council; 2000; 21m. VHS 9053
Max Wall, the actor and former music-hall comedian, discusses with James Knowlson his experiences acting Krapp in Samuel Beckett’s play Krapp’s Last Tape, directed by Patrick Magee at the Greenwich Theatre in 1975. The discussion focuses specifically on the relationship between acting in Beckett and Wall’s music-hall background.
The Two Traditions / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1982; 50m. VHS 578
John Barton guides members of the Royal Shakespeare Company in a discussion and dramatization of Shakespeare’s use of language, meter, and verse. Barton and the actors address and analyze the question of how to understand Shakespeare’s texts, citing examples of his plays, and, for contrast, the writings of other British authors of the period. From the Playing Shakespeare series.
Using the Verse / The Royal Shakespeare Company; Films for the Humanities; 1982; 50m. VHS 576
John Barton guides members of the Royal Shakespeare Company in a discussion and dramatization of Shakespeare’s use of blank verse. The actors discover how Shakespeare uses antithesis, short lines, end-stopped lines and pauses in the middle of a line, and why Shakespeare’s lines sometimes mis-scan. From the Playing Shakespeare series.
Working Shakespeare; Working Arts Library / Applause Vital; 2004; 5 videodiscs; 7h, 13m. DVD 2718
Cicely Berry, voice director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, leads well-known American and British actors in exercises focusing on the fundamentals of meter and rhythm in Shakespeare’s verse. Contents: Workshop 1. Muscularity of language: motion and rhythm — Workshop 2. Under the text: subtext and the world of the play — Workshop 3. Prose and verse texts: language and imagery reveal the character’s inner landscape — Workshop 4. The whole voice: its sounds and range — Workshop 5. The voice preparation workshop.
Culture and Costumes: The Great Clothes Put-On; Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp.; 1974; 19m. VHS 2876
Shows how clothing serves various purposes including decoration, protection, identification, disguise, and enforcement of modesty codes.
Behind the Scenes at the RSC: The Players, Costumes and Makeup; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2004; 25m. DVD 1389
Master costumers and makeup artists demonstrate their crafts as expressed in productions of The Tempest, Measure for Measure and Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy.
Behind the Scenes at the RSC: The Stage, Set Design, and Construction; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2004; 25m. DVD 1388, VHS 8183
The process of set design for Royal Shakespeare Company’s productions is described by the people who make it all happen.
The Make-up Workshop; Design Video Communications; 1988; 102m. VHS 1728
Discusses and illustrates how to select theatrical make-up, face care, make-up design, face analysis, corrective make-up, middle-aged make-up, mustache and beard application, old-age techniques, special effects, and make- up removal.
’Tis Pity She’s a Whore: The First Women on the London Stage; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2003; 26m. DVD 1027
Discusses and portrays the background and training of the first professional English actresses, their roles, their influence on the plays written at the time, and how their sexuality and availability became the central feature of their professional identity.
Mama’s Pushcart: Ellen Stewart and 25 years of La Mama E.T.C.; Women Make Movies; 1988; 53m. VHS 7775
With virtually no financial resources, Ellen Stewart created the La Mama theater in New York in 1961, where writers and actors such as Sam Shepard, Elizabeth Swados, and Harvey Fierstein found both encouragement and a home for their work. Includes footage from the early days, interviews and brief excerpts from some of the theater works.
Women in Classical Greek Drama; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2006; 37m. DVD 2841
The presentation of powerful women in Medea, Antigone, and Lysistrata is contrasted with the circumscribed role of women in Athenian society by 6 university professors. Film clips from notable productions support this in-depth discussion.
Women in Theatre, Series One; League of Professional Theatre Women; 2006; 390m. DVD 3571
Thirteen interviews (selected from the fifty-two that comprise the four-year television series) with some of the gifted women who create and sustain theatre in the United States. Each episode runs 30 minutes. Contents: DVD 1. Suzan-Lori Parks -- Rosemary Harris -- Carey Perloff -- Anna Deavere Smith -- Jennifer Tipton -- DVD 2. Wendy Wasserstein -- Heidi Ettinger -- Ruby Dee -- Graciela Daniele -- DVD 3. Audra McDonald -- Elizabeth McCann -- Julie Taymor -- Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago (Martha Lavey, Joan Allen, Lois Smith).
Beckett Directs Beckett; Smithsonian Institution Press Video Division; 1990-1992; 279m. VHS 2882
The San Quentin Drama Workshop presents three of Samuel Beckett’s best known plays. Contents: Tape 1 – Waiting for Godot, Act I (77m); Tape 2 – Waiting for Godot, Act II (60m); Tape 3 – Krapp’s Last Tape (46m); Tape 4 – Endgame (96m)
Between Brecht and Beckett; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2001; 118m. VHS 8120
Samuel Beckett explored the inner worlds of memory and existence, while Bertolt Brecht’s energies were directed outward, toward politics and institutions. In this program, renowned theater director Sir Richard Eyre examines the work of the two dramatists and the impact they had both on playwrights and on the theater itself, beginning with the 1960s. Film clips and interviews with Harold Pinter, Peter Brook, David Hare, Edward Bond, Billie Whitelaw, Caryl Churchill, and Alan Bennett reveal an exuberant period in theater history that has seen form unconditionally surrender to dramatic expression. Part of the series Changing Stages: 100 Years of Theater.
Brecht on Stage; Roland Collection of Films on Art; 1989; 25m. VHS 4725
Contemporaries and scholars of Bertolt Brecht discuss his work and its impact on modern theater.
Brook by Brook: An Intimate Portrait; Arte France / Facets Video; 2005; 204m. DVD 3217
A revealing film about Peter Brook made by his son, Simon. Offers a privileged view into Brook’s family, theater, and films in a collective father-son journey. Also includes “The Tragedy of Hamlet”: Discover new meaning in Hamlet through Peter Brook’s original performances in Paris and a worldwide theatrical tour. Contents: Brook by Brook: An Intimate Portrait (72m); The Tragedy of Hamlet (132m).
Jerzy Grotowski; Creative Arts Television Archive; 1997; 55m. VHS 6319
Margaret Croyden talks with Jerzy Grotowski, who discusses the relationship between director and actor, a playwright’s function, and the idea of “poor”; theater that renounces everything not essential to the work.
Peter Brook: Conversations about Theater; Creative Arts Television Archive; 1997; 29m. VHS 6358
An interview with the celebrated theater director just after returning from Africa with his International Centre for Theatre Research, a group of actors based in Paris. Brook explains his views on theater, cross-cultural performances, improvisation, Shakespeare, and working with young actors.
Sam Shepard: Stalking Himself; WinStar Home Entertainment; 1998; 60m. VHS 7767
A documentary of the life and works of Sam Shepard. Features excerpts from performances, Shepard reading from his own work, and interviews with famous friends and fans.
Samuel Beckett: As the Story was Told; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 1998; 110m. VHS 7779
The life of Irish novelist, poet, and playwright Samuel Beckett is profiled in this two-part documentary: from his Dublin childhood, to his days in Paris associating with Picasso and Chagall, to old age. Excerpts from a performance of the semi-autobiographical Krapps’s Last Tape and previously unpublished letters tell the story, along with the remembrances of Beckett’s lifelong friend and publisher Jerome Lindon, relatives, and others who knew him.
Samuel Beckett: Eh Joe; Footfalls; Rockaby; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2003; 80m. DVD 724
Filmed a year before the author’s death, the video contains performances of three of Samuel Beckett’s plays produced in collaboration with the author and featuring actress Billie Whitelaw.
Tennessee Williams and the American South; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 1999; 45m. VHS
8270
Discusses the life of the playwright, his family, the social and economic situation of the South and the effect these had on his writing. Includes scenes from his most memorable works, footage of a television interview, and a reenactment of the life of the young Williams.
Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 1995; 97m. VHS 7668
A study of Tennessee Williams’ life and work as a whole, ranging from his youth in Mississippi and in St. Louis to success and acclaim, followed by his difficult final years. Includes some of the most celebrated scenes from film adaptations of Williams’ work, as well as footage of Williams being interviewed. Includes conversations with David Frost, Edward R. Murrow, and Melvyn Bragg, as well as reminiscences from people who knew and worked with him, among them Edward Albee, Gore Vidal, and his lifelong friend, Lady Maria St. Just.
Top Girls; Insight Media; 2005; 175m. DVD 1850
Explores Caryl Churchhill’s play about the deliberate choices women must make about their own presentation for advancement in a patriarchal world. Includes commentary before the play and interviews with the playwright, director and cast members after the play.
What?—Who?—No!—She!—; British Universities Film; Video Council; 2000; 34m. VHS 9054
Dr. James Knowlson, director of the Beckett Archive at the University of Reading, explores with Billie Whitelaw the background of her performances of several of Beckett’s works.
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf; Broadway Theatre Archive; 2000; 77m. VHS 7765
Presents the visions and frustrations of six young women who are trying to come to terms with themselves and with being Black.
Fifth of July; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 117m. VHS 7744
In Lanford Wilson’s acclaimed Broadway play, college friends who agitated for what they hoped would be a better world find themselves looking for a way to revive their dreams.
Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities ; Monterey Video; 2003; 88m. VHS
8827
On August 19, 1991 in Crown Heights (Brooklyn, NY) a Hasidic man accidentally ran over a 7-year old Black boy (Gavin Cato). Three hours later a young Jewish scholar named Yankel Rosenbaum was murdered by Black youths. Four days of fire-bombing and riots ensued. Utilizing verbatim excerpts from interviews she conducted, Anna Deavere Smith acts out the roles of 18 people involved in the racial conflict, trying to present their differing viewpoints. Includes actual film footage of the riots and violence.
Into the Woods ; Brandman Productions / Image Entertainment; 1990; 153m. DVD 102
The fairy tale characters Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Jack (and the Beanstalk) are linked together with the characters of a baker and his wife. Their stories intertwine as they all search for something different in the woods. After they have all found happiness, they must band together to fight a giant.
Land of Little Rain; Monterey Home Video; 1999; 62m. VHS 7546
The story of American pioneer, poet, and author Mary Austin, a woman who broke with tradition in a way that is sparking renewed interest in her work generations later. It tells of Austin’s consuming desire to document in writing the vanishing way of life of the Paiute Indians living near her Independence, California home.
A Raisin in the Sun; Monterey Home Video; 1996; 171m. VHS 7111
Based in a Chicago ghetto in the mid 1950’s, A Raisin in the Sun is the story of the Younger family. The just-widowed mother, her son, his wife, and his sister live together and cope with bigotry, hatred, and the strains of everyday
living.
Sunday in the Park with George ; Brandman Productions / Image Entertainment; 1999; 146m. DVD 110
A musical interpretation of George Seurat’s painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte; the story is also loosely based on Seurat’s life. This performance was taped in 1986 before a live audience for television.
Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ; Monterey Video; 2000; 144m. VHS 7527
In this turbulent tale of a southern family, sultry Maggie tries desperately to entice her tortured alcoholic husband into bed while fighting his brother and sister-in-law for dying Big Daddy’s inheritance.
Aspects of Peking Opera ; Institute for Advanced Studies in the Theatre Arts; 198- ; 15m. VHS 3982
Hu Hung-yen, a Chinese dancer, begins with a demonstration of Peking opera make-up. She then performs various dance patterns and presents scenes from Butterfly Dream and The Scarf Dance.
Chekhov and the Moscow Art Theatre; Institute for Advanced Studies in the Theatre Arts; 1982; 13m. VHS 9601
Presents a brief history of the Moscow Art Theatre with photographs and scenes from The Cherry Orchard, directed by Yuri Zavadski.
Commedia Dell’arte; Institute for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts; 198- ; 13m VHS 2457
Presents the gallery of stock commedia characters focusing on the Maschere, the mask characters. Giovanni Poli provides the authentic voice quality, characteristic movements, and gestures of commedia dell’arte.
The Green Bird; Institute for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts; 1982; 35m. VHS 9298
Presents scenes from Gozzi’s The Green Bird to demonstrate the characteristic gestures and movements of commedia dell’arte.
Molière and the Comédie Française; Institute for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts; 1982; 16m. VHS 2459
Offers a brief history explaining Molière’s central place in the establishment of several significant French theaters, most notably the Comèdie Française. The program also analyzes the staging techniques employed by legendary actor and director Jacques Charon as exemplified by excerpts from The Misanthrope and Tartuffe.
Mudras: Hand Gestures of the Sanskrit Drama; Institute for Advanced Studies in the Theatre Arts; 198- ; 30m. VHS 9693
Shows traditional Sanskrit drama using classic dance forms of India in the play Vision of Vasavadatta.
Sanskrit Drama: The Vision of Vasavadatta; Institute for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts; 1980; 14m. VHS 4478
Examines the work of Mrinalini Sarabhai as a teacher and interpreter of classical Sanskrit drama and dance forms. Presents segments of the play The Vision of Vasavadatta by Bhasa.
Sheridan’s 18th Century England, Part 1: The Rivals; Institute for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts; 1987; 33m. VHS 2658
Outlines Sheridan’s life, discusses the creation of The Rivals, gives a brief history of the town of Bath (where the play is set) during the Age of Reason, and presents excerpts from the play.
The Spanish Golden Age of Theatre; Institute for Advanced Studies in Theatre Arts; 1987; 64m. VHS
9568
Contemporary actors and directors attempt to recreate the style of the Spanish Golden Age. Contents: Pt. 1 - Scenes from The Knight from Olmedo by Lope de Vega (38 min.); Pt. 2 - Scenes from The Phantom Lady by Calderón de la Barca (26m).
Ah, Wilderness! ; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 118m. VHS 7763
A Long Wharf Theatre Company production of Eugene O’Neill’s nostalgic paean to the rites of adolescence. This affectionate comedy presents a 17 year old boy’s coming of age during a summer in 1906 New England where he experiments with his first romantic crush, poetry, politics, wicked women and alcohol.
Alice in Wonderland ; Image Entertainment; 2001; 87m. DVD 2275
From the elaborate Broadway revival of the 1932 Eva Le Gallienne / Florida Friebus production comes a whimsical retelling of the Lewis Carroll classic.
Beyond the Horizon ; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 117m. VHS 7764
A McCarter Theatre Company production of Eugene O’Neill’s first full-length play, which won him a Pulitzer Prize. The play concerns two brothers in love with the same girl. Her rejection of one of them and marriage to the other tears apart a family and sets the stage for all three characters’ discontent and disillusionment. Includes introductory and concluding remarks about O’Neill given by Geraldine Fitzgerald.
Cyrano de Bergerac; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 150m. VHS 8470
An American Conservatory Theatre production of one of Rostand’s most celebrated plays. Rostand’s swashbuckling, romantic comedy is beloved for both its tragic love story and witty hero. A discussion about the American Conservatory Theatre is presented after the play.
The Eccentricities of a Nightingale; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 120m. VHS 7754
Tony Award-winning actress Blythe Danner portrays the sensitive spinster Alma Winemiller in this 1948 drama by Tennessee Williams, a radically revised version of his earlier play Summer and Smoke, set in Mississippi at the turn of the century. Frustrated with longing for the socially prominent young doctor next door, the eccentric, highly emotional minister’s daughter decides to settle for one night with him in a rented hotel room.
Hamlet; Broadway Theatre Archive / Image Entertainment; 2001; 173m. DVD 1780, VHS 7751
Kevin Kline’s minimalist version of Shakespeare’s tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, presented in modern
dress.
Happy Days; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 86m. VHS 7760
This spare, poetic play contains one of the most challenging female roles written by Beckett, that of Winnie, a woman filling her hours of hopeless incarceration with cheerful and incessant chatter. She attempts to stave off tragic destiny, assuring herself that she is in the midst of her happy days despite all signs to the contrary in this often humorous and yet grim vision of the human condition.
King Lear; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 185m. VHS 7752. Re-published by Image Entertainment; 2001; 176m. DVD 2944
A New York Shakespeare Festival production of William Shakespeare’s play in which tragedy occurs when an old king divides his kingdom between his daughters.
A Memory of Two Mondays; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 96m. VHS 7747
A production of Arthur Miller’s comedy-drama about life during the Depression. Program includes an introduction by Arthur Miller himself.
The Mound Builders; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 89 m. VHS 7743
Contrasts the goals of a team of archaeologists with the aspirations of local residents.
Mourning Becomes Electra; Broadway Theater Archive; 1999; 293m. VHS 7761
A television adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s classic American drama of love, revenge, murder and suicide. Set against the backdrop of a small New England town, it is a post-Civil War saga of a fictionalized family in a sometimes idealized, other times reflected version of O’Neill’s own life and family. Five epidodes, each with an afterword by Erich Segal. Contents: Part 1, Episodes 1 & 2 – The Secret, The Homecoming; Part 2, Episodes 3 & 4 – The Hunted, An Act of Justice; Part 3, Episode 5 – The Haunted.
Our Town; MasterVision; 1989; 104m. VHS 4067
Wilder’s play about the residents of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, during the early years of the twentieth century, performed by actors working without props on a virtually empty stage.
Paradise Lost; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 160m. VHS 7762
A production of the Clifford Odets’ play about the Gordon family and their misfortunes during the depression.
The Rimers of Eldritch; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 89m. VHS 7750
The soul of a dying town is revealed during a murder trial.
The Seagull; Image Entertainment; 2001; 117m. DVD 1162
A 1975 production by the Williamstown Theatre Festival of Chekhov’s classic comedy-drama depicting man’s propensity for destroying those he is close to. The main protagonists are Trepleff, the aspiring writer who dreams of bringing new forms to the theatre and Irina Arkadina, Trepleff’s self-centered mother, an accomplished actress who derides her son’s ambitions.
The School for Scandal; Kultur / Broadway Theatre Archive; 2000; 120m. DVD 2054
First performed in 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s sophisticated comedy of manners satirizes the extravagance and corruption of London society. The School for Scandal’s combination of elegant language and earthy comedy weaves a deliciously nasty tale of intrigue, slander and clandestine love affairs. Blair Brown stars in this timeless, witty look at the wages of scandal mongering and social climbing, scheming and hypocrisy.
Secret Service; Kultur; 200- ; 120m. DVD 2055
The Phoenix Theatre production of William Gillette’s 1895 spy thriller, set in Richmond, Virginia in 1864. Tells the tale of a Union spy working to seize control of the Richmond telegraph office. Posing as a wounded Confederate captain named Thorne, the spy’s false orders to a Confederate Army commander raise the suspicions of a southern agent, who uses a local girl in love with Thorne as his reluctant accomplice to set a trap.
The Taming of the Shrew; Broadway Theatre Archive; 199- ; 118m. VHS 7706
The American Conservatory Theatre of San Francisco’s production of Shakespeare’s comedy returns the play to its roots in Italian commedia dell’arte incorporating slapstick, pratfalls, and earthy humor into the production. Includes “A Conversation with William Ball” in which Harold Clurman and Bill Ball talk about the production of The Taming of the Shrew, and Ball’s approach to theater in general.
Tartuffe; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1978; 130m. VHS 8480
Moliere’s timeless comedy starring Donald Moffat as Tartuffe, who manipulates his way into the confidence and affection of Orgon, an affluent bourgeois concerned with his own salvation, and whose wife and daughter Tartuffe attempts to seduce.
The Time of Your Life; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 118m. VHS 7593
The Acting Company production of the Saroyan play that revolves around the denizens of a San Francisco bar in 1939. Lonely, lovelorn, weary or cynical, the characters drift in and out of the bar and each other’s lives, but at least one of the relationships stands a chance of enduring: a brawny innocent named Tom is falling in love with a vulnerable young hooker named Kitty.
A Touch of the Poet; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 300m. VHS 7758
Produced on Broadway in 1958, five years after Eugene O’Neill’s death, the play was conceived as part of a nine-play chronicle spanning 175 years in the life of an American family. Set in a shabby tavern outside Boston in 1828, A Touch of the Poet centers on Cornelius Melody, a proud Irishman who clings to memories of European gentility.
Awake and Sing ; Kultur / Broadway Theatre Archive; 2002; 100m. DVD 2050
A portrait of a Jewish family in a Bronx tenement perfectly captures the spirit of the Depression years.
Contemporary Theatre: Beckett: Waiting for Godot; Films for the Humanities; 1976; 45m. VHS 750
Presents Act II of Samuel Beckett’s tragicomedy Waiting for Godot, in which Beckett’s non-heroes, Didi and Gogo, wait and hope for Godot.
Dragon Country; Broadway Theatre Archive ; 2000; 90m. VHS 7770
Two plays by Tennessee Williams televised together as Dragon Country. The plays, I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow and Talk to me Like the Rain, and Let me Listen, concern psychological pain and alienation.
An Enemy of the People; Kultur / Broadway Theatre Archive ; 2003; 120m. DVD 2013
In a small town in Norway circa 1893, Dr. Thomas Stockman wants to disclose that Clearwater Springs, the town’s moneymaking health spa, has been fouled by pollution from a tannery. His proposal to go public is opposed by his brother, Peter—who also happens to be the town mayor—and prompts a wave of public outrage against Dr. Stockman and his family.
Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh; Broadway Theatre Archive / Image Entertainment; 2001; 210m. DVD 559
A film version of the Eugene O’Neill play which centers around drunks and whores who have found sanctuary in a saloon. Each has their own “pipe-dream” that sustains them until Hickey, the “Iceman”, attempts to free them from their illusions by stripping them of their lies and guilt. Contents: Disc 1 - Acts I-II; Disc 2 - Acts III-IV.
Krapp’s Last Tape; Pennebaker Associates; 1988; 55m. VHS 3259
A presentation of a definitive version, as he directed it, of Beckett’s one-man pay with a tape recorder.
Medea; Films for the Humanities & Sciences; 2006; 87m. DVD 2891
The Kennedy Center production of Euripides’ great classic about a woman driven by emotion beyond the brink of rationality.
A Moon for the Misbegotten; Broadway Theatre Archive; 2001; 140m. VHS 8475
Jason Robards portrays a cynical, self-hating alcoholic actor based on O’Neill’s elder brother, Jamie. Colleen Dewhurst plays the earthy, gruff daughter of his scheming Irish tenant farmer with whom the failed actor spends a soul-baring night of guilt-ridden confessions, tenderness, and absolution.
Scarecrow; Kultur; 2003; 105m. DVD 2062
In a 17th century Massachusetts town, a scarecrow is magically transformed into a man and charged with the mission of destroying true love.
Story Theatre; Broadway Theatre Archive; 1999; 78m. VHS 8481
Fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm come to vivid theatrical life in Paul Sills’ innovative Yale Repertory Theatre production. Taking simple narrative stories, Sills eliminated the customary use of sets and costumes and relied instead on the transforming talents of his gifted actors. Includes a discussion of the production by the cast. Contents: The Golden Goose; The Blue Light; The Clever Gretel; The Goose Girl; The Bremen Town Musicians.
Ten Blocks on the Camino Real; Broadway Theatre Archive; 2000; 69m. VHS 7786
Set in a fictional Latin American country populated by a worn-out Casanova, a nostalgic Camille, and a disillusioned Byron, Tennessee Williams’ allegorical one-act play stars Martin Sheen as an American G.I. named Kilroy, an ex-boxer with the soul of a poet.
Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie ; Image Entertainment; 2002; 105m. DVD 1303
A strong willed woman attempts to impose her shattered dreams into the life and personality of her shy, reclusive daughter.
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