Alive Media purchases 'Theater' doc

Streep, Kline's 'Mother Courage' at center of film

By SAM THIELMAN

Streep

Kline

Docu 'Theater of War' followed Meryl Streep as she rehearsed for Public Theater’s 'Mother Courage and her Children' in 2006.

Richard Lorber's Alive Media has purchased the rights to "Theater of War," John Walter's docu about the Meryl Streep-Kevin Kline production of Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and her Children."

The play, performed in Central Park as part of the Public Theater's summertime "Shakespeare in the Park" program, was adapted by "Angels in America" scribe Tony Kushner and helmed by former Public a.d. George C. Wolfe.

The docu chronicles the production of the play, for which Walter shot rehearsals with Streep, Kline, and the rest of the cast, as well as the life of Brecht himself. Footage for the Brecht section of the film includes home movies of the writer and clips from his notorious testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947.

The distrib deal includes theatrical, public performance, and homevid rights. Alive Media has booked the film into individual theaters and will offer public perf copies of the film for sale to academic institutions. DVD release is set for next year.