On my Theatre Weekends in NYC I tend to watch 4 or 5 plays, which I spread out over the next month or so under the guise of One-Play-Per-Week. When I am at home, I try to see something local, but often there is nothing to watch which is when I turn to the Internet.YouTube has a lot to offer, so here is a round-up of three classic plays I watched recently.

The Importance of Being Earnest

All you ever wanted to know about The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest

Available on YouTube as of July 2014, this snappy production from 1986 stars Joan Plowright, Paul McGann, Rupert Frazer, Amanda Redman, and Natalie Ogle. It’s a classic comedy, centering around mistaken identity and marrying the right (rich) person. In the end it’s more important who you are at birth than anything you do with your life subsequently. Wilde clearly had lots to say. Plowright is fierce in a roll that is sometimes played by a man, McGann is fabulously handsome and very Ernest, it’s all very, very BBC.

What the Butler Saw

All you ever wanted to know about What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Butler_Saw_(play)

This 1987 BBC production starring Dinsdale Landen, Prunella Scales, and Timothy West is available for viewing as of July 2014. Orton is best known for being outrageous yet canny. This play explores sexual exploits in all its variety, and ultimately how these things are completely misunderstood by outsiders, particularly in the mental health industry. Is that fellow wearing a dress because he wants to be a woman?…. or is he just trying to disguise himself from the police? This production is particularly smooth, with very little actual nudity.

The Room

All you ever wanted to know about The Room by Harold Pinter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(play)

The Room is a very early short play by Harold Pinter, described as a Comedy of Menace. Below is a link to the production from 1987 starring Linda Hunt, Julian Sands, Annie Lennox, and Donald Pleasance; directed by Robert Altman. It is a subtle and sneaky play that I just love to pieces.  The main character Rose pushes out the claustrophobia of the tiny room by constantly talking, but it only takes a few mysterious guests to collapse everything and … Well, see for yourselves.

This video was mentioned by Julian Sands himself in A Celebration of Pinter. See my review HERE.

Available on YouTube as of July 2014