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has great expectations for its new production of Private Lives. It even hopes the play will become the most substantial hit of the present season. Noel Coward's comedy was first produced in 1930. But despite its 42 years, there are those who think it is as relevant now

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as when it was first produced. One of those who think so is the man who is stage director for the A. C. T. Production Francis, ford Coppola, a triple threat man who won an Oscar for the screenplay for Patton has just finished directing The Godfather and

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is now back in the theater after an 11 year absence. I think first of all, Private Lives is a much better play than I had guessed aside from the times and the smartness of the set and the wit that you associate with Coward when you look

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at it, it's a very curious and credible situation of human beings sense? You know, makes as much sense today as it did then and in a very very beautifully made play and I was attracted to that. Are there problems switching from one medium to another? Such

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as this? Not problems I think rather that there are tremendous things that you learn from doing a play that then you can apply to film when you do it and the other way around. And that's one of the reasons why I'm doing it. To try to

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get a new perspective on this main problem of putting people and situations into a dramatic form. Could you could you give us an example, what kind of things do you take, for example, from private lives into your film work? Well, essentially a play is like having

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a long shot of a few actors holding for three hours and working in film. We work in very tiny little scenes. If you look in the film you'll see nothing is ever longer than about two minutes. So I think the discipline of having to work with

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merely actors and staging and yet let it hold an audience and interesting audience is something that is a great benefit for a film director who doesn't have the outside discipline but can still profit from it with american conservatory theater here with all of its outstanding actors,

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with your own zoetrope company here. I can't help but ask whether or not the center of the entertainment industry is switching somewhat north of Hollywood. I don't think that the center is switching, I think rather that there will not be a center as we've known it

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in the past and that there will be interesting and credible and exciting work done in, in, you know, in many, many major cities in san Francisco is, you know, it's a stimulating place to live and I think it will have its share your own background as

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a writer is so extensive. I I wonder how you approach a place such as private lives. Did you have to do any rewriting on this for example or were you tempted to? I approached it with respect, it's really a very good play, and I was I

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didn't know much about Noel coward and I I myself am not in that mold, obviously, and I was very impressed with the play, and every time I see them run through it, I remarked, what a good play it is. Mr Coppola, thank you for joining us.

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Bill Hillmann, Eyewitness news at the theater.