Category: theatre

“Brian McMaster is the man who runs the Edinburgh International Festival, and sometimes it is hard to tell whether he just has a perverse love of emptying theatres or whether it’s all more sinister than that and that he is, au fond, an out-and-out sadist, who gets his kicks out of boring people into a state of mental derangement.” – The Telegraph (UK)

Stephen Hawking has attacked a new play called “God And Stephen Hawking. “When I was sent the original version of the play I thought it was ridiculous and rather embarrassing. I found that deeply offensive and an invasion of my privacy. I could probably have got a court order but it might have attracted more attention to a stupid and worthless play.” – The Telegraph (UK)

• Disney, already a huge presence on New York’s revitalized 42nd Street, says it wants to buy another theatre there. “Part of Disney’s yen for more theaters comes from its disdain for paying high rents to stage productions of Beauty and the Beast and Aida, as well as its need for space to stage a half dozen musicals in development, such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” – Inside.com

Canadian actors get an 8.5 percent pay raise. Under the union deal, “Canadian Stage Company artists have had salary increases from their weekly wage of more than $700, as have artists in smaller, lower-performing productions who were paid less than $400 per week before the deal.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

In the refurbished Globe Theatre (an exact replica of the theatre where the Bard’s works were all premiered) is becoming one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. More than 1,000 visitors go each day to see “Elizabethan special effects brought to life on touch screens: See how Ariel flew. Check out what Shakespeare used for onstage blood and how Macbeth’s thunder was created.” – Yahoo! News (Reuters)

Theatre critic Benedict Nightingale reflects on 35 years of attending the Edinburgh Festival. “Unpredictability is the essence of Edinburgh. If I have seen plenty of chic schlock there – Stein, Sellars and Robert Wilson at their most overrated – I have also seen plenty that stays with me still. And here let’s agree that the distinction between Festival and Fringe is often slim.” – The Times (UK)

The issue of whether to launch a National Theatre of Scotland has been bandied about for decades, but now that Scottish Parliament is taking the notion seriously and discussing possible funding, the debate has reached a new pitch. “The issue of whether ‘National’ equates with ‘quality’ is a potent question.” – The Herald (Scotland)

Singapore’s arts scene is tightly controlled by the government. Last month a production of “The Vagina Monologues” was banned by the censors. “The actors submitted the script, including stage directions. Part of the performance involved briefly projecting a picture of a vagina as a backdrop. Choo says the performance could have proceeded without the image but the theatre group refused a change. They were denied a license and will probably lose any government funding.” – New Zealand Herald

James Joyce’s grandson wants to stop the staging of a musical adaptation of Joyce’s “Ulysses.” “Stephen Joyce has threatened legal action over the production of Molly Bloom, A Musical Dream, which is due to be premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.” – BBC

“Performance artists” Yuan Cai and Jian Ji Xi walked naked across London’s Westminster Bridge with slogans written all over their bodies. The pair last “performed at the Tate earlier this year when they jumped onto Tracey Emin’s bed. – BBC