Category: theatre

How Strictly Should A Playwright’s Estate Police Productions? The Case Of Arthur Miller’s Heirs

“Plays exist on stage, in the present moment – so should the heirs of major dramatists promote timewarp productions or embrace experiment? What would Arthur do? At the centenary of Miller’s birth (he died in 2005), it seems timely to explore how literary estates meet the challenge of saving plays from history.”

Why Artists Can’t Depend Only On Ticket Sales During A Tour

“What I do is make a mish-mash tour that combines hired gigs with arts presenters and universities I’ve created relationships with, as well as some co-produced shows (although I’m backing off on those as much as possible because they are similar to self-producing) and putting together a string of house shows where the host is responsible for paying me and getting a crowd.”

Has The Brazilian Audience For Broadway Musicals Disappeared For Good?

“The cast of ‘The Full Monty,’ which opened in Rio last week, rehearsed in a donated room of a barren mall. The producer and director, Tadeu Aguiar, reused sets and costumes from his other shows — although the police uniform stripper costumes were created from scratch. Instead of a salary, the cast was offered a cut of the box office. With no union to protect the actors, and unemployment surpassing 8 percent, ‘there are a lot of people who will do it for nothing,’ said one actor, André Dias.”

How Do You Design Costumes When Your Theatre Has Little Money For Costuming?

“I used my parents as my inspiration for the design. They were still young campesinos in the ’40s. No matter how poor, I remember seeing my father dress himself in his dark pin stripe suit every Sunday morning for Mass; his calloused hands darkened by fieldwork. As a campesina, my mother would wear her khaki pants under her cotton dress for modesty. It was inconceivable just to wear pants for fieldwork!”