Stage Left (film)

Stage Left: A Story of Theater in San Francisco (2011) is a documentary film about the history of theater in the San Francisco Bay Area from about 1952 until 2010. The film was directed by Austin Forbord, and features Robin Williams, Peter Coyote, Herbert Blau, Tony Taccone, Oskar Eustis, Bill Irwin, Joan Holden, R. G. Davis, Richard "Scrumbly" Koldewyn, and is narrated by Marga Gomez.

The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2011 and aired on KQED-TV on November 11, 2012.

External links

Blocking (stage)

In theatre, blocking is the precise staging of actors in order to facilitate the performance of a play, ballet, film or opera. The term derives from the practice of 19th-century theatre directors such as Sir W. S. Gilbert who worked out the staging of a scene on a miniature stage using blocks to represent each of the actors. (Gilbert's practice is depicted in Mike Leigh's 1999 film Topsy-Turvy.)

In contemporary theatre, the director usually determines blocking during rehearsal, telling actors where they should move for the proper dramatic effect, ensure sight lines for the audience and work with the lighting design of the scene.

Each scene in a play is usually "blocked" as a unit, after which the director will move on to the next scene. The positioning of actors on stage in one scene will usually affect the possibilities for subsequent positioning unless the stage is cleared between scenes. During the blocking rehearsal, the assistant director, stage manager or both take notes about where actors are positioned and their movements on stage. It is especially important for the stage manager to note the actors' positions, as a director is not usually present for each performance, and it becomes the stage manager's job to ensure that actors follow the assigned blocking from night to night.

Stage Left

Stage Left is Martin Barre's fourth studio CD, released in 2003. The title is a reference to his hallowed position on the Jethro Tull stage assignment. It was the first album of Martin Barre to be released both in U.K and in the United States. Stage Left was supported with a tour in small venues.

Musical Style

Featuring 13 instrumental tracks (and one with vocals, "Don't Say a Word"), Barre moves through a wide range of guitar-based styles including (but not limited to) classical and blues acoustics, progressive rock, acoustic folk, 80s-styled finger picking and even ambient electronic styles.

Martin stated that the album was conceived with most attention to the melodies, thinking always in the balance between acoustic and electric pieces. The album shows a great variety of guitars and other string instruments, as the bouzouki and the mandolin.

Critical Reception

AllMusic review, by William Ruhlmann, was positive. Giving three stars, the review goes to praise Martin taste for melodies instead of simple guitar solos, also stating Martin "highly textured approach, playing electric rock guitar much of the time as if he was playing English folk music on an acoustic."