The Lower Depths

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This record is featured in “National Educational Television.”
Program
The Lower Depths
Producing Organization
Creative Television, Inc.
Association of Producing Artists
Contributing Organization
Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/512-862b854c0p
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Description
Program Description
2 hour program produced by Phoenix Theater and the Association of Producing Artists and initially distributed by NET in 1966. It was originally shot on videotape.
Program Description
This program presents Maxim Gorkys The Lower Depths in the critically acclaimed production by the American repertory company, the Association of Producing Artists. The Lower Depths, perhaps the best known of Gorkys plays, is a powerful account of desperate hunger, poverty, and misery in the bottom level of society in Czarist Russia at the turn of the century. Its message in essence a polemic against peaceful acceptance of the horrors of life prophesied the Bolshevik Revolution and remained pertinent for generations that followed the Revolution. It was first performed on December 31, 1902, at the Moscow Art Theater, and its scenes of violence, degradation, and despair had enormous impact on the audiences of the day despite the fact that the Czars censor had made 54 deletions in the text to eliminate aspersions ion the nobility, police and religion. But the message came through. And, although it was not done in Russia in its unexpurgated version until after the Revolution, its place in the history of the theater was already assured. The Lower Depths was done in Russian in the United Sates by the Moscow Art Theater in 1923, with Stanislavsky as Satin, the card sharp. It was performed thereafter on American stages in a variety of tongues, but its most successful revival of recent times was the one introduced by the APA on March 30, 1964, at the off-Broadway Phoenix Theater in New York with a new English translation by Alex Szogyi. The critics were most enthusiastic. The plan opens in a sordid flophouse. The various inhabitants are depressed, hungry, cynical and bitter about the life which has them to the bottom of the social structure. Each of the characters hopes and strives in some way to return to the respectable world of normal society. Vassilissa is openly carrying on an affair with the thief Peppel in the hope of escaping her landlord husband. Peppel, in turn, wants the young Natasha, Vassilissas sister, to run off with him to a better life. Klesshch, the tinker, works continuously to escape with his sick wife, Anna. An alcoholic actor dreams of his past and of returning to former fame. Nastya, the prostitute, realizes she will never escape. Luka, a pilgrim, enters and gives determination to those who hope to leave and dreams to those who will not escape their condition. Following a climax in which Vassilissa beats up Natasha and Peppel kills the landlord. Luka disappears. Vassilissa and Peppel go to jail, and the remaining characters finish the play with a party to hide their sorrow. The Association for Producing Artists was formed as a non-profit organization. It has performed in diverse locations such as Hamilton, Bermuda, and New Hope, PA. In addition, the APA has presented two season at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ, under the patronage of Princeton University. The company recently has presented a fall season in Ann Arbor, Michigan, under the aegis of the University of Michigan. The APA appeared in New York for the first time in 1962 under its own management at the Folksbiene Playhouse at which time its repertory was School for Scandal, The Tavern and The Seagull. Its revival of the Kaufman and Hart comedy, You Cant Take It With You, was one of the hits of the 1966-66 Broadway season. The Lower Depths is a 1966 presentation of National Educational Television. Produced for the stage by the Phoenix Theater and the Association of Producing Artists. Produced for television by Creative Television, Inc (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Broadcast Date
1966-09-09
Asset type
Program
Genres
Drama
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
02:06:27
Credits
Actor: Sparer, Paul
Actor: Gould, Gordon
Actor: Rabb, Ellis
Actor: Walker, Sydney
Actor: Bird, Joseph
Actor: Ragin, John
Actor: McArthur, Jane
Actor: Hubert, Marcie
Actor: Corzatte, Clayton
Actor: Marchand, Nancy
Actor: Roos, Joanna
Actor: Woods, Richard
Actor: Curtis, Keene
Actor: Roberts, Eve
Actor: Larsen, William
Actor: Pentecost, George
Costume Designer: Potts, Nancy
Director: Geisel, Dave
Director: Rabb, Ellis, 1930-1998
Performing Group: Association for Producing Artists
Producer: Broder, Rita
Producer: Phoenix Theater
Producer: Silverman, Don
Producing Organization: Creative Television, Inc.
Producing Organization: Association of Producing Artists
Set Designer: Tilton, James
Translator: Szogyi, Alex
Writer: Gorky, Maksim, 1868-1936
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1719459-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1719459-3 (MAVIS Item ID)
Generation: Master
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1719459-4 (MAVIS Item ID)
Generation: Copy: Access
Library of Congress
Identifier: 1719459-5 (MAVIS Item ID)
Generation: Copy: Access
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Citations
Chicago: “The Lower Depths,” 1966-09-09, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed July 2, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-862b854c0p.
MLA: “The Lower Depths.” 1966-09-09. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. July 2, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-862b854c0p>.
APA: The Lower Depths. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-862b854c0p