“At least five plays about heroin abuse have been produced in northeast Ohio alone in the last year as the state’s residents grapple with the surging epidemic.” The writers and their colleagues are using as a model the theater’s response to AIDS in the ’80s and ’90s.
Blog
Seattle Opera Faces ‘Yellowface’ Issues Around ‘Madama Butterfly’ Head-On
“In reality, Cio-Cio San is a sex-trafficked 15-year-old Japanese teenager,” says Seattle Opera’s (Japanese-American) media-relations manager. “Why are we so comfortable with that, to the point of romanticizing it and telling the story over and over?” The company is, and has been, examining that question; Jason Victor Serinus reports on how.
Why We Need To Confront Racial Bias In Dance Criticism
Theresa Ruth Howard: “How can you truly comment on what you are seeing when you have no technical knowledge of a specific genre like African or hip hop? Critics who stand on the outside of a culture cannot write about what they do not know. … The black body on stage is never neutral, and the effects of its inherent politicization as it relates to the subconscious cultural ignorance and biases held by critics is seldom addressed.”
A ‘Little Pompeii’ In France Is Called Most Important Roman Excavation In Decades
“A series of mosaics and a fountain decorated with a statue of Hercules were among the discoveries made when the 5,500 sq. m site [near Vienne, south of Lyon] was examined in preparation for the construction of four apartment blocks.”
Actor Robert Hardy, Known For ‘All Creatures Great And Small’ And The Harry Potter Films, Dead At 91
In addition to his roles as Siegfried Farnon (the grouchy vet) on Creatures and Cornelius Fudge in the Potter franchise, Hardy played Winston Churchill in at least eight different properties on stage and screen (including one in French).
London’s Oldest Pub Theatre Is Leaving Its Pub After 47 Years
“The King’s Head pub theatre in north London has announced plans to move to a £5.6 million purpose-built space. Widely recognised to be the first pub theatre since Shakespearean times, the King’s Head has submitted plans to build a 250-seat auditorium and an 85-seat studio on Upper Street, Islington.”
First-Ever Int’l Festival For Glass Art Debuts Next Month In Venice
Venice Glass Week will feature “more than 140 commercial and institutional exhibitions, talks and conferences, educational activities, open furnaces, film screenings and evening events. The aim is to show how traditional glassmaking techniques can be used to innovative effect in a contemporary context, while also educate visitors about Venice’s glassmaking history”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.03.17
Ystad Jazz Festival: The Opener
The 2017 Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival launched with a tribute to Monica Zetterlund (1937-2005). The singer’s legacy in her homeland seems to steadily expand, and the attendance reflected her continued presence in … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-08-03
Changes At The Toronto Film Festival Fuzzy Up What The Festival Is Becoming
“We are not a competitive festival, but we decided that the time was right. You’re responding to the environment of what’s going on in the marketplace, what’s going on with our own festival, and the coverage that certain films are getting and others aren’t getting.”
Many Thought The Internet Would Liberate Thinking And Make Us Smart. It Didn’t
“In the 1990s, David Gelernter predicted that the internet would be a perfect environment for thinking, both serene and lively. “My idea in Mirror Worlds was that the computer screen should be like the still surface of a moving pond,” he explained. That didn’t happen. The internet gives us the news and assists our research, but it is mostly used for low purposes, a glorified fidget spinner, trolling device, and masturbation aid.”