“In Canada, humor has become a way of pushing back against America’s cultural and political dominance, like a class clown subtly undermining the teacher. Its changing comedy offers a lens into how the nation is changing, too.”
Category: theatre
Ringling Bros. May Be Gone, But 21st-Century Circus Is Thriving (Animal-Free)
“No joke: Circus scholar Janet Davis counts some 85 circus schools and training centers scattered across the country, where everyone from bona fide big-top and art-house pros to curious civilians and energetic youngsters learn the ropes, high wires and German wheels of circus yore. … And roving troupes and single-ring spectacles abound.” Journalist Holly Millea visits the very last performance of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Xtreme as well as several of the new-style circus spectaculars (a group in which, interestingly, she has included Elizabeth Streb’s dance company). Millea even tries out a trapeze class.
Edward Albee Wanted His Unfinished Plays Burned, And His Executors Will Probably Do It
“The executors have made clear they plan to honor Albee’s desires, even when they might be controversial. … Now at stake, at a minimum, are the latest drafts of Albee’s final known project, Laying an Egg, about a middle-aged woman struggling to become pregnant.”
A Sea Change In Theatre (Maybe)
Vicky Featherstone, artistic director of The Royal Court: “People feel they have much more right to put complex female characters on stage. I think that’s really exciting. Flawed women on stage, women that are asking questions that previously men would ask, about sex, about pornography – there’s really been an opening up about that. But I still feel we have a way to go.”
Why Did This Guy Want To Take On The Job Of Artistic Director At A Theatre That Had To Hold An Emergency Fundraising Campaign?
David Ivers, who’s taking on the role at the Arizona Theatre Company (which runs both in Phoenix and Tucson): “When I became the unanimous candidate — the board’s words, not mine — I felt I had the opportunity … to say ‘I would like to fight on behalf of the staff before I take this job. So if you are serious about me doing this, we have to raise some money before we start. I won’t take the job unless we start to equalize cash flow problems. I’ll help, and I’ll do that even as a candidate, but I can’t in good conscience ask myself and my family to move here, or these families who live here, to continue if you aren’t serious about saving the theater.'”
How A ‘Hamilton’ Superfan Became A ‘Hamilton’ Cast Member (No, Don’t Take This As Encouragement, Most Of America!)
A guy from a small town in Texas gets a break in a Richard Linklater film, and through a lot of memorization of lyrics and timing, he’s suddenly on Broadway as Hercules Mulligan – and James Madison. But other than the route to the theater, he knows little about New York, honestly: “I never really planned to live in New York, I had never even thought about it.”
Lisa Kron: ‘Fun Home’ Was *Not* ‘De-Butchified’ For The National Tour
The playwright takes to an open letter to respond to a controversy about Mature Alison’s tour costume. She is not in agreement with the original post. “The producers, the creative team, and I have never stopped our guardianship of the queer, feminist, lesbian, middle-aged, art-making, truth-seeking heart of our show. I love Kate’s version of Alison. I feel good about the change in her costume. You may disagree. But was this decision, or any other, ever made to ‘de-butchify’ the show? No way. Not on this femme’s watch.”
Charging Theatres To Get Reviewed Is A Bad Idea That Was Probably Bound To Happen
“If readers are no longer paying for criticism by buying newspapers or paywall subscriptions, the Bitter Lemons and Edinburgh initiatives were an attempt to find someone else to pay for the review, namely the recipient of the opinion.” So the alternative, writes Mark Shenton, is (for now) to mostly have critics who can afford to work for free, with all that implies.
Should Theater Reviews Be Held Accountable From A Social Justice Viewpoint?
Howard Sherman on the (latest) Hedy Weiss controversy: “Many theatres are trying to address systemic racism in their practices, just as progressive activists are working vigorously to address that deep racial and ethnic inequality in society at large. So for artists committed to those goals who find their creative work viewed through a frequently dismissive perspective when it comes to social justice, who see a lack of empathy when it comes to racial topics, which I believe Weiss has displayed, it is unquestionably not just troubling, but painful.”
Is The Decline Of Old-Style Rep Theatres Really Such A Terrible Thing?
Lyn Gardner: “It’s not surprising that there is a great deal of nostalgia from actors such as Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and Simon Callow who were the beneficiaries of the old rep system. But the purpose of contemporary theatre is not just to train the stars and Dames and Knights of the future. It is there to serve a much wider community … and most of all it is there to serve the particular and unique needs of the locale where a theatre is situated.” (What’s more, “from where I sit in aisle seats across the country the standard of British acting gets better year by year.”)