In the Company of Joan Littlewood
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- čas přidán 14. 03. 2024
- I put together this 2016 documentary to examine the life and work of Joan Littlewood - the foremother of modern theatre, who opened a door in the arts to working class actors and audiences alike.
OH WHAT A LOVELY
documentary!
😊
Thank you for this magnificent celebration of a giant of British theatre. Everyone who cares about theatre should see it. Brilliant, inspiring stuff.
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch it Mike - the stories of these inspiring forebears of people’s theatre shouldn’t be forgotten and with folk like you gathering them up they won’t be. Much appreciated.
Oh what a lovely comment! (Thank you)
She was a fan of my Dad's, believe it or not. I'll never forget the day he received a hand-written fan letter from her. It was one of the happiest moments of his professional life. At the time I had only a minimal awareness of who Joan Littlewood was, but I recently found her letter in his desk and remembered his excitement about it. Dad was never a demonstrative or ebullient man - despite being an actor - but he framed Joan's letter! (But he was too modest to display it on a wall publicly, so it stayed in his desk drawer for the remainder of his life). I clicked on this documentary to finally learn more about such an important theatrical personage, who I ought to have researched years before. Glad I found this. Thank you.
I am delighted and honoured that you chose to share this story about your dear dad on this strand. I love the tale and think it’s such a beautiful thing that he kept it framed in a drawer - no wonder! What a gorgeous hidden piece of this tale. Thank you so much for watching the film too. I’ve another about Joan that I’ve almost completed and after I’ve tried it at festivals I’ll be uploading it onto CZcams too. Pop back in a few months if you fancy another Joan-based film. (This one is about her practices and politics from the lips of those who worked with her - including the wonderful Glynn Edwards who I was lucky enough to speak with before his passing)
@@hysterialane24 Thank you so much. I'll certainly be looking out for the next film. There was more that I wanted to mention, but I didn't want to babble: Two of the interviewees are standing next to the plaque for Ken Hill in the theatre bar- well, Ken was a dear friend. He worked with Dad dozens of times over the years, and was one of Dad's most frequent Directors. Dad was in one of Ken's plays - at Stratford E. - while I was being born! He went into work covered in afterbirth, according to family legend. And Ken's wife, Toni Palmer, also a dear friend (and mentioned in the documentary) appeared many times with Dad over the years. I have an old clip of Toni and Dad doing a song and dance number in one of Ken's pieces. So many funny little connections. Salford, Manchester, an important location in Joan's history, is where my Grandma, Leila Berg was born and raised. She went on to be highly active in the Communist party, and also heavily involved in the Spanish Civil War. Probably knew Joan! (She was a celebrated and outspoken political and social activist throughout the same era). Lot's of elements in your documentary triggered goosebumps for me and echoed bits of semi-remembered family history. It was an excellent and well put together piece of work. I very much enjoyed it. (And I apologise for succumbing to the babble. I have autism and can't help monologuing sometimes!)
@@kitsworld This is what I made the film for - those connections are NOT babble. They are beautiful and important stories as well as being vitally important documents of the people’s history of these shores - I genuinely hope that one day we meet and that I can hear MUCH MUCH MORE “babble” as I’m utterly fascinated by your tales and grateful to hear them. Toni Palmer is a missing piece for me and a wonderful actor. And as for your dear grandmother - there’s a documentary a book a play and an LP in the telling of her life story! Incredible. Thank you for such a candid and personal sharing - it is deeply appreciated, Wendy
May I ask, who was your father? I may have heard of him.
@@johnohara197 Hi John, I tried to reply to this already but I think CZcams deleted it - I posted links to Dad's Theatricalia and IMDB pages, which may be why. Anyway, I can't believe I did all that typing and forgot to mention his name: Frank Ellis. I would love to hear back if you ever crossed paths. If you're in the biz you might have done. Cheers, Kit.
joan littlewood knows more about the theatre than anybody else not bad for a woman
She was and is THE radical change maker - second to none! Thanks for watching
Marvellous documentary. Thank you for educating me. Truly thanks.
Thank YOU for taking the time to listen to these crucially important voices of people’s theatre history - much appreciated.
I so well remember my parents taking me to the Theatre Royal Stratford E15 . We saw Ewan McColl , Burl Ives and other plays.A tiny Theatre, one felt as if one were almost on the stage with the performers.
What a wonderful comment - sounds like golden memories. Thank you so much for sharing.