Natalia Kalaida, one of the members of Belarus Free Theatre, which was exiled for its political stances, explains that “art has long been used to express political and moral opposition, particularly in countries where open criticism can lead to arrest and even execution. But when citizens have nothing to fight for, Kaliada says, the importance of theatre wanes.” – ABC News (Australia)
Category: theatre
Should Britain’s Art Courses Warn Young People About Their Futures?
Lyn Gardner says that although UK government inspector Amanda Spelman has faced a massive backlash – for good reason – some of her statements were probably fair. “Watching each year as arts graduates head into the world sometimes feels like a David Attenborough documentary showing nature at its most brutal. As thousands of young people – who have been taught to call themselves artists but not necessarily given the skills artists need to survive – head for the choppy waters of the industry, they seem like vulnerable baby turtles heading for the ocean.” – The Stage (UK)
Miami’s City Theatre – America’s Master Of Short-Form Plays?
With Kentucky’s Actors Theatre of Louisville ending its short-play contests and festivals in 2017, City Theatre has emerged as the professional company most committed to championing an art form as formidable as any other. After all, short stories are recognized as a literary form of comparable value to novels; why not short plays? – American Theatre
How To Present ‘Problematic’ Plays — And How To Handle The Fraught Talkbacks Afterward
Maddie Gaw, who was part of the selection panel for the first-ever Problematic Play Festival this past fall, writes about what makes plays “problematic” (i.e., subject matter violent or controversial enough to make most theatres and funders flee) and about how the festival altered the standard post-play talkback to make it safe for audience members to process what they had seen. — HowlRound
Inside The Refugee Theatre Company That Created ‘The Jungle’
The Good Chance Theatre was founded in the Calais refugee settlement known as “The Jungle,” where the touring piece by that title was created. Now that the Calais camp is gone, Good Chance has moved on to Paris, where, each week, migrants attend a workshop and create a theatre piece which they perform for visiting Parisians. Writer Verity Healey has a look. — HowlRound
My Challenges: Mental Illness And Theatre
Jacob Juntunen: “Being a mentally ill theatremaker comes with its own specific challenges. Different mental illnesses require different care, but the majority are exacerbated by lack of routine, insufficient sleep, alcohol use, lack of access to health care, and undue stress—all elements of most theatre careers. Mental illnesses are chronic, requiring a redefinition of self after diagnosis, a lifetime of management, and the navigation of a complicated healthcare system.” – Howlround
Dinner Theater In The 21st Century: Upscale, ‘Immersive’, And Actually Related To The Play
Back in 1973, the Times described the then-popular phenomenon as “restaurants that feature live theater.” Now it’s the other way around, writes Elisabeth Vincentelli: “The productions I caught this fall at least tried to make food an integral part of a show’s aesthetic and thematic universe. In turning New York venues into giant food courts, some even succeeded.” — The New York Times
University Group Asked Comedians To Sign ‘Behavioural Agreement’ Before Benefit Performance
A student group supporting UNICEF at the School of Oriental and African Studies, a prominent research institution in London, booked five comedians for a benefit performance. Then it sent them a contract “agreeing to our no tolerance policy with regards to racism, sexism, classism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia or anti-religion or anti-atheism. … All topics must be presented in a way that is respectful and kind.” — The Guardian
Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre A Cautionary Tale For Regional Theatre?
Liverpool’s plight is a reminder of just how close to the edge many regional theatres are operating and how perilously near many are to breaching their NPO agreements. As one leading industry insider put it to me: “There are many canaries in cages coughing, if not yet falling off their perches.” As with Liverpool, it wouldn’t take all that much to knock them off, and when one tumbles – particularly one as big as Liverpool – the fear is that more may follow. – The Stage
What We Learned About Making Good Plays: “We Don’t Care If They’re Any Good” (At Least For Awhile)
“What we learned working on Sinan’s play, and several others at that time, completely changed our DNA. We learned that the pressure of rushing to production forced us to take safer approaches and to marginalise the most important visionary of all, the writer.” After Pera Palas, the Lark changed its approach. “We became what I like to call a ‘rehearsal company’. We would be a play lab, a think tank for theatre.” – The Stage