Category: theatre

Why don’t young people come to the theatre? Theatres certainly try hard enough to lure them – “they choose new writers; they cast stars from television soaps; they allow audiences to bring drinks in with them; they even, in the case of the National Theatre, reconfigure the auditorium in an effort to make it more youth-friendly.” But maybe it’s just a price issue. If theatre cost the price of a movie, would they go? One experiment offers some answers…

A fire in Old Town Edinburgh damages a number of venues that host events for the annual Fringe Festival. But a Festival spokesman says “it would only be a handful of venues out of 183 that we had on board last year, so we don’t expect it to affect the festival in any way.”

The Muppet empire has been chopped into pieces since Muppet creator Jim Henson died in 1990. The company was sold soon after Henson’s death, and some of the characters were resold off to Sesame Street last year. The rest of the troupe has been on the market for the past year. Is Miss Piggy enough of an enduring character to endure?

Atlanta’s main presenter of touring Broadway musicals proposes to build a new school and theatre – “a laboratory-like theatrical environment where, over a period of 10 to 12 weeks, all aspects of a show can be presented to a live audience, revised, shown again, revised again . . . until a Broadway-ready project has emerged.” The theatre says the project would be a “one-of-a-kind incubator of new musicals that would make Atlanta an invaluable stop on the road to New York.”

As Nicholas Hytner takes control of London’s National Theatre, it’s clear he’s got big ideas for a change of direction. “Like most large subsidized theatres, the National has a spotty history of success. Some would argue it has never truly been a ‘national theatre,’ and the work it has produced with its multimillion-pound budget for its massive building with three auditoriums on London’s South Bank has often not been of national, not to mention world, standards.”

“The ever-busy world of London theater this season has produced two important premieres by two singular playwrights, Tom Stoppard and Caryl Churchill. Their vastly different new works — Stoppard’s running a little over nine hours and Churchill’s clocking in at a mere 55 minutes — are certain to have United States productions, and when they get to America, they are sure to cause a stir.”

British theatre is an overwhelmingly white experience. “The facts are scandalous. Of 2,009 permanent staff in regional theatres, only 80 are from black and Asian communities; of 463 board members, only 20 are from what we term “ethnic minorities”. And Leicester Haymarket is the only producing theatre with a black artistic director, Kully Thiarai.” The Arts Council is working on some initiatives to help, but “the key question is whether these initiatives are enough to combat the racism – more, I suspect, a result of indifference than malice – that has become an entrenched part of British theatre.”

Wasn’t it just yesterday the press was beating up on Trevor Nunn and his choices running London’s National Theatre? Well, his successor hasn’t wasted any time signaling his split from the past. Jerry Springer – The Opera, a cheeky, irreverent, and joyously filthy musical theatre satire on the TV chat show no one likes to admit to watching, will be Nicholas Hytner’s first big production when his reign begins in April. As a first choice it sends an unmistakable message that the years ahead are likely not only to be risky and exciting but revolutionary in a way that Sir Trevor Nunn’s were not.”

Is Scottish theatre underfunded? The union Actors Equity says yes, theatre people are paid better in England than in Scotland. “This is going to mean a serious talent drain. Scottish theatres are not going to be competitive enough to retain the best actors or the best directors, technical staff and administrators. Theatres across the Border will be able to offer better resources and working conditions.”

Is it just coincidence or is something deeper going on here? Many of Scotland’s best theatre and artistic directors are leaving their jobs. “Within the next few months, every rep theatre in Scotland save the Byre in St Andrews will have a new artistic director.”