I love live theater. I love plays and would like to view them in the comfort of my living room. Filmed plays, rather than plays made into films.
Anyone know of a good resource?
I don’t know of a source, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the taped performance of Bullshot Crummond I saw back in the late-'70s or early-'80s.
That’s exactly the kind of stuff I’m looking for. I remember that show, too.
It might be difficult to find recordings of specific performances. For most productions there is a recording made for archives and it is illigal to distribute them. A recording would have had to been made with the specific purpose of distribution and there is not much of a demand for it. Theatre generally does not translate well into film without modifications and a recording with an audience would almost have to be from limitied cameras. It tends to make the performance seem flat.
I love theatre but I am not a fan of watching it on film. The two mediums don’t fit together as nicely as you would imagine.
If you are looking for a specific performance you might want to ask the company that produced the play to see if any recording was made. Other than that I can’t be of much help.
If you ever find a source, I’d also suggest Butley from the 1970s, with Alan Bates. At least, I thought it was filmed from the live theater, then shown in a film.
This is actually a film written by David Mamet, but it consists entirely of a rehearsal of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya performed by New York actors. There are no props or costumes and the theatre they are in is falling apart, but after about five minutes you don’t notice it.
This is one of my all-time favorites.