Category: theatre

Has ‘Gender Blind’ Casting In Michelle Terry’s Fresh Tenure At The Globe Truly Meant Something?

Whatever ‘blind’ casting may mean to Terry and the cohort of each play, the audience sees gender, and that makes a difference. “Many audience members in fact cannot and will not easily look past what seems to them to be a fundamental disconnect between who the gender of the actor as understood outside of the production, and the gender they are playing.”

Does The Success Of The “Harry Potter” Show, A Threat To Broadway?

To some theater veterans, the success of “Potter” — a 5½ hour extravaganza set in the world of a Hollywood mega-franchise — is cause for concern. Is this, they wonder, what it takes to make it here now? Shows based on known properties are mounting an offensive on the New York stage. And some in this old guard worry a sacred American institution — and a time-honored way of doing business — is becoming endangered.

It’s So Disgusting Backstage At British Regional Theatres That It’s Become Dangerous, Say Actors

“Mould, loose tiles, leaking drains, hanging wires, rats and a lack of disabled access are just some of the issues cited by performers and creatives. Actor Daniel Page, proposing the motion on behalf of the West and South West London Branch [of Equity], said: ‘I’ve seen gaffer tape holding up wires, gaffer tape holding up dressing-room mirrors, and I fear that we will lose these palaces that are our working environment if we don’t do something about it soon.'”

‘Stop Relying On Old Media’: Lyn Gardner On Leaving The Guardian And The Future Of Theatre Criticism

“My loss of a platform at The Guardian doesn’t mean that theatre criticism is dead, merely that the conversations are taking different forms and moving elsewhere. … There is a lesson in this for theatre itself and how much it remains in thrall to mainstream theatre writing, even as that coverage crumbles away. Theatre is in trouble if it places too much faith in the words of a single individual – whether that happens to be me or someone else – and just a few mainstream platforms; the media boulders that only really care about their own survival in the final reckoning.”

Can Theatre Critics Be Friends With The Artists They Review?

Mark Shenton: “The theatre world is quite a small one and I spend a lot of time immersed in it, both as a critic and an audience member. Over the years, I’ve become friends with some of those that make the art I love so much. Even though critics are sometimes seen as being on the ‘other’ side of the artistic fence, I don’t see it as an oppositional relationship. We both want the same thing: to be able to participate in the making and watching of great shows. … Being both a critic and a friend, however, is fraught with danger … For me, it depends on a lot of factors. And rules of engagement may need to be drawn up.”

Oscar Hammerstein Was A Genius. So Why Doesn’t He Get More Respect?

No one questions Hammerstein’s historical significance, nor does the popularity of these six musicals show any sign of diminishing. But there is a gap between that popularity and the esteem in which he is held by many critics. Kenneth Tynan summed up the conventional wisdom about the alleged sentimentality and naiveté of Hammerstein’s work when he dismissed The Sound of Music as “a show for children of all ages, from six to about eleven and a half.” Stephen Sondheim, Hammerstein’s protégé, put it more forgivingly when he described him as “easy to make fun of because he is so earnest.”