Orson's Shadow, a History Play of the royal families Welles, Olivier, Leigh, Tynan, and Plowright at the crossroads of the year 1960

Both Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier, around the same time, sought to transfer Shakespeare's History Plays to the fixed audio visual medium of cinema, and we can be grateful for what they got done. Mr. Olivier provided movie versions of Henry V, Richard III, and the tragic history of the Danish Prince, Hamlet. Mr. Welles accomplished with greater limitations, a transference to the screen of Macbeth, Othello and a Falstaff blend distilled from Henry IV, V and Merry Wives of Windsor called Chimes at Midnight, which follows in the wake of the Verdi/Boito adaptation, Falstaff. Austin Pendleton, the playwright/actor/writer/director/instructor/singer whose own performing arts history continues from 1960 to the present day, has his own story to tell. Perhaps it can be called the shadow of Orson's Shadow, because he is the writer of a play conceived by Judith Mihalyi, wife of Rene Auberjonois, a stage/screen/TV actor who would have played Laurence Olivier, had he lived. Orson's Shadow, the play Mr. Pendleton dramatized at her request, is currently celebrating its 25th Anniversary with a new production at Theater for the New City, under his direction. Sure Austin's own career is unique but did he have any direct contact with these entertainment icons? He reminds us that, for example, he and Mr. Welles worked together in the Mike Nichols movie version of Catch 22. It's mind-boggling to consider the nebbishness his own appearance so easily communicates throughout his life. Reviewers John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards observed that the play puts Hollywood celebrities at the crossroads of Modern Theater and the more radical artworld of the late 20th Century. I suppose radical art is always with us, but there is a crossroad where the radical becomes popular. The Eugene Ionescu play demanded an English production in 1960 because it engaged with resonence beyond the absurd. The catch phrase for audiences engagement was ... it's about facism. For Laurence Olivier to become worthy of leading Britain's National Theater, he would produce and star in this play. His younger co-star couldn't help but lead him toward it. By engaging with Ionescu, Olivier was engaging with her. So this complicated construct becomes the dramatic opportunity of actors to portray Hollywood royalty. We see the foibles and something of the talent of Laurence Olivier, Vivian Leigh, Orson Welles and Joan Plowright with supportive guidance from critic Kenneth Tynan, and a stagehand named Sean. We see people we look up to as though they are our own royal family and we see them as our friends. Why should we be interested in them? Theater tells the story of people who live large, most of the time. Its characters are usually us as we would be without boundaries. PART TWO Barbara Kahn's 30th Theater for the New City production: Fair Winds/Winds of War Here we are firmly situated in Greenwich Village, 1939, with people closely connected by their Polish and Jewish ancestry. The Landau's, a family already established here is saving their relatives by giving them a place to come to. Coincidentally ... a woman is recording a jazz vocal album of songs she wrote... ok this is what we have for now...