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Merrill Brockway

Directing

Known For

Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage
9.0

A study of Tennessee Williams's life and work as a whole, ranging from his youth in Mississippi and in St. Louis to success and acclaim, followed by the final difficult years. Includes some of the most celebrated scenes from film adaptations of Williams' work, among them extracts of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951),Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Night of the Iguana, The (1964), and Suddenly, Last Summer (1993) (TV). Contains footage of Williams being interviewed, including conversations with David Frost, 'Edward R. Murrow (I)', 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. Features readings from Elia Kazan's Notebook by Kim Hunter.

Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage

1994Movie
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Two of the greatest stars of Japan’s kabuki theater reveal what has only rarely been seen: the actual acting techniques used in this most difficult and splendid of theater forms. Onoe Shoroku II and Onoe Baiko VII discuss and demonstrate their craft in conversation with the well-known author of works on Asian arts, Faubion Bowers. Includes film of great kabuki performances of the past. These great kabuki actors make the mechanics of theater kata (poses) clear and show some of the gestures and nuances of body language that communicate specific emotions and situations. Baiko, a famous player of women’s roles, performs a classic woman’s speech in full costume and heavy white-face make-up, and then does the same scene again in plain face and simple clothes. He shows how the Japanese fan speaks in its own language. He and Shoroku act out a fight scene; Shoroku demonstrates one of kabuki’s elaborate exit walk sequences, and compares different ways of making stylized gestures.

Kabuki Techniques

1969Movie