Show of the week
Richard Eyre's survey of English-language theater in the past century is anything but stagebound. Not content to shuttle between drama capitals London and New York City, the former director of Britain's Royal National Theatre takes us to Nottingham (England), New Orleans, Paris, Provincetown (Mass.)—wherever great work has been conceived, written or produced. In the course of six hours spread over three Sundays, the dashing host comes to embody the dynamism of an art form that refuses to surrender the storytelling field to film and television.
There's a degree of Anglocentrism in Changing Stages, first seen last year on the BBC. But the series also includes valuable interview material with American giants such as Arthur Miller, Stephen Sondheim and the late Jason Robards. And Eyre's passion for his subject goes beyond borders. Bottom Line: Curtain up!
