Theatre and cinema in Britain

The theatre has always been very strong in Britain. Its center is, of course, London, where successful plays can sometimes run without a break for many years. But every large town in the country has its theatres. Even small towns often have "repertory" theatres, where different plays are performed for short periods by the same group of professional actors (a repertory company).

It seems that the theatrical play gives the undemonstrative British people a safe opportunity to look behind the mask of accepted social behaviour. The country's most successful and respected playwrights are usually those who explore the darker side of the personality and of personal relationships.

British theatre has such a fine acting tradition that Hollywood is forever raiding its talent for people to star in films. British television does the same thing. Moreover, Broadway, when looking for its next blockbuster musical, pays close attention to London productions. In short, British theatre is much admired. As a consequence, it is something that British actors are proud of. Many of the most well-known television actors, though they might make most of their money in this latter medium, continue to see themselves as first and foremost theatre actors.

In contrast, the cinema in Britain is often regarded as not quite part of "the arts" at all — it is simply entertainment. Partly for this reason, Britain is unique among the large European countries in giving almost no financial help to its film industry.

Therefore, although cinema-going is a regular habit for a much larger number of people than is theatre-going, British film directors often have to go to Hollywood because the resources they need are not available in Britain. As a result, comparatively few films of quality are made in the country. This is not because expertise in film making does not exist. It does. American productions often use studios and technical facilities in Britain. Moreover, some of the films which Britain does manage to make become highly respected around the world. But even these films often make a financial loss.

(from Britain, abridged)

STEVEN SPIELBERG: MOVIE WIZARD

He seems to be the all-power wizard and a cinematic magician for us. His films make us scream with laughter or shiver with horror.

The son of a computer scientist and a gifted pianist, Spielberg spent his early childhood in New Jersey and, later, Arizona. He was 11 when he first got his dad's camera and began shooting short films about flying saucers and World War Two battles.

At the age of 13 he won a contest with his 40-minute film Escape to Nowhere. At the age of 16 he produced the movie Firelight and it was shown at the local cinema.

But a real success came in 1975, when Spielberg created Jaws. That little fish tale became the biggest hit of its time. This movie opened up the doors for Spielberg to work on many more great projects. And he went on to shake Hollywood with Close Encounters, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, and Jurassic Park.

Today, Spielberg is one of the most financially successful filmmakers ever. But his talents aren't limited to the movie set. Spielberg has also proved to be one of Hollywood's most nimble entrepreneurs. His business empire includes video games, toys and even restaurants.

But what is his source of inspiration? He draws it from his 7 children (two of them are adopted). Spielberg likes to spend time with his children. His house resembles a large playground — he keeps there 2 parrots, several snakes, and a fish tank.

Ask him where he gets his ideas and he shrugs. "The process for me is mostly intuitive," he says. "There are movies I feel that I need to make, for a variety of reasons, for personal reasons, for reasons that I want to have fun, that the subject matter is cool, that I think my kids will like it."

Does he ever worry that he will run out of ideas? "I don't have enough time in a lifetime to tell all the stories I want to tell," says Spielberg. It sounds like the story master is going to be busy for a long, long time...

(from Speak Out, abridged)

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