“Branden Jacobs-Jenkins has made a name for himself writing plays including Neighbors and An Octoroon. This year he won the Wyndham-Campbell Literature award, one of the biggest financial prizes for writers. But a seeming windfall only goes so far. As he puts it, ‘Can anyone really say they’ve made it in New York? … It feels like New York is a game about keeping up. You can’t get too comfortable in any avenue here.” (audio)
Category: theatre
One Week After Exposé Of Abuse, Chicago’s Profiles Theatre Shuts Down And Answers Allegations
“[The] small off-Loop company that is the subject of published allegations of intimidation, sexual misconduct and unsafe stage combat is shutting down permanently.” Artistic director Darrell Cox, the alleged abuser, “declined to speak in person or on the phone but agreed through a spokesman to respond to a series of written questions.”
For The First Time, Broadway Will Live-Stream A Show
“The Metropolitan Opera has been transmitting performances live for a decade. The National Theater in London jumped on board a few years later. But Broadway, facing both financial and philosophical obstacles, has been slow to join the trend. Now, after years of start-and-stop progress, Broadway is passing a milestone.”
Director: It’s A Terrible Time To Be Director Of A Theatre
“We have become fundraisers who occasionally get time off to do a play, as opposed to theatre directors who have to take an interest in fundraising.”
Why The Silence On The Chicago Theatre Abuse Case?
“Was everyone hypnotized and mesmerized like some kind of Manson Family Member? Were all these women and stage managers and directors bedazzled by all the attention and full houses to the point where they simply had to submit to the abuse? Were they drugged? C’mon, people, where is the personal responsibility?”
Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre Abruptly Suspends Operations
“Rising rent costs, dwindling institutional support, and [company director Carmen Khan’s] personal battle with cancer last winter all contributed to the decision to temporarily cease performances. Until this morning, [the company’s] website was stuffed with programming through December, and when the Inquirer asked about the status of the theater last week, Khan insisted that nothing out of the ordinary was brewing.”
It’s Official: ‘Hamilton’ Is Headed To The West End Next Year
“The musical, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, will run at the Victoria Palace Theatre, which is currently being refurbished after Cameron Mackintosh purchased it. Tickets will go on sale for the show in November.”
UK’s National Theatre To Commission Virtual Reality Theatre Works
“The National Theatre is to commission new work for virtual reality headsets. … The first project to be produced is an immersive, 360-degree, verbatim documentary, HOME: AAMIR, which tells the story of a refugee living at the Calais migrant camp. It will premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2016.”
The Tonys Of Diversity And Earnestness
Jesse Green: “All four of the musical performance Tonys went to black actors … Ten other actors of color were nominated, as were, even more unusually, a number of black and Hispanic and Filipino artists in the creative and technical categories. … As a result, all the attention to diversity on the show seemed natural and coherent, not inanely appliquéd as at February’s Academy Awards. … This was not just the least white Tonys I can recall but the most earnest. As one commenter on last night’s Vulture liveblog put it, ‘I am so moved by the lack of cynicism in this broadcast, this theatre season.'”
On Demand, Improvised And Fully Scannable New Shakespeare(-Like) Plays
“After the title is picked, one actor steps up to recite a prologue, all in unrehearsed rhyme. Recent shows ranged from ‘Straight Outta Venice,’ which featured some terribly fantastic rapping, to ‘Survivor: Globe Edition,’ which turned into a ‘Tempest’-like romp of romance and murder, along with a monster that beggars description.”