Author: Matthew Westphal

Massachusetts Orders Two Live Plays In Berkshires To Reduce Audience Sizes

The first two theater productions in the U.S. since lockdown to be approved by Actors’ Equity for performing before an in-person audience, Godspell at Berkshire Theater Group and Harry Clarke at Barrington Stage Company, “will each allow only 50 people to be present — down from 100 — after the state of Massachusetts rolled back its reopening protocols in an effort to slow the spread of the disease.” – The New York Times

BBC Proms: There Will Be Live Concerts, But No Live Audiences

“All concerts will be broadcast live via the Royal Albert Hall website and on BBC Radio 3, but there will be no live audience. The fortnight of live performances comes after two months of archive Proms broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Four. They will take place from Friday 28 August to Saturday 12 September for the Last Night of the Proms.” – BBC Music Magazine

Indoor Performances In England Get Green Light To Resume This Weekend

Venues must require audience members to wear masks and maintain social distance, but if those requirements are being met, then — “despite concerns about persistently high daily infection numbers” — theatres and concert halls may reopen as of Saturday, August 15, along with bowling alleys, skating rinks and some sports events. (Of course, if recent history is any guide, this decision could be reversed Friday afternoon.) – The Guardian

Here’s One Set Of Turf Dancers On The Subway Who Are Actual Professionals

Yung Phil and his crew Turf Feinz may work the BART trains in and around San Francisco, but only between gigs for commercials, music videos, and concert tours. “We’re using [the subways] as another outlet,” he tells Jennifer Stahl. “It’s not just about trying to get a quick dollar. We try to push the movement, we try to push the culture forward.” – Dance Magazine

Matt Herron, Photojournalist Who Documented Civil Rights Struggle In Deep South, Dead At 89

“A child of the Depression and a protégé of the Dust Bowl documentarian Dorothea Lange, Mr. Herron assembled a team of photographers to capture the clashes between white Southerners and Black protesters, aided by their white Freedom Rider allies, as they sought to claim the rights they had been legally granted a century before.” – The New York Times

The Anonymous Armies Of Culture Cops Who Actually Police The Internet

“What sometimes gets obscured is the fact that many online-censorship decisions are made not by powerful actors” — for instance, senior execs at Facebook or Twitter — “imposing their will on average internet denizens, but by an army of users who have, in effect, been deputized as censors” — for instance, moderators at Reddit or the people who report tweets they find offensive to Twitter. “This massive, mostly anonymous and pseudonymous group of internet culture cops is doing a large and likely growing share of the daily work of content-policing.” Jesse Singal looks into who they are and why they do it. – Nautilus

If COVID Means Audiences Can’t Sit Through These Shows, Then They Can Walk Through Them

“Now several companies are attempting variations on what is sometimes called promenade theater — outdoor productions in which audiences move as they follow the action. The form — a cousin to street theater — has a long tradition, particularly in Europe, but has new appeal in the United States this summer because of the relative ease of keeping patrons apart outdoors.” – The New York Times

Five Months Into The Pandemic, How Are The National Theatres In England, Scotland, And Wales Holding Up?

Some better than others. The big, building-based, high-overhead companies in England, the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Co., are “haemorrhaging money,” while their smaller counterparts in Wales and Scotland, without theatre buildings to maintain, are doing surprisingly well. Lyn Gardner reports. – The Stage