“The New South Wales government has been accused of creating ‘a Hunger Games atmosphere’ among 84 arts organisations over its $50m Covid-19 [‘Rescue and Restart’ program], which remains shrouded in secrecy. … There are misgivings among small-to-medium companies that the NSW government has elected to watch them drown, while the major flagship companies – a few with healthy reserves to ride out the rough seas – are thrown multimillion-dollar lifelines.” – The Guardian
Author: Matthew Westphal
Vigilantes In Burkas: New Pakistani Series Give Taboos A Good Clobbering
“The stars of Churails — which means ‘Witches’ in Urdu — are a gang of female avengers who wield fists and hockey sticks in anger. … Thrown together by chance, the quartet run a secret agency that aims to help wronged women exact revenge. They use a clothes shop in Karachi as a front for their activities. The heroines drink, swear and take drugs. There are lesbian characters and a trans one.” – The Economist
Quick About-Face: Metropolitan Museum Follows Drastic Staff Reductions with Strategic Additions
I’ve suggested that the Met’s radical downsizing of staff (necessitated by the Virus Crisis) might give its leaders an opportunity to install their own hand-picked team “sooner and less controversially than would have otherwise been possible.” “Sooner” turns out to be immediately. – Lee Rosenbaum
Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ Has Become A Video Game
In the transition to the new medium, though, the story has metamorphosed as well. It’s now a mashup with The Trial, starting off with Gregor Samsa awakening with (what he thinks is) a hangover in Josef K.’s apartment after celebrating the latter’s birthday. Most of the other characters in the game are also insects (one complains about his ex-mate and having to pay “larva support”) that Gregor meets as he (i.e., the player) makes his way to “the Tower.” – The Washington Post
Christiane Eda-Pierre, France’s First Black Opera Star, Dead At 88
Born in Martinique to an accomplished family (an aunt was the first black female student at the Sorbonne), she first made her mark in coloratura roles such as Leïla in The Pearl Fishers and the title role in Lakmé. She went on to have a stellar career in Paris and abroad, noted especially for Mozart, Rameau (she sang in the first modern revivals of several of his operas), and contemporary works (she created the role of the Angel in Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise). – Barron’s (AFP)
Diana Rigg, 82
Three or four generations loved her for television roles from Emma Peel in The Avengers to Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca to Olenna Tyrell (the “Queen of Thorns”) in Game of Thrones; film roles from Tracy (the only Bond girl to get James to put a ring on it) in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service to Vincent Price’s daughter in Theatre of Blood to Miss Piggy’s employer in The Great Muppet Caper; and stage roles from Euripedes’s Medea to Shakespeare’s Cordelia, Regan, and Hermia to Edward Albee’s Martha to Henry Higgins’s mother (okay, Lerner and Loewe’s). – BBC
PEN America’s New President On Cancel Culture, Literature And Politics
Pulitzer-winning playwright (Disgraced, The Invisible Hand, Junk: The Golden Age of Debt) and novelist (the new Homeland Elegies) Ayad Akhtar: “I’m not convinced that literature is the best way to form political opinions. It’s the great form of nuanced intellectual discourse. We can have profound conversations about literature, but I’m not sure that political opinions — like who to vote for — are the purview of literature. But increasingly everything has become politicized, and I think an organization like PEN has to acknowledge that.” – The New York Times
Is Online Streaming Of Performances Here To Stay?
“While widespread live performance without social distancing remains unlikely until 2021, streaming platforms have found their moment in the spotlight, offering audiences access to a library of theatre. Key figures in the digital theatre movement tell Tom Wicker about what the future holds for streaming services.” – The Stage
Official Report On Abuse At Berlin State Ballet School Released
“The report spoke of failures in school leadership and oversight. While it did not describe individual incidents, it said physical and psychological abuse had been taking place for years without consequences. Current and former students spoke of ‘lots of drilling and physical stress’ including beatings, verbal attacks and humiliation by instructors. The expert commission demanded the SBB be fundamentally reformed and democratized.” – Deutsche Welle
Notre-Dame Reopens Its Crypt For The First Time Since The Fire
“Before the crypt could reopen, masses of toxic lead dust from the fire had to be removed, ancient stones cleaned, ventilation systems vacuumed, lighting and interactive programs reorganized, molds eliminated and anti-COVID measures imposed. … The crypt celebrated the opening with an exhibition on the two 19th-century men who helped restore the 850-year-old medieval monument to greatness: the novelist Victor Hugo and the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.” – Smithsonian Magazine