“Soon after Falluja became a symbol of the horrific violence and aggressive American tactics in Iraq, the theater director Jonathan Holmes listened to a group of British generals and journalists conduct a post-mortem on what had happened during the assault on that town. … Thus the play ‘Fallujah,’ now at the Old Truman Theater in London’s East End, was born. The play (which uses the preferred British spelling in its title) is the latest entrant in the growing canon of documentary theater that concentrates on Iraq.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Artists’ Heirs: Protectors Or Petty Tyrants?
A legal battle between the Comédie-Française and the brother of the late playwright Bernard-Marie Koltès “has served to highlight the power and privileges enjoyed by the heirs of creative artists. They may have no artistic talent of their own, but they bask in reflected glory, receive royalties and determine how works are interpreted or exploited.”
Tony Winner Charles Nelson Reilly Dies At 76
“Long before moving west to become what he somewhat ruefully described as a ‘game show fixture,’ Mr. Reilly was an actor and an acting teacher in New York City. In 1962, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Bud Frump in the original Broadway production of ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.’ But he was proudest of ‘The Belle of Amherst,’ a one-woman play starring Julie Harris based on the life of Emily Dickinson, which he directed on Broadway” in 1976.
On View At British Library: E-Mails From The Hoi Polloi
“In the collection of the British Library there are two Gutenberg Bibles, two copies of Magna Carta, five copies of Shakespeare’s First Folio and now something new: your e-mail messages. Or at least ones like them. Throughout this month the library, in partnership with Microsoft, has been collecting e-mail notes that ordinary Britons and others have sent — 13,807 so far — as a way of capturing a sense of life in the 21st century.”
Redesigning Playgrounds With Adolescents In Mind
“American playgrounds often seem anything but playful. Their equipment is designed not so much to let children have fun as to make sure they don’t hurt themselves. Sure, a simple sandbox and climbing gym are enough to mesmerize toddlers. But what’s to lure older children? … Hope may be on the horizon. We seem to be witnessing, if not a tipping point, then a seesaw tilt in playground design.”
Opera Australia’s 50th Was A Lucrative Year
“A record box office of $34.4 million and increased government grants resulted in a record surplus of $1.6 million for Opera Australia last year, in which it also celebrated its 50th anniversary. … Opera Australia’s chairman, Gordon Fell, says the return is an important milestone that puts the company in ‘an unambiguously strong position’ and allows it to create a fund to support new operas and more tours, with an initial contribution of $1 million.”
National Portrait Gallery Plans Pop-Art Show
“The National Portrait Gallery in London is planning to stage its first exhibition devoted entirely to pop art. The display will feature works by Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Ray Johnson, Sir Peter Blake and David Hockney.” Portraits of Marilyn Monroe will get their own room. Yes, really.
Art En Route To Dresden Stopped By Moscow Customs
“In a sign of Russian paranoia about satirising public figures, customs officials turned away six works of art, two featuring the president. Natalia Milovzorova, a spokeswoman for the Marat Guelman gallery, which was sending the work by a Siberian art collective, Blue Noses, said the decision was ‘absurd’ but had been overcome by sending a digital copy. She added: ‘It’s as if we returned to dissident times.'”
An Author On The Weirdness Of Completing A Book
“A few minutes before starting this blog I emailed my agent with the completed manuscript for my latest contribution to bathroom literature: Annus Horribilis. It’s all done. I’ve finished another book, and now – I feel quite weird. … The dominating feature of the last six months of my life has disappeared. My time is my own again, but I’m not certain whether this means freedom, or just emptiness…”
Why Doesn’t Philip Roth Have A Nobel Prize?
“Forget LA Confidential losing the Best Picture Oscar to Titanic, and Englebert Humperdinck stopping Penny Lane from getting to number one: the worst cultural snub in living memory is that Philip Roth hasn’t won the Nobel prize for literature. It’s not like he’s an unrecognised talent…. But it’s time for his genius to get the global platform – and prize – he so richly deserves.”