Rita and Burton Goldberg wanted to do something to promote writing for the theatre. So they called up New York University in the mid-90s and volunteered. “Since then, they have given more than $1 million to Tisch, specifically to support student playwrights. They provide scholarships, foot the bill for an annual playwriting competition and finance a master playwrights’ program that during the last three years has brought John Guare, Kenneth Lonergan, Marsha Norman, Wendy Wasserstein, Tina Howe and Neil LaBute to Tisch classrooms and lecture halls for a semester apiece.”
Blog
Japan’s Cartoon Culture
Why is it that “a nation with one of the world’s highest literacy rates would become so obsessed with cartoons” Men and women of all ages can be seen on the subway, in coffee shops, or at racks in convenience stores, poring over thick, bound comic books. And Japanese TV is filled with anime shows. Can’t get enough of ’em. And it’s not just the shows and books. Animation pervades the entire society.”
Rome’s New Globe
Rome is getting a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. “It has been built in only four months in one of Rome’s public gardens. It is a gift to the city of Rome from a builder, and will be used for performances not only of Shakespeare’s works but also for other playwrights and poets of different nationalities. Concerts will also take place inside the circular theatre, which can hold more than 1,200 spectators.”
NZ Film Awards Postponed
After failing to find sponsorships, this year’s New Zealand National Film Awards have been postponed. “New Zealand cinema has been receiving world acclaim, with Whale Rider producing its biggest box office hit since Once Were Warriors in 1994.”
Glasgow’s Conspiracy Theory: They Hate Visual Artists?
A conspiracy theory is ripping through Glasgow’s visual arts community. “It goes something like this: Glasgow City Council, which owns Tramway, has secretly agreed to let Scottish Ballet make the building its new home, even though this will mean the closure of Tramway 2, one of Europe’s most striking exhibition spaces and, its supporters argue, vital to Glasgow’s reputation as a centre of excellence in visual art. Why? Because, one well known artist told me, ‘It’s very clear that they [the council] don’t care about the visual arts and would rather be rid of it. What they’ve done with the Tramway visual arts programme is slowly strangle it.’ This was one of the more measured responses. Naturally, Glasgow City Council denies this.”
100 Books In 30 Days… And The Winner Is?
A judge of this year’s Booker Prize reflects on the practicalities of trying to find the best book published this year. “Theoretically, the chance to read 100 of Britain and the Commonwealth’s finest at the rate of three a day (I am a fast reader and I resolved not to hang about with this particular task) ought to prompt all kinds of informed judgments about the state of British fiction here in the foothills of the 21st century. In fact it does nothing of the sort.”
A Booker Shortlister’s Unsavory Past
DBC Pierre is shortlisted for the Booker Prize. But the notoriety brought by the Booker has brought to life some of the author’s unsavory past. “The reformed drug addict and gambler admitted to selling his best friend’s home and pocketing the proceeds as well as working up debts of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a scheme to find Montezuma’s gold in Mexico. Pierre is the nom de plume of an enigmatic Mexican-Australian called Peter Finlay, 42, whose chequered past began to catch up with him last month when he was shortlisted for the prize, arguably the world’s most prestigious book award.”
La Scala Appoints a Referee…Er, “Artistic Director”
La Scala has appointed a new artistic director to mediate between music director Riccardo Muti and general manager Carlo Fontana. Muti has fought against what he characterizes as Fontana’s attempts to “dumb down” the famous company. “Mr Fontana had been criticised for introducing popular fare such as West Side Story to fill the 2,600 seats of the Arcimboldi theatre, built on the industrial outskirts of Milan to host La Scala’s performances while its city-centre premises undergo a £40m refit. Tension between the two men burst into the open in July when Mr Muti snubbed the official presentation of the opera’s new season.”
Laban Center Wins Stirling
The new Laban dance center in South London has won this year’s Stirling Prize for architecture. “The Laban centre, designed by the Swiss team Herzog & de Meuron – who gave Bankside power station a new lease of life as Tate Modern – has brought glamour to an old London district which for many years has been in need of cultural or indeed any kind of investment.”
Recordings – The Politics Of Price
“As musical recordings have increasingly shed their physical form, the record industry and its customers have been at odds over what it all should cost. Music fans complain of high CD prices and copy more music illicitly than they purchase legally, while the record companies rail against the devaluation of their product and take file-sharers to court. Since legal ways to experience online music are only now becoming widely available, there is no established record of what the market will bear or how these innovations will be received. Will each song purchased online represent the loss of a whole CD sale in the store? Or will customers respond to the ease and selection of e-commerce by buying more, overall?”