How can a handful of words, scribbled on a napkin or a train schedule, grow into a timeless play? How does a storyteller create characters with lives and intentions of their own? Is writing a miraculous act, impossible to explain or describe, or is it 90 percent perspiration? In this program, a chorus of famous authors discuss creative strategies that lead to emotionally charged stories and dramatic narratives. The video weaves together rarely seen...

While the pace of the third and final year of the master's program does not let up, the real-world necessities of an acting career begin to loom large. In this documentary, the eight students who comprise the class of 2000 culminate their training and prepare for the harsh realities of trying to make a living as actors. A key event is the showcase presentation each student performs before an audience of agents. The finishing exercise for the class...

An adaptation of the popular Michael Frayn stage-play based around a strange trip the German physicist Werner Heisenberg made to Copenhagen in 1941 to see his Danish counterpart Niels Bohr. Old friends and close colleagues, they had revolutionized atomic physics in the 1920s with their work together. But now the world had changed and the two men were on opposite sides in a world war. The meeting was fraught with danger and embarrassment and ended...

On this episode of Camera Three, Rolf Hochhuth and Hannah Arendt examine the controversial themes surrounding Hochhuth's play, The Deputy. Hochhuth provides evidence that Pope Pius XII refused to protest the extermination of the Jews in Germany during the reign of the Third Reich.

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...

A contemporary interpretation of Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece, this beautifully crafted program scrutinizes what is colloquially referred to as the battle of the sexes. Production values convincingly re-create the world of the Bronze Age, but commentary from modern scholars evokes themes easily recognizable in the 21st century: Who holds the real power in male/female relationships? Why are women so often objects of male fear as well as desire?...

A documentary portrait of this bold theatrical innovator and his work. The program shows his roots and the theatrical and social background of his formative years, and analyzes the development of his vision of the theatre-episode in place of Aristotelian plot, the use of nonliterary devices, new techniques in character portrayal, and new aims for the very concept of theatre.

David Hugh Jones directs the adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1897 play. The American Revolutionary war is in its second year, affecting even the smallest communities. In a New Hampshire village, Dick Dudgeon, the "black sheep" of his family, believes in the right to happiness and proclaims himself a rebel against the British. Despite Dick's self-proclaimed apostasy, the local minister Anthony Anderson treats him with courtesy. When soldiers mistake...

The conflict between genius and mediocrity is one of his favorite themes. Amadeus, Equus, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Black Comedy-Peter Shaffer is one of the most successful dramatists of our time. In this program, Shaffer, an Englishman who lives in New York, discusses his views on literature, movies, theater, and music. Part actor, part pianist, he demonstrates his skill at both.

In a London psychiatric hospital, an enigmatic young man claims, among other things, to be the son of an exiled African dictator - a story that becomes unnervingly plausible. In a fiery and suspenseful debate, his doctor and consultant clash over the patient's diagnosis and treatment. What ensues is an incendiary tale of race, madness and a Darwinian power struggle at the heart of a dying NHS. Filmed on location in London, this dynamic and often very...