“Shakespeare’s works were banned in China from 1964 to 1977 and the playwright was denounced as ‘revisionist, feudalist and capitalist’ and now productions of his plays were allowed. But next year, to mark 400 years since the Bard’s death, the RSC will take productions of Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II and Henry V to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in February and March.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Movies The Oscar Nominations Will Overlook, But Shouldn’t
“It happens every year. Some actor stands next to another performer or the president of the Academy … and they take turns telling you what’s up for an Oscar. Which means they’re also telling you what’s not. And ‘what’s not’ tends to be as important as what is. And every year, I’m left wondering whether months of punditry and daily forecasts of awards-season weather pollutes what was scarcely a pure process to begin with.”
Rudyard Kipling, Misfit Poet
“Kipling is not at all like his image, which is a good thing, since he is widely regarded as jingoistic, narrow and racist. It is a pity if, for this reason, some never read him. Kipling was always an outsider, and never a member of the Establishment. He received the Nobel Prize, but refused any honour, including the Order of Merit, that would identify him with a single country.”
Oldest Theatre In English-Speaking World Set To Celebrate 250 Years
Says Bristol Old Vic artistic director Tom Morris, “The average lifespan of a theatre across the 18th and 19th centuries was 17 years. It is a complete fluke that it has survived.”
The Future No Longer Works The Way We Thought It Did
“The 130-year timeline of telephone innovation describes a relatively steady rise as the technology under the surface was continuously improved … But the timeline of innovation for the defining technology of our new age is barely a line at all: The Internet happens, and all hell breaks loose. … You couldn’t have foreseen Twitter, and if you had, you probably would have dismissed it as a dumb idea. I would have.”
A Wiki-Discography Becomes Indispensable To Collectors And The Entire Music Industry
“Borrowing from Wikipedia’s model of user-generated content, Discogs has built one of the most exhaustive collections of discographical information in the world, with historical data cataloged by thousands of volunteer editors in extreme detail. … And with an online marketplace through which nearly $100 million in records will be sold this year, Discogs has carved out a valuable niche in a market dominated by companies like Amazon and eBay.”
Canada’s Longest-Running Music Critic Retires At Age 84
Claude Gingras spent six decades as the classical critic for Montreal daily La Presse. Many observers objected to his often-harsh language – one Toronto colleague called him “Canada’s potshot king” and Marc-André Hamelin once refused to play if he was in the hall – but he was an early champion of conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and composer Claude Vivier.
Sophisticated Art-Theft Ring At Rome Airport Busted, Say Police
“Police said the gang … made up of cleaning staff and ground crew at Rome’s Fiumicino airport … devised a plan to steal the works of art by pretending to bring them to oversized baggage collection points.”
Spotify Hit With $150 Million Class Action Over Unpaid Royalties
“Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker frontman David Lowery … has filed a class action lawsuit seeking at least $150 million in damages against Spotify, alleging it knowingly, willingly, and unlawfully reproduces and distributes copyrighted compositions without obtaining mechanical licenses.”
The Currents Propelling The Chaos At The Bolshoi Ballet
“How these dancers are cast is not always based on merit. It’s about who you are loyal to and who you butter up, and who patronises you. That’s the legacy of a communist past. … I asked [Bolshoi Theater chief Vladimir Urin] once if he believed in democracy and he just laughed at me, which is a sort of communist disposition. People of his generation are quite, shall we say ambivalent about democratic principles.”