Oluwaseyi Omooba, who had been cast as Celie, a queer character, in the revival by the Curve Theatre in Leicester and the Birmingham Hippodrome in England, wrote on the social media site five years ago, “I do not believe you can be born gay and I do not believe homosexuality is right, though the law of this land has made it legal doesn’t mean it’s right.” – The Guardian
Category: theatre
British, Irish Theatres Step Up Dialog As Brexit Looms
There is of course a long history of interaction between the British and Irish theatres, and this looks certain to continue into the future — however Britain’s relationship with the EU (and thus with Ireland) evolves in the years ahead. – Clyde Fitch Report
Ali Stroker Talks About Doing Broadway Musicals In A Wheelchair
In the 2015 Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening, Stroker became the first wheelchair-user Broadway actor, and she’s now playing Ado Annie (the girl who can’t say “no”) in the revisionist Daniel Fish staging of Oklahoma!. In a Q&A, she talks about what she sees her job as being (and not being) as a “mainstreamed” disabled performer, how she deals with a given theater’s accessibility issues, and showing the public a wheelchair-using character who’s also a sexual being. – Vulture
Keeping Professional Theatre Going For 30 Years In A Far-Flung Pacific Archipelago
Wan Smolbag Theatre in the 70-island nation of Vanuatu is the only professional stage company in the entire South Pacific made up entirely of Pacific Islanders. Three decades after its founding, it’s now the largest locally-based NGO of any kind in Vanuatu: with over 100 employees, Wan Smolbag has expanded into film and into providing social services. – The Stage
Socially Conscious: New Broadway Oklahoma! Production Will Donate Money For Every Gun It Uses On Stage
For each gun prop used on stage and in decorations, the production will donate money to help destroy illegal guns circulating on the streets.In all, the show will donate $10,000 for the more than 100 gun props used, said “OKLAHOMA!” producer Eva Price. – CNN
Developing New And Diverse Theatre Critics In A Town Without A Culture Of Criticism
The English city of Hull has a lively theatre scene for a town its size, but the local newspaper published only two theatre reviews in the whole of 2018, and the national critics rarely make it to Hull. Jamie Potter of the city’s Middle Child Theatre writes about how his company developed and launched a New Critics Programme to recruit and establish at least eight new critics over four years. (And they made a point of seeing that the writers they chose weren’t all, as Potter puts it, “male, pale, and stale.”) – HowlRound
‘Theater That Gets In The Way’ — A Company Puts Itself On The Front Lines Of Poland’s Culture Wars
Two years ago, the actors of the Powszechny Theater in Warsaw had to barricade themselves inside their building against conservative Catholic protesters angry about their production The Curse, about the suxual abuse of children by priests. This year, the company is following up with a staging of Mein Kampf. No wonder its slogan is “Theater that gets in the way.” – The New York Times
James Corden To Host This Year’s Tonys
“The Late Late Show” host previously emceed the annual theater awards show in 2016, and won the Tony for best actor in a play for his performance in “One Man, Two Guvnors” in 2012. – Variety
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Names Bill Rauch’s Successor As Artistic Director
“Nataki Garrett, currently serving as acting artistic director for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, will take the reins in August … The announcement ends a nearly yearlong search following Rauch’s February 2018 announcement that he would step down from the post — also this August — for his new artistic directing job at the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Performing Arts at the World Trade Center in New York City.” – The Mail Tribune (Medford, OR)
Leadership At Top US Nonprofit Theatres Is Finally Becoming More Diverse
“Across the country, scores of artistic directors, most of them white men who have served as community tastemakers for years, are leaving their jobs via retirements, ousters, and an industrywide round of musical chairs. As their successors are appointed, a shift is underway: according to a national survey conducted by two Bay Area directors, women have been named to 41 percent of the 85 jobs filled since 2015, and people of color have been named to 26 percent.” – The New York Times