Category: theatre

“Several deaf-theater groups are struggling to stay afloat after the federal government mysteriously cut funds for cultural programs for the deaf around the country 16 months ago. Officials at the Department of Education, which administered a the program that distributed some $2 million a year in grants, said they did not see the change coming and did not know who in Congress had ordered the cut in December 2004.”

“What do we want these days from the theater? Increasingly, or so audiences as much as dictate, stories that come to a handy, even cozy conclusion, where life’s knots aren’t so much sentimentally unraveled as they are re- assembled in a nice, neat bow. So the London stage deserves credit this, and virtually every, season for proffering plays that take the harder, more circuitous path, leaving open-ended the fates of characters whom lesser writers would lead to the sort of preordained conclusion that leaves spectators happy but isn’t necessarily true to life.”

Toronto’s St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts is getting a $3 million overhaul, which the center’s board hopes will reinvigorate its mission as well as its image. “The centre, conceived as one of Canada’s Centennial projects, opened in 1970. It is home to seven resident companies — including the Canadian Stage Company — and is used by more than 50 other arts and community organizations annually.”

“The Birmingham Rep Theatre has appointed a female artistic director for the first time in its 93-year history. Rachel Kavanaugh, an associate director at the venue, will replace Jonathan Church, who left Birmingham this month to run the Chichester Festival Theatre. Kavanaugh’s appointment is a significant addition to the small but rapidly growing list of UK theatres steered by women.”

When actor Kevin Spacey took charge of London’s Old Vic, hopes were high that he would breathe new life into the place. But with the early closing of a Robert Altman-produced version of Resurrection Blues, many are saying Spacey isn’t up to the job. “While the odd flop is forgiveable, Resurrection Blues is simply the latest in a series of duff experiences at the Old Vic… If Spacey is determined to run the theatre as a commercial enterprise – and he has rejected all suggestions that he should seek subsidy – he must listen, learn and quickly realise two things: that he is the Old Vic’s biggest drawing-card, and that audiences are currently hungry for classics.”

If New York Theatre Workshop’s decision to stage “My Name is Rachel Corrie” was controversial, its decision to postpone it was even more so…

This year’s Humana Festival of new plays in Louisville was one of the strongest ever, writes Tony Brown…

Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival artists are complaining about hikes in the fees they have to pay to perform. “Edinburgh City Council has more than quadrupled the cost of the licence in some cases, but says it will phase the changes in over three years. All venues have to purchase a theatre licence before shows can perform.”

When Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theater moves into its massive new riverfront digs this summer, it will have by far the best facilities in the Twin Cities at its disposal. It will also have fewer seats in its main theater, and for some longtime Guthrie subscribers, that’s a big problem. “Subscribers have been flooding the theater’s phone lines for the past two weeks, trying to figure out where they’ll be sitting — and why.”

Beckett was known for his dialogue, of course, but some of the most intriguing moments of any Beckett play are the silences. Similarly, Beckett’s most fascinating character may have been the one who never appeared onstage. And ever since Waiting For Godot, playwrights have been using the absent character in all sorts of ways. “Godot is the supreme example, but stage-shy characters can take many guises – despite not being there. They can expose hypocritical behaviour or create unease; they can trigger comedy or regret – or even encourage metaphysical speculation.”