Theatre History

Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1989, 21 minutes
A survey of the sites of ancient Greek theaters.

Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2001, 53 minutes
"Why do plays well over two millennia old still speak to audiences today? This program traces Greek theater from ancient harvest rites to the golden age of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. Key scenes from Antigone, Oedipus Tyrannus, 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"

Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2003, 36 minutes
"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."

Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1995, 51 minutes
"This pseudo-biography juxtaposes elements of Aristophanic plays with the activities of contemporaneous people to show how Aristophanes became the father of political satire and why his theatrical innovations are still staples of the contemporary theatre."

Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2004, 45 minutes
"This definitive program traces the development of medieval drama, from Hildegard von Bingen's musical morality play Ordo Virtutum (The ritual of the virtues) to the seminal Everyman. Featuring extended excerpts from these influential works, as well as from The Second Shepherd's play and the 1998 staging of the Mystery Cycle in York, England, the video also establishes the genre's socioreligious context."

Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1998, 55 minutes
"Background on and scenes from the York mystery plays as recreated in 1998 for the York Early Music Festival in England. These short plays were performed and staged by both the York guilds and local theatrical companies and were recreated, for the most part, using technology that would have been available to the guilds in the 16th century. Plays portray Biblical scenes and stories from the Creation to the Last Judgment."

Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1994, 23 minutes
"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."

Films For The Humanities & Sciences, 1993, 54 minutes
"The definitive study of Stanislavsky, the creator of method acting and founder of the Moscow Art Theatre. Retraces his life and work against the tumultuous backdrop of a Russia which variously censored, spied on, adulated and co-opted him. Using previously unknown footage, the program shows how one creative artist interacted with other giants of his era: from Lenin to Stalin, Meyerhold to Mayakovsky, Isadora Duncan to Stella Adler. Includes scenes from Stanislavsky's various productions."

Creative Arts Television, 1978, 27 minutes
"Comedian Joey Faye and his wife Judi Faye perform some of the old time burlesque skits and discuss the rise and fall of this once popular theater form. Also on hand are theater owner Morton Minsky, the last of the famous family that presented burlesque in New York City for two generations, and Bill Green, historian and professor at Queens College, NYC. Archive photos trace the 60-70 year period in which the great names of burlesque were so prominent on the theater scene, and in which many celebrated actors got their start on the burlesque stage (for example Red Buttons, Sophie Tucker, Gypsy Rose Lee, Bert Lahr, Jackie Gleason, Phil Silvers.) 1978."

Creative Arts Television, 1966, 29 minutes
"Steve Mills, an old-timer from the world of vaudeville, a "top banana" as he was called, with help from Caro Cormic, Abagail Chase, Dexter Maitland, and Harry Ryan, presents well known skits from the golden days of burlesque. These are dramatic bits, often with outsized props, that audiences knew well and expected to see again and again. Some examples: "The Telephone", "Sonny Boy," "Nagging Woman," "The Olio," and "In the Alley." Mills points out that these skits were not written down and were borrowed back and forth among performers, each of whom gave them a special twist. They all included stock characters, living stereotypes with predetermined punch lines. 1966."

Creative Arts Television, 1957, 25 minutes
"German theater of the years between the two world wars, often considered part of the European "Expressionist" movement, was, in its most inventive aspects, a theater of opposition. It was a theater of protest against the values of the society that had prosecuted World War One, against bourgeois smugness, and then against the Germans' acceptance of the authoritatianism of National Socialism. The plays from which scenes are presented here are "Gas" by Georg Kaiser, "Hoopla! Such is Life!" by Ernst Toller, and "The Private Life of the Master Race" by Bertolt Brecht."