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The Devils (play)
''The Devils'' is a play, commissioned by Sir Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company and written by British dramatist John Whiting, based on Aldous Huxley's 1952 book, ''The Devils of Loudun''. Performance ''The Devils'' had its first performance at London's Aldwych Theatre in February, 1961, with Dorothy Tutin portraying the deformed and hysterical Sister Jeanne of the Angels, and Richard Johnson as the existential hero, Father Urbain Grandier. Diana Rigg appeared in the supporting role of Philippe and Max Adrian played the zealot exorcist, Father Pierre Barre (Max Adrian himself would go on to appear in the film version of the play, albeit not as Pierre Barre, but as Ibert, the surgeon). Whiting revised his text in 1963, shortly before his death from cancer. The play was subsequently produced at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. under the direction of Zelda Fichandler, and on Broadway in 1965, with Anne Bancroft and Jason Robards in the leading roles. The Broadway ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Whiting
John Robert Whiting (15 November 1917 – 16 June 1963) was an English actor, dramatist and critic. Life and career Born in Salisbury, he was educated at Taunton School, "the particular hellish life which is the English public school" as he described it. Trained at RADA, he then worked as an actor in repertory, and while in the company at Bideford in Devon, met the actress Asthore Lloyd Mawson ("Jackie"). At the start of the Second World War, as a lifelong pacifist, he registered as a conscientious objector, but soon after changed his mind and joined the anti-aircraft section of the Royal Artillery: his wartime experiences as a soldier, which are vividly described in dark detail in diaries written at the time (now held in the V&A theatre museum collection) were to mark a profound change in his life and work. In 1940, he married Jackie; in 1944 he was discharged from the army for undisclosed health reasons. From 1946 until 1952, while writing, he again worked as an actor, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander H
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Aleksander and Aleksandr. Related names and diminutives include Iskandar, Alec, Alek, Alex, Alexandre (given name), Alexandre, Aleks (given name), Aleks, Aleksa (given name), Aleksa and Sander (name), Sander; feminine forms include Alexandra, Alexandria (given name), Alexandria, and Sasha (name), Sasha. Etymology The name ''Alexander'' originates from the (; 'defending men' or 'protector of men'). It is a compound of the verb (; 'to ward off, avert, defend') and the noun (, genetive, genitive: , ; meaning 'man'). It is an example of the widespread motif of Greek names expressing "battle-prowess", in this case the ability to withstand or push back an enemy shield wall, battle line. The earliest Attested langua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the title "Eminence" applied to cardinals and the red robes that they customarily wear. Consecrated a bishop in 1607, Richelieu was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1616. He continued to rise through the hierarchy of both the Catholic Church and the French government by becoming a cardinal in 1622 and chief minister to King Louis XIII of France in 1624. He retained that office until his death in 1642, when he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin, whose career he had fostered. He also became engaged in a bitter dispute with the king's mother, Marie de Médicis, who had once been a close ally. Richelieu sought to consolidate royal power and restrained the power of the nobility in order to transform France into a strong centralized state. In foreig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urbain Grandier
Urbain Grandier (1590 – 18 August 1634) was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft, following the events of the so-called "Loudun possessions". Most modern commentators have concluded that Grandier was the victim of a politically motivated persecution led by the powerful Cardinal Richelieu. The circumstances of Father Grandier's trial and execution have attracted the attention of writers Alexandre Dumas père, Eyvind Johnson, Aldous Huxley and the playwright John Whiting, filmmaker Ken Russell, composers like Krzysztof Penderecki and Peter Maxwell Davies, as well as historian Jules Michelet and various scholars of European witchcraft. Life Grandier attended the Jesuit college of La Madeleine in Bordeaux. His uncle was a priest who held some influence with the Jesuits there. They held the right to appoint the parish priest for the Church of Saint-Pierre-du-Marche in Loudun, and in 1617 chose Grandier. They also had the right t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loudun
Loudun (; ; Poitevin dialect, Poitevin: ''Loudin'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Vienne Departments of France, department and the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, western France. It is located south of the town of Chinon and 25 km to the east of the town Thouars. The area south of Loudun is the place of origin of a significant portion of the Acadians, one of the early founding people of New France in Canada. Demographics Sights An ancient town, Loudun contains numerous old streets, and buildings and monuments of which five are Monument historique, Government-listed monuments. It is also the location of a Vicus (Rome), vicus type archaeological site. History * The Treaty of Loudun, negotiated and signed in Loudun on May 3, 1616, temporarily resolved the power struggle for control of the French government between the Henri, Prince of Condé (1588–1646), Prince of Condé (next in line for Louis XIII's throne) and queen mother Marie de Medici's f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Naylor
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, אברהם בן אברהם). Bar-, "son of" in Aramaic, is also seen, e.g. Simon bar Kokhba ( he, שמעון בר כוכבא). Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin'' (بن), ''Ibn''/''ebn'' (ابن). People with the given name * Ben Adams (born 1981), member of the British boy band A1 * Ben Affleck (born 1972), American Academy Award-winning actor and screenwriter * Ben Ashkenazy (born 1968/69), American billionaire real estate developer * Ben Askren (born 1984), American sport wrestler and mixed martial artist * Ben Banogu (born 1996), American football player * Ben Barba (born 1989), Australian rugby player * Ben Barnes (other), multiple people * Ben Bartch (born 1998), American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Central School Of Speech And Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a constituent college of the University of London in 2005 and is a member of Conservatoires UK and the Federation of Drama Schools. Courses The school offers undergraduate, postgraduate, research degrees and short courses in acting, actor training, applied theatre, theatre crafts and making, design, drama therapy, movement, musical theatre, performance, producing, research, scenography, stage management, teacher training, technical arts, voice and writing. History In 2006, the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art was absorbed into Central. On 29 November 2012, the 'Royal' title was bestowed on the school by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of its reputation as a "world-class institution for exceptional professional training in theatr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Parslow
Frederick Henry Parslow (14 August 1932 – 26 January 2017) was an Australian actor, who appeared in film, television and theatre. Acting career Parslow was notable in several film and TV roles, with parts in internationally successful TV soap opera's ''The Sullivans'' and '' Neighbours'' and was active in theatre, having served as a member of the Melbourne Theatre Company for nearly thirty years, joining the company when it was founded in 1953, known then the Union Theatre Repertory Company, and making his first performance with in a touring production of ''Twelfth Night'' Whilst a dominant figure on the Melbourne theatre scene, Parslow was generally reluctant to take on television roles. He made television appearances in the 1960s, in comedy and variety sketches with theatre colleagues on ''The Ray Taylor Show'' and ''In Melbourne Tonight''. Minor roles included Crawford Productions staples '' Bluey'', '' Skyways'', and ''Cop Shop''. Parslow's also featured in several TV ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melbourne Theatre Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre company in Australia. The company's Southbank Theatre houses the 500-seat Sumner and the 150-seat Lawler, and the company also performs in the Arts Centre Melbourne's Fairfax Studio and Playhouse, all located in Melbourne's Arts Precinct in Southbank. Considered Victoria's state theatre company, it formally comes under the auspices of the University of Melbourne. As of 2013 it offered a Mainstage Season of ten to twelve plays each year, as well as education, family and creative development activities, and reported having a subscriber base of approximately 20,000 people and played to a around quarter of a million people annually. History The Melbourne Theatre Company was founded in 1953 by John Sumner as the Union Theatre Repertory Company, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Langella
Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. He has won four Tony Awards: two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's '' Frost/Nixon'' and as André in Florian Zeller's '' The Father'', and two for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performances in Edward Albee's '' Seascape'' and Ivan Turgenev's '' Fortune's Fool''. His reprisal of the Nixon role in the film production of ''Frost/Nixon'' earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Langella has starred in films such as ''Diary of a Mad Housewife'' (1970), Mel Brooks' ''The Twelve Chairs'' (1970), '' Dracula'' (1979), ''Masters of the Universe'' (1987), ''Dave'' (1993), ''Good Night, and Good Luck'' (2005), ''Starting Out in the Evening'' (2007), ''Robot & Frank'' (2012), '' Captain Fantastic'' (2016), and ''The Trial of the Chicago 7'' (2020). He is also known for his performances in the HBO television movies ''Muhammad Ali's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Davidson (director)
Gordon Davidson (May 7, 1933 – October 2, 2016) was an American stage and film director and the founding artistic director of Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. Early life Gordon Davidson was born on May 7, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Cornell University in 1956, studying electrical engineering, and received a master's in theater from Case Western Reserve University in 1957. He described his Jewish faith and heritage: “My paternal grandfather, born in a small town near Kyiv, was Orthodox; my father was Conservative; and I’m Reform.” Career Moving to Los Angeles in 1963 to serve as Director of the Theatre Group based at UCLA, Gordon Davidson was selected in 1967 to be Artistic Director of the then new Mark Taper Forum and staged as the inaugural show '' The Devils'' followed by ''In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer''. Davidson directed over 40 plays including ''The Trial of the Catonsville Nine'' and ''Murderous Angels'' in 1971, '' Children of a L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
