Category: theatre

“Officials with the Atlantic Theatre Festival, a premiere classical theatre venue in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, announced Tuesday that they have secured the financing they need to go ahead with its 10th anniversary season… Earlier this month, the festival had announced it was $300,000 in debt. While some creditors had agreed to a restructured payment plan of the $150,000 owed to them, others did not. Also, the Wolfville town council voted against a motion to guarantee a loan for the festival to repay its creditors. The ATF board had set a goal to stabilize its finances before beginning its new season and announced that if it couldn’t find the funds, it would cancel the festival.”

Theatre critic Michael Billington responds to David Hare’s criticism of the newspaper stars system for reviews. “The problem is there are two sides to the case. As a critic, I often curse star ratings. Yet I know that a four- or five-star review can cause a stampede at the box office for a show that might easily be overlooked. As an occasional moviegoer and CD buyer, I also find the star system helpful in sorting wheat from chaff.”

“I am very proud that we have held out against the tide, because I am with David Hare on this one: star systems demean the role of reviewers, and they devalue the art forms reviewed.”

So the West End’s Young Vic Theatre is about to get a £12.5 million makeover. And does it ever need it. But hold on – much of the theatre building of the past ten years has had problems, and no one really wants to disturb the feel of the place. So how to go about it?

The Toronto Theatre Alliance, which runs the city’s discount dicket booths and coordinates annual theatre awards, is in dire financial straits. Unable to meet expenses, and “in the face of what the organization’s new Executive Director, Jacoba Knaapen, calls ‘a major financial crisis,’ she gave four weeks notice to herself and her entire staff.”

Musicians in London’s West End are protesting the planned introduction of a “virtual orchestra” machine that would replace some musicians in pit orchestras. “Champions of the device, called the Sinfonia, maintain that it “gives more bangs for the buck” than musicians. Musicians say it “steals jobs and cheats audiences”. In the US it has cut orchestral jobs on some shows – including Miss Saigon and Phantom of the Opera – by between a half and a third.”

Playwright David Hare rails against The Guardian’s practice of assigning stars to reviews. “Apart from anything else, why does a self-respecting critic agree to a system of grading that renders his or her detailed reaction superfluous? ‘What did the Guardian think of it ?’ ‘Oh, they gave it two stars.’ Why would any critic let their presumably thoughtful work be so diminished?”

The Vancouver Arts Center has canceled two of its upcoming shows and laying off staff. The theatre has been presenting traveling Broadway shows, but has lost money on most of its presentations in the two years since it has been open.

Four months ago, the Conn.-based Eugene O’Neill Theater Center announced it would no longer accept open submissions for its annual Playwrights Conference. The change in policy was made as a cost-saving measure. But after much protest, the O’Neill has decided to reinstate its open submissions policy.

Who will replace Donovan Marley as head of the Denver Center Theatre? “One of the many testaments to the resident company Marley has developed since 1984 is that there are at least three viable candidates with DCTC ties who should be given foremost consideration: Israel Hicks, Anthony Powell and Bruce K. Sevy.”