Laura Collins-Hughes: “All that frenzy of streamable online activity — the virtual readings and talk shows, the archival videos and topical new plays — is part of keeping the candle lit. … But theater’s primary public face wears a show-must-go-on smile, so there’s a weird and self-defeating disconnect, as if being supportive means pretending that these works are just as exciting as live stuff would be.” – The New York Times
Category: theatre
Britain’s Theatre World Banded Together And Got The Government To Provide Lockdown Rescue Money. Why Can’t American Theater Do The Same?
Jesse Green: “For months I’ve been waiting for industry groups to galvanize themselves into meaningful action, as they did in Britain — and as Black theater artists have proved can be done here, too. … But the American theater’s biggest failure is the one that renders it helpless in an existential crisis like this. In allowing itself to be cast as just another industry — a role it does not even play very well — it has disowned its true identity as a public entitlement. Will anyone make that argument now?” – The New York Times
Time To Make The Theatre Reforms We’ve Needed For A Long Time
Anna Fleischle, an award-winning designer, has defined “a moment of reset in our industry.” Rachel O’Riordan, artistic director of the Lyric Hammersmith, says she is looking at the public square outside the theatre on King Street. West End producers know that the days of the premium ticket and rip-off booking charges are over. And one can only say to all three parties: what took you so long? – Prospect Magazine
The Frustrations Of How To Think About “Hamilton” In 2020
How can one story simultaneously broadcast a contemptible message of myopic reverence for America’s Founding Fathers to some, while others take from it an equally powerful repudiation of everything those founders represent? Unraveling this question requires understanding Hamilton as the messy, mutable product of two masters: its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the constantly roiling cultural context in which it’s been viewed, especially in 2020. – Vox
So You Want To Direct Our Play (We Have A Few Changes…)
Congratulations! Your MFA in directing is about to be put to good use, effectively proving your father wrong about your job prospects. Your firm grasp of Schopenhauer’s aesthetic theory, not to mention your dissertation on the dramatic relevance of Aristotle’s Poetics, will give you the edge you need to pour into your cast of laypeople like the eager, empty vessels they are. – McSweeney’s
Actors’ Equity Approves First Post-COVID Productions
“The union, which represents 51,000 actors and stage managers around the country, said it had given the green light to two summer shows in the Berkshires region of Western Massachusetts: an outdoor production of the musical Godspell, and an indoor production of the solo show Harry Clarke.” – The New York Times
Will “Hamilton” On Disney Bring A New Audience To The Theatre?
“Hamilton’s premiere on such an accessible platform marks a potential for genuine change and improvement in the future. I know that nothing will ever replace the feeling of being in a real-life theater, sharing a room with strangers experiencing the same extraordinary thrills. But if this is the best, most inclusive way to introduce more people to theater, then I am all for it.” – CNET
Hamilton: Where Are Peggy (And All Of The Other Cast Members) Now?
So you caught the Hamilton addiction, but that’s only one streaming performance … where are the Schuyler sisters, where are the soldier boys, where are the generals now? – The New York Times
That Final, Romantic Cinderella Elbow Bump
Theatre continues, in some ways weird or alarming and in other ways perfectly creative, during the lockdowns, shutdowns, quarantines, and pandemic numbers spikes. – The New York Times
Will Netflix Save UK Theatre?
That is, Netflix, Sam Mendes, Steven Spielberg, and a series of small grants. “The fund will provide short-term relief to hundreds of theater workers and freelancers across the U.K., and particularly those from underrepresented groups, which are disproportionately affected by the crisis.” – Variety