Category: theatre

“As its 10th season runs from Aug. 11-27, the New York Intl. Fringe Festival is straddling the line between a grassroots cheerleader for offbeat legit and a seductive draw for commercial hopes. While few in the theater community imagine that all of this year’s 217 shows are suited for the big time, even fewer forget 1999. That’s the year ‘Urinetown’ dominated the fest, beginning its march to three Tonys and a two-year Broadway run. That and other transfers — including ‘Matt and Ben’ and tuner ‘Debbie Does Dallas’ — helped push the festival to a new level of relevance.”

“No fewer than four shows based on blogs are appearing at this year’s Fringe, including Girl Blog From Iraq: Baghdad Burning, taken from the writings of 27-year-old “Riverbend”, who records daily life in Iraq. But what’s surprising is that the wave of blog-inspired theatre has been so long in coming; after all, it’s the world’s fastest-growing genre of writing.”

The new National Theatre of Scotland has produced a hit at the Edinburgh Festival. “To all the scepticism and debate about Scotland’s even needing a national theatre, to all the sometimes self-lacerating, politically fraught recent inquiries into the devolved nation’s culture, the new NTS has slapped down the best kind of answer: rather than more words, a most eloquent piece of work.”

For years, Chicago’s theatre scene has been treated by New York as just another stop on the national touring schedule, and unworthy of the semi-permanent productions enjoyed by audiences in select cities like Toronto and Los Angeles. But a touring production of Wicked has proved so successful in the Windy City that it has been granted permanent status, thus breaking the so-called ‘Chicago curse’. “

Deep in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, a little-known group called the Orchard Project is offering a unique opportunity to theatre troupes that create their work collaboratively. The idea is to provide companies the same kind of retreat that writers and directors have enjoyed for decades. “Eventually [the Orchard Project’s campus] will include four rehearsal spaces, costume and prop storage, and housing for 70 participants.”

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival has tapped veteran actor Philip Charles Sneed as its new producing artistic director, replacing Richard Devin. Sneed inherits a struggling organization with budget problems and “plummeting attendance.”

This year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival- the largest such fest in the U.S. – wasn’t bad, exactly, says Dominic Papatola. But it sure wasn’t very exciting. “Most of the political theater I saw had a rote, unimaginative quality about it, as if artists couldn’t think of anything new to be mad at President Bush about but still felt compelled to be angry. The comedy shows I took in were amusing but not fall-down funny. Clever ideas seldom resulted in equally clever execution. And as for the usually plentiful nudity at the Fringe? I saw a grand total of one bare backside the whole of the festival.”

New York’s Fringe Festival is ten years old, long enough to have settled into a comfortable place in the national theatre scene. But like everything in New York, it’s tough to keep the Fringe small-time. “The professionalizing, or Sundance-izing, of the Fringe has been a concern for the entire life of the festival, particularly after a 1999 entry, ‘Urinetown,’ made it to Broadway and won three Tony Awards. Partly in reaction, the Fringe has been actively looking for little-known and first-time artists in the selection process.”

Udderbelly, a new Underbelly venue shaped like an upside-down cow, is not a hit with Lyn Gardner. “People often assume that because I’m a theatre critic I must be in favour of new theatres. Wrong. Contemporary drama really doesn’t need – and on the whole is ill-suited – to the playhouse, and it certainly isn’t going to be shown off to best advantage inside a giant purple plastic cow. It just makes everyone involved look ridiculous.”

The National Theater of the Deaf was in grave financial danger earlier this year. Then, when it looked like the situation had been solved, the NEA came calling, wanting payment of a long-overdue debt. “The N.E.A. has great respect for the National Theater of the Deaf, and we have worked very closely with them for many years to try to arrive at mutually agreeable and beneficial repayment plans. Each plan has been agreed upon by the National Theater of the Deaf, and each time they’ve been unable to meet the requirements. It’s unfortunate, but we’ve come to a point where this has to be resolved.”