Alice's Playhouse
In Alice's Playhouse you will discover an exceptional collection of feature films adapted from some of the most celebrated plays ever written. Often featuring towering performances, outstanding direction and exceptional writing, this collection is a superb archive of contemporary drama masterfully transferred to the silver screen.
Filmizations of The Bard's work may be scrolled via the 'Shakespeare' sub-feature in green on the left, along with other notable playwrights who have been adapted for celluloid.
For adaptations of novels and short stories, check the 'Special Interest' link and click on 'Based on...'
Right: Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh relax during the filming of Tennessee Williams' masterpiece, 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
6.5/10
Director: Michael Hoffman
Starring: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett
Aka "William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream". The bard's classic comedy has been transported from ancient Greece to late 19th century Italy w... Read more
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
7/10
Director: William Dieterle
Starring: James Cagney, Joe E Brown, Dick Powell
Love is blind, fickle and true. And under the sway of capricious fairies it becomes blinder (a queen romances a donkey), more fickle (best friends swo... Read more
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Blu-ray) (2016)
6.4/10
Director: David Kerr
Starring: John Hannah, Matt Lucas
A modern re-telling of the classic fantasy drama by William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream holds a star-studded cast with euphoric effects and... Read more
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare Retold (2005)
Director: Ed Fraiman
Starring: Imelda Staunton, Bill Paterson, Lennie James, Sharon Small, Zoe Tapper, Dean Len...
Polly (Imelda Staunton) and Theo (Bill Paterson) have come to Dream Park to celebrate the engagement of their daughter in this updated BBC version of... Read more
A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
8.1/10
Director: Daniel Petrie
Starring: Louis Gossett Jr, Ruby Dee, Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil
Based on Lorraine Hansberry's play about a 1950s African-American family who get the opportunity (via an insurance pay-out) to improve their lives. Fe... Read more
A Soldier's Story (1984)
7.2/10
Director: Norman Jewison
Starring: Howard E Rollins Jr, Adolph Caesar, Art Evans
A spellbinding mystery and drama about a black army attorney, sent to investigate a murder on a black army base. Starring Howard E Rollins, music by H... Read more
A Streetcar Named Desire ( Blu-ray ) (1951)
8/10
Director: Elia Kazan
Starring: Karl Malden, Kim Hunter, Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh
Blanche du Bois, the magnificently brooding Vivien Leigh, a faded descendant of the once-proud Southern gentry, comes to live with her matter-of-fact... Read more
A Taste of Honey (1961)
7.6/10
Director: Tony Richardson
Starring: Dora Bryan, Rita Tushingham, Robert Stephens, Murray Melvin
A lively tale of a pregnant Salford teenager, her mother, and her unlikely friendship with a gay man. Time has left its mark on many of the innovative... Read more
Act of Murder (1995)
7.5/10
Director: Shirley Horrocks
Starring: Miranda Harcourt
This intriguing documentary presents a performance of the play 'Verbatim', written by William Brandt and based on countless interviews with prison inm... Read more
Agnes of God (1985)
6.6/10
Director: Norman Jewison
Starring: Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft, Meg Tilly, Anne Pitoniak
The childlike novice of an extremely sheltered convent is discovered one night with the bloodied body of a baby she claims not to recognise. Psychiatr... Read more