“The King’s Head pub theatre in north London has announced plans to move to a £5.6 million purpose-built space. Widely recognised to be the first pub theatre since Shakespearean times, the King’s Head has submitted plans to build a 250-seat auditorium and an 85-seat studio on Upper Street, Islington.”
Category: theatre
What I Learned At The National Critics Institute
“Workshopping 14 reviews of the same show is enlightening and frustrating. We learn so much from each other. Different lenses, different voices, different strengths. There’s a critic who talks about music in ways that make us all jealous. We recognize each other’s paragraphs and fonts instinctually by now. As my admiration for the others grows, my self-confidence breaks apart. Every point my fellow critics makes is just another point I missed. I don’t know if I’m getting better at this.”
Paula Vogel’s ‘Indecent’ And The Challenges Of Liberalism
“In Indecent, Vogel has made a piece of art that’s about nothing more or less than Art’s survival in a world a lot like our own: a historical test case of the possibility of representing the reality of human multiplicity in a culture filled with competing singularities. What’s more, she’s done this by following the experiences of the group for whom the stakes surrounding that possibility have historically been highest, secular Jews.”
Anger Over Gov’t Funding For Emma Rice’s New Theatre Company
Gosh, and everyone had seemed to be on her side. Wise Children, the troupe Rice is starting after she leaves Shakespeare’s Globe, was awarded roughly £2 million (£475,000 per year) by Arts Council England, even though it didn’t exist even on paper until eight days before the application deadline. What’s more, Wise Children received money earmarked for southwestern England, which the company claims it will serve, even though it’s registered in London and will be resident at the city’s Old Vic. Following a furious denunciation in the industry press last week, controversy over the grant is mounting.
Lost Play By ‘Peter Pan’ Author Turns Up In Texas
The script of the brief farce, titled The Reconstruction of the Crime, was found among J.M. Barrie’s papers at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin.
And The World’s Next Super-High-Profile Shakespeare Production Will Be –
Kenneth Branagh directing his theatre company in Hamlet with Tom Hiddleston in the title role. Reporter Nick Clark has the details.
Remembering Sam Shepard, An “Accessible Demigod”
Charles McNulty: “Not everyone will agree with my assessment that he was America’s best dramatist since Williams. But as someone who has taught playwriting for years, I can say that, if Samuel Beckett has been the god of modern theater, Shepard has been the more accessible demigod who has inspired more young talents in the last few decades than any other.”
How They Make Swimming Pools, Drill Halls, Soccer Fields, Car Parks And Other Weird Spaces Safe For The Edinburgh Fringe
“Since every one of these spaces will be open to the public, each one has to meet the kinds of safety standards that are common in theatre buildings across the country … And ensuring that this vast archipelago of pop-up spaces comes up to the mark requires a huge amount of work.”
Artistic Director Beaten Almost To Death In Dallas Says He Survived Partly Because Of ‘Pippin’
Derek Whitener, whose brain was damaged in the savage January beating in the parking lot of a Dallas Target, couldn’t move or speak or recognize anyone. But, he says, his brain was busy thinking about how to direct certain parts of Pippen, which opened last week. “As he struggled to heal enough to leave the hospital, he thought about Pippin’s troubled journey as he searches for meaning and purpose.”
To Avoid Stepping Into The Shoes Of A Former ‘Hamilton’ Actor, Mandy Patinkin Steps Down From ‘Great Comet’
Will the move, which Patinkin said he made because he agreed that the choice was one that wasn’t good for actors of color, cause yet more ticket sales problems for “Great Comet,” which has struggled since musician Josh Groban stepped down?