Research Catalog

Title

Sodium pentathol exercise. [Jan. 2, 1968] [videorecording]

Publication

1968.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Robbins, Jerome.
• Guare, John.
• Stone, Tom.
• Frey, Leonard, 1938-
• Preston, J. A.
• American Theatre Laboratory (New York, N.Y.)

Description

1 videocassette (VHS, NTSC) (62 min.) : sd., b&w; 1/2 in.

Summary

Jerome Robbins directs a series of improvisational exercises. The first exercise takes the form of a theater audition, and the actors perform in pairs, one playing a puppet and the other the master controlling it. The second exercise is set in a hospital with one actor as a patient on an operating table. There are three versions of this exercise, the third incorporating the script called Jackie's testimony. This is a scene from an untitled work in progress, in which the character of Jacqueline Kennedy gives testimony before the Warren Commission.

Series Statement

Jerome Robbins Collection

Alternative Title

• American Theatre Laboratory workshop.
• Puppets.
• Jackie's testimony.

Subjects

• Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994 > Drama
• Kennedy, John F (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 > Assassination > Drama
• Improvisation (Acting)
• Video
• Drama
• Experimental theater > New York (State) > New York

Genre/Form

• Drama.
• Video.

Note

• Title from original container.
• No time/date code on frame.

Access (note)

• Permission required.

Event (note)

• Videotaped in American Theatre Laboratory workshop, in New York City, on Jan. 2, 1968.

Funding (note)

• Preservation made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biography (note)

• American Theatre Laboratory was created in 1966 by Jerome Robbins, with a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The experimental theater workshop rehearsed several projects but did not produce any shows. Jerome Robbins directed all sessions. One project took the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as a subject. The script, begun by Tom Stone and further developed by John Guare, was adapted from the Warren Commission Report, and the staging was influenced by Japanese Noh drama. Scenes from this project were rehearsed in many different forms and with different casts. American Theatre Laboratory disbanded in 1968.

Call Number

*MGZIA 4-6258 JRC

OCLC

NYPT03-F277

Title

Sodium pentathol exercise. [Jan. 2, 1968] [videorecording]

Imprint

1968.

Country of Producing Entity

U.S.

Series

Jerome Robbins Collection

Restricted Access

Permission required.

Performer

Performed by members of the American Theatre Laboratory, including Leonard Frey and James Preston.

Event

Videotaped in American Theatre Laboratory workshop, in New York City, on Jan. 2, 1968.

Funding

Preservation made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biography

American Theatre Laboratory was created in 1966 by Jerome Robbins, with a $300,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The experimental theater workshop rehearsed several projects but did not produce any shows. Jerome Robbins directed all sessions. One project took the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as a subject. The script, begun by Tom Stone and further developed by John Guare, was adapted from the Warren Commission Report, and the staging was influenced by Japanese Noh drama. Scenes from this project were rehearsed in many different forms and with different casts. American Theatre Laboratory disbanded in 1968.

Added Author

Robbins, Jerome. Director

Guare, John. Author

Stone, Tom. Author

Frey, Leonard, 1938- Performer

Preston, J. A. Performer

American Theatre Laboratory (New York, N.Y.)

Other Title

American Theatre Laboratory workshop.

Puppets.

Jackie's testimony.

Research Call Number

*MGZIA 4-6258 JRC