Category: theatre

“The issue has been a fairly personal one for Miranda: ticket prices for his hit musical Hamilton soared to outrageous heights during his final weeks as the show’s lead actor. The New York Times reported that scalpers made $15.5 million off of his last 100 performances alone, and the going price for an orchestra seat at his last show was about $15,000.”

When it came to power in one Malaysian state back in 1990, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party banned the wayang kulit altogether because so much of its subject matter came from ancient Hindu epics. So a pair of enterprising young men turned to a different mythological epic.

“When you live with a woman for more than a decade – as Mark Rylance did, on and off, with a certain countess famed for her beauty and her severity – you come to know her well.”

“We found the bottom part of the whistle; the top, which is missing, would have formed a small reservoir for water with a spout for blowing through. The warbling effect is created as the air bubbles through the water. These type whistles may have been used for sound effects in theatrical performances. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, staged at the Curtain Theatre in the late sixteenth century, there are numerous references to bird song.”

“Male playwrights naturally veer towards telling male-centric ­stories, with women given ­supporting roles. So for women to have the same opportunities, we need to see more women turning to writing and telling stories that expose a woman’s perspective on life and things that matter to them.”

“Seeing plays in repertory sparks conversations in the mind between shows, between periods. And it’s also distinctly satisfying — sometimes even astonishing — to watch an actor you’ve seen in, say, a Shakespeare tragedy performing a day or so later in a classic American musical.”

“While their programming is exciting and admirable, these plays and their popularity are untested. There is always the chance new audiences will walk out unsatisfied and withhold their contributions. And how will this strategy reach Philadelphians who don’t already have Azuka on their radar? It’s one thing to offer up more accessible theatre, but if the same theatregoers are the only ones taking advantage, where’s the progress?”

“It’s a highwire act, live performance, the psychological stresses of which one medical study has likened to ‘a small car crash’. That might explain the adrenaline rush actors feel immediately after coming off stage, and the strange hangover that can come the next day.” Kate Fleetwood, Michelle Terry, and Ben Miles tell what it’s like.

“Entertainment union BECTU is representing 38 front-of-house workers across all of [Ambassador Theatre Group’s] West End venues, claiming they have been paid less than the agreed Society of London Theatre rate.”