The Law of gravity

Episode number 6 of Series “Changing stages”.
Final episode in the outstanding six-part series “Changing stages”, written and presented by Richard Eyre, about the history of theatre in the 20th century. During the last century, theatre was challenged by mass entertainment in the form of cinema, television and the internet. The one thing that has made theatre stand apart is its quality of being “live”, allowing an immediate interaction between actors and audience. In this program, Richard Eyre explores how theatre has survived and why it will continue to survive - from the influences of Antonin Artaud’s “theatre of cruelty”, to the commercial popular culture of the blockbuster musicals, to the experimental and avant-garde. He takes us into the 1980s and 90s through discussion, interviews and excerpts, analysing the commercialisation of theatre; the audience; the fusion of traditional theatre with multimedia technology such as robotics, puppetry and film; the construction and reconstruction of theatres, eg the National Theatre, the Olivier Theatre and the Globe Theatre. Eyre argues “that in order to survive, theatre must be more intense and more powerful than ordinary life”. Through interviews with playwrights, directors and actors including Robert Lepage (Needles and opium, 1993, Elsinore, 1997), Peter Brook (Marat Sade, 1966, In the act), Trevor Nunn (Les Miserables), Tony Kushner (Angels in America, 1993), Julie Taymor (The Lion king), Hal Prince, Stephen Daldry, Steven Berkoff, Deborah Warner, Tom Stoppard, and others, the question of where the stage of tomorrow is headed is discussed and debated. The series as a whole is informative, passionate, entertaining and beautifully presented, not only in defining theatre and its role in society, but also in providing an historical and critical appraisal of live drama in the 20th century with a particular emphasis on British theatre. Contains some b&w footage. For more information see www.pbs.org/wnet/changingstages.