Category: theatre

London’s West End theatres need major investment if they’re to remain viable, says a new report. “The theatres need £250m to fund a major refurbishment programme to bring them into line for the 21st Century. Half of the money needed over the next 15 years would come from the theatres themselves but the rest may have to come from the public purse.”

“According to producers, no new play that has opened on Broadway in the last two and a half years has turned a meaningful profit. With the average cost of producing a new play on Broadway approaching or surpassing $2 million (“Gem of the Ocean” cost $2 million) and the traditional audience for plays seemingly shrinking, producers and playwrights say that a lasting losing streak could have a disastrous effect on the theater as a whole.”

“In a world where serious playwrights constantly sit on panels, hold forth at academic conferences and appear on behalf of institutions like the British Council, Caryl Churchill remains a rare thing, a hugely successful playwright who lets her work speak entirely for itself.”

The chairman of Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center has donated $10 million to the arts complex, with all the money to be earmarked for theatre programming. Stephen Schwarzman’s gift, which was intended partly to spur other contributions, is the largest the Kennedy Center has receieved 2004.

Lately, it’s become fashionable to say that there is a “renaissance of black theatre” underway in the UK. Certainly, black playwrights are having an easier time getting their work produced, thanks in part to the renewed emphasis placed on diversity by the UK Arts Council. But one good year may not a renaissance make, and there is still a palpable sense within the industry that minority works represent a risk for companies choosing to produce them.

The Denver Center Theatre for the Performing Arts has tapped Kent Thompson as its new artistic director and Bruce K. Sevy as associate artistic director. Thompson and Sevy currently hold the same positions at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery.

Off-Broadway has found religion, where several plays have taken up the topic. “Current events inform some of the productions, two of which deal with the abuse of children by clergy. But the plays range from a 15th-century piece featuring a grieving widower’s debate with Death to a modern comedy about tapping more deeply into the faith of one’s fathers. There’s also a musical version of the book “Children’s Letters to God,” and even comedian Dame Edna invokes Jesus in her new Broadway show. While the timing of these shows appears coincidental, they each touch on issues in public thought.”

So far Broadway’s had a ho-hum season, with no break-out hits. No big musicals have hit big, and only one play has attracted raves. Perhaps the spring…

“A new deal between the leading licensor of rights to Broadway shows and the No. 1 U.S. textbook publisher means schools will soon be teaching students as young as first grade to do the ‘Hey, gang, let’s put on a show’ thing with some of America’s classic musicals.”

A major new initiative in the UK aims to make sure there’s an ensemble acting company in every major town. “The quality of output in Britain is simply not as good as elsewhere. I’ve seen nothing in the UK over the last ten years to rival the standard of theatre I’ve seen in Krakow and St Petersburg. The object for actors nowadays is to go to drama school and get into EastEnders and if we don’t do something the industry will get even more mediocre.”