“Some are born into the theater, some achieve the theater, and some have theaters thrust upon them. Gene Terruso had a theater thrust upon him … One moment, he was a Fulbright scholar about to return home; the next, he was artistic director of [BEST Divadlo,] the first all-English-language theater in Brno, a bustling, international, U.S.-culture-loving city.”
Category: theatre
The Richest Guys In UK Theatre
The annual list of the UK’s 1,000 richest people names Cameron Mackintosh as theatre’s wealthiest individual, with £1.18 billion. This is equal to 2017’s rich list figure and means he continues to be the richest entertainment figure in the list.
The Reality For Women Of Color Wanting To Run Arts Organizations
A recent study found “zero women of color as executive directors in LORT, the largest professional theatre association in the United States, and only one woman of color as an artistic director. This is a dismal reality for women like me who are founders of their own theatre company, hoping to transition to jobs at LORT theatres in the future. The ugly truth, which was revealed in the study, is that “hidden behind a gender- and race-neutral job description is an expectation, grounded in a stereotype, of what a theatre leader needs to look like: white and male.”
Stop Trying To ‘Protect’ Shakespeare, Chekhov, And Other Dead Playwrights
Lyn Gardner: “What is viewed by some as cultural vandalism is often a lifeline for playwrights, keeping plays that might otherwise slip into obscurity alive. Tastes and styles in theatre change. … Theatre has to move on, or it dies.”
How Should TCG’s Publication, American Theatre, Handle The Many MeToo Reports It Collected?
The magazine has never done investigative journalism, and it’s been a bit overwhelmed by the number of serious, credible incidents it has heard about since senior editor Diep Tran asked for stories. “We opted to share with major news outlets the names of survivors, with their permission; these publications later produced high-profile news reports that resulted in the accused perpetrators leaving or being removed from their positions.” But there’s a lot more to write about.
How Theatre Is Supporting Students In The Never Again Movement
Playwrights unite across the country for short plays about gun violence, and to plan for longer productions as well. Why? “Today’s cultural climate is being dominated by fear and division. Theatre is an ideal space to challenge the dividing forces at work—a space for empathy, expression, and dialogue.”
Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ And Politics, Then And Now
“Why was the Bard so fascinated with the fall of the Roman Republic? Why do we tend to turn to this play when we worry about society’s future? … Isaac [Butler] talks to theater critic Helen Shaw and English professor Andrew Hadfield about what was going on in Shakespeare’s time that led him to look back to ancient Rome. We also talk to theater directors Rob Melrose and Tyler Dobrowsky about the choices they made in their recent staged renditions of Caesar.” (podcast)
When, And Why, Theater Audiences Fall Asleep In Their Seats
Peter Marks: “It is every patron’s right, I suppose, to consume theater in any way they see fit, as long as it is not a nuisance to others. The steady mechanical breath of sleep can be an audible distraction at a quiet play, and yes, a throat clearing or a whispered word of correction is required if snoring commences. But the greater injustice, it seems to me, is the one unconscious theatergoers do to themselves. Buying a $100 seat is an inordinately expensive way to take a nap. Is every theater piece really that dull to some percentage of the crowd, I wonder, or are we just coming to public events ever more sleep-deprived? “
Broadway ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ To Proceed After Harper Lee Estate And Producers Settle Lawsuits
“That settlement means that the play, with a new script by the prominent Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, will be allowed to go forward.” In March, Lee executor Tonja Carter sued lead producer Scott Rudin, claiming Sorkin’s script violated their contract; in April, Rudin countersued for at least $10 million, saying that Carter’s suit could cause the play’s cancellation and the loss of investors’ money.
Harold Pinter’s Complete One-Act Plays To Be Staged In West End
“The ambitious season will mark the 10th anniversary of Pinter’s death by staging 20 plays over 24 weeks in the London theatre that has borne his name since 2011. The man behind the season is stage director Jamie Lloyd, who said he hoped theatregoers would feel it was a bit like collecting vinyl.”