Category: theatre

The list of cities that can count themselves as “springboards to Broadway” is brutally short: Chicago, Boston, maybe Atlanta. And yet, a string of small playhouses in Southern California has somehow become a favorite of the New York crowd over the years, and claimed its place as one of the top regional theaters in America. 40 years after its birth in a hardware store, South Coast Repertory has given birth to “Pulitzer Prize winners like Margaret Edson’s ‘Wit,’ Nilo Cruz’s ‘Anna in the Tropics,’ and [South Coast co-founder Donald] Margulies’s “Dinner With Friends.”

Neil Bartlett is leaving his post as artistic director of London’s Lyric Hammersmith theater after 11 years, having “put his own name to no fewer than 10 translations of plays by Racine, Marivaux, Genet and Labiche, while a new version of Don Juan will be his third Molière… He has also devised, designed and even appeared in his own shows. The one string missing from his bow is that he doesn’t seem to sell the ice creams.” Still, Bartlett has never been much of a self-promoter, and his tenure at the Lyric, while undeniably successful, was surprisingly low-profile.

Minneapolis-based Illusion Theater is one of the theater-rich Twin Cities’ edgiest and most innovative venues, and yet, in an area which embraces modern art and modern music, Illusion can’t seem to draw a crowd. “This 30th season finds Illusion mulling its identity and wondering what it takes to get people in the seats. Among [local] theaters its size, Illusion cuts the slightest swath through the public’s consciousness.” The company faces an array of obstacles to creating a more prominent regional identity, but with such a high percentage of the Cities’ theater community pulling for it, some observers are saying that it’s time for Illusion to do more to help itself.

“A prominent criminal psychiatrist and a writer for The New Yorker have accused the English playwright Bryony Lavery of lifting parts of dialogue, structure and characters from their work and using them in her drama Frozen, which closed on Broadway last month and was nominated for a Tony Award. [The accusers] say that they have found at least a dozen instances of word-for-word plagiarism in the play, as well as thematic and biographical similarities to a 1997 New Yorker profile… and a 1998 book.” Independent comparisons clearly bear out the claims, and Lavery isn’t commenting.

“Christian comedy” might seem like an oxymoron, but the genre is gaining steam in clubs across America, attracting not just devout churchgoers, but also audiences who prefer their entertainment G-rated and can find little to enjoy in the mainstream world of sex-obsessed standup. “What frequently categorizes the humor in Christian shows is its avoidance of racist and sexist jokes, vulgarity, and making fun of people in the crowd.”

In recent years, the paucity of straight plays on musical-happy Broadway has been a simple fact of life. This season is different, with 10 plays and only three musicals scheduled to open before January. But even when big names are attached, plays have a tougher time making it on the Great White Way.

The Royal Shakespeare Company has gone public with its revised plans for the historic Stratford theater it calls home, months after agreeing to renovate the structure rather than knock it down, as the RSC was originally hoping to do. The new design will incorporate a “thrust stage” which places the audience in the middle of the on-stage action, while maintaining crucial art deco elements of the room. The renovations will cost £100 million, and the RSC is planning to apply for significant governmental aid to assist with the project.

The fall theater season has begun in New York – not that you’d notice. In fact, “between now and New Year’s Day there is exactly one new musical scheduled to open” on Broadway, which could put a serious dent in the Great White Way’s ticket sales. “It is musicals, particularly splashy new ones in nice big theaters, that are the engines driving Broadway’s economy, drawing nearly $9 out of every $10 spent on tickets last season.” Eight musicals are slated for spring 2005, but it may be a long, cold winter until they arrive.

“The new four-year Production pact between Actors’ Equity Association and the League of American Theatres and Producers, according to two union reps, contains new fiscal formulas favorable to actors that will make it easier for producers to promote shows, keeping them running longer.”

With actor-director Michael Rylance set to leave the Globe Theatre, there is a definite opportunity for the company to head off in a new direction, a change which many high-minded critics might find welcome. But Rylance’s positive effect on the Globe cannot be easily replaced. “Undeniably, Rylance has made it a popular space where audiences are prepared to put up with the inclement weather, bossy ushers and physical discomfort for the sake of a star performer… [Rylance’s replacement] will determine whether the Globe continues to be an old-fashioned, actor-driven company or whether it opts for intellectually challenging, director-led reinterpretations of Shakespeare.”