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Hailed by Newsweek as "the most exciting individual in American theater," Anna Deavere Smith uses her solo performances as a public medium to explore issues of race, identity, and community in America. Inspired by her grandfather who told her, "Say a word often enough, and it becomes you," Deavere Smith has interviewed more than 2,000 people across the country for 20 years. Without props, sets, or costumes, she translates these encounters into profound...
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This 1949 film starring the comedian Danny Kaye is a loose adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's famous play The Inspector General. Kaye plays a vagabond who wanders into a strange town and is mistaken by corrupt local officials for the inspector general. Also starring Walter Slezak and Elsa Lanchester.
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Gilbert set the first act of his opera off the rocky coast of Cornwall, where a band of good-natured and inefficient pirates are celebrating the release of their young apprentice, Frederic (Rex Smith), from his indentures. Frederic, however, shocks them with his revelation that he intends to leave them to lead an honest life, since he became a pirate in the first place only by accident. As a little lad his father had instructed his nursery maid, Ruth...
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Acclaimed playwright David Fennario has always called Montreal's working-class Verdun and Point Saint-Charles districts home. Their streets have inspired the work that's made him famous as a powerful storyteller and activist author. Join Fennario for a performance of his funny and touching one-man play Banana Boots in this classic documentary that recounts his memories of Verdun's avenues and his journey to Belfast for the Irish premiere of his hit...
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In this program, the Living Theater Company performs two segments from their Mysteries and Smaller Pieces: The Brig Dollar and The Plague. The excerpts are introduced by founder-directors Julian Beck and Judith Malina, who discuss the goals of the work and the ideas of their group with arts critic Jack Kroll. The Living Theater was a well-known repertory company in the late 40s and through the 60s whose work was radical, experimental, and confrontational,...
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This video tells the story of Jewish and Dominican teenagers in New York City's Washington Heights, who together with the legendary theater director, Liz Swados, put on a musical about the Dominican rescue of 800 Jews from Hitler's Germany. Award winning filmmakers Peter Miller and Renee Silverman interweave an intimate, behind-the-scenes portrait of the neighborhood with this little-known Holocaust story. Through the young actors' eyes, we are introduced...
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Not long after the start of the 20th century, playwrights, influenced by the horrors of two world wars, began to experiment with theater in a way which depicted many long-held historical, social, and cultural beliefs and practices as being meaningless and chaotic. Incorporating interviews with influential directors Bijan Sheibani, Steven Berkoff, and others, this program traces the evolution of modern theater from its existentialist roots through...
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An ambitious stepmother, a pragmatic father, impassioned sweethearts, and starry-eyed suitors are all sent spinning in Oliver Goldsmith's classic comedy of manners-and errors. Directed by Max Stafford-Clark and recorded at The Theatre Royal in Bath, this production of She Stoops to Conquer played to rave reviews. Staged with authentic costumes and sets, the commonly anthologized play makes an excellent introduction to 18th-century theater.
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Filmed entirely on location, this kaleidoscopic program takes an intimate look at stagecraft at the Stratford Festival, Canada’s preeminent drama venue. Rehearsal and acting workshop footage spotlight a variety of specialties including voice coaching, fight choreography, wardrobe, makeup, props, lighting, and music. In addition, clips from the Festival’s 2001 season showcase esteemed veterans such as William Hutt as well as talented newcomers...
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Oscar winner Meryl Streep stars in this delightful "music hall" adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Also starring Emmy winner Debbie Allen, Mark Linn-Baker (My Favorite Year) and Betty Aberlin (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood), Alice at the Palace is an entertaining and shrewdly conceived retelling of the Lewis Carroll classics with all of the beloved characters - from the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat to...