Words on Fire

Synopsis

A series of short vignettes in which six contemporary storytellers offer their interpretations of the word ‘fire’. Playwright Christopher Durang creates a mini-sitcom on the woes of inactivity; actor/writer Fred Churchak is seen in a one-man Shakespearean performance; Rinde Eckert recites two four-hundred-year-old erotic poems; Southern poet Jo Carson relays intimate tales of Appalachian life; monologuist Todd Alcott offers a spontaneous diatribe on living in the ‘heat’ of urban life, and actor Robert Joy reads a text by Jack Finney in which time stands still as a fire starts.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Film

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Year of release

1990

Duration

24 mins

Credits

Director

John Sanborn; Skip Blumberg

Producer

Wendell Harrington

Cast

Fred Churchak

Additional Details

Production type

Fiction Films

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); One-Person shows

Notes

General

The film was created for Alive from Off Center, the public television series from KTCA-TV, Minneapolis

Archive

Name

Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI)

Email

info@eai.org

Web

http://www.eai.org External site opens in new window

Phone

+1 212 337 0694

Fax

+1 212 337 06 79

Address

535 West 22 Street, 3rd Floor
New York
New York NY 10011-1119
USA
USA

Notes

Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is a US-based, nonprofit arts organisation that is a leading international resource for video and media art. EAI’s core programme is the distribution and preservation of a major collection of over 3,500 video works by artists, from the mid-1960s to the present. The works in the collection range from seminal videos by pioneering figures — such as Nam June Paik, Bruce Nauman, Martha Rosler and Joan Jonas — to new digital works by emerging artists, including Seth Price, Paper Rad, Cory Arcangel and Takeshi Murata. The EAI Online Catalogue is a comprehensive Web resource on the artists and works in the EAI collection, featuring a searchable database and extensive research materials. Sale to educational institutions only (not individuals) on video (PAL) or DVD (NTSC).