
PLAY OF THE WEEK, THE: DON JUAN IN HELL (TV)
Summary
One in this weekly dramatic series. This modern-dress version of the third section of "Man and Superman," George Bernard Shaw's sardonic look at civilization and the human condition, features a stage manager whose comments and interaction with the cast serve to frame the play itself. The stage is initially bare except for a table and chairs. After the Stage Manager sets the scene verbally, Act I begins with Don Juan in Hell, meeting an old flame, Dona Anna, and the Commander, Anna's military-officer father, whom he had killed in a duel. Dona Anna, newly dead at the age of seventy-seven and outraged to find herself in Hell, recognizes Don Juan only after he persuades her to be twenty-seven again. They are joined by the Commander, who informs them and the Devil that he is leaving Heaven permanently, preferring Hell. In Act II, the Devil enlists Dona Anna's help in his effort to convince Don Juan that he belongs in Heaven. In a discussion of mankind's destructiveness, Don Juan argues that Catholicism is an important positive force in the world. For Act III, the Stage Manager introduces additional props and lighting effects. The discussion turns to civilization and the relations between the sexes; Don Juan asserts the supremacy of the philosophic man. The Stage Manager adjusts the lighting and introduces Act IV. Don Juan states his case against romance and the institution of marriage, advocates the breeding of a race of supermen, and recounts his numerous amorous conquests. In Act V, after the Stage Manager's introduction, Don Juan compares courtship techniques with the Commander. Don Juan criticizes the Devil (George C. Scott) and his associates, calling Hell intolerable because it is filled with love and beauty. The Devil asserts that all of history is simply an alternation between Heaven and Hell. Repeating his praise of the philosophic man, Don Juan departs for Heaven. In his absence, the Devil and the Commander denigrate "life-force fanatics," among whom they number Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, and Don Juan himself. Dona Anna becomes intrigued with the idea of helping give birth to the race of supermen Don Juan had advocated. At the conclusion, the Stage Manager returns to discuss Shaw, the play, and the individual roles with the cast. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: WNTA-TV (New York, NY) / PBS forerunner
- DATE: February 15, 1960 8:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:41:50
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T88:0393
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama
- SERIES RUN: WNTA (Newark, NJ) - TV series, 1959-1961
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Susskind … Executive Producer
- Lewis Freedman … Producer
- Richardson, Donald (See also: Richardson, Don) … Director
- George Bernard Shaw … Writer
- Siobhan McKenna … Cast, Dona Anna
- Dennis King … Cast, the Commander
- Hurd Hatfield … Cast, Don Juan
- George C. Scott … Cast, the Devil
- Marc Connelly … Cast, the Stage Manager