“People piss on theatre critics from a great height. But in the end, they are the record. You can’t replay this stuff. They are the only way we can find a way back. … If you’ve been really engaged and the artist realises that, and you still don’t like the work, well, they don’t love it – but they don’t feel offended.”
Category: theatre
How I Became Julie Taymor
The director tells Alec Baldwin about her youth at Boston Children’s Theater, her time at Oberlin majoring in anthropology (“but I couldn’t stay away from theater”), what she learned watching shadow puppet plays in Java, and how her career metamorphosed – several times – once she returned to the U.S. (podcast)
How One Playwright Imagines The Audience She Writes For
“For me, thinking about this big audience makes my play bigger, because the things I’m worried about right now—getting my son into a good high school, you know, etcetera, etcetera—I’m not sure I want to be writing plays about that. I feel like the playwright is in the business of imagining bigger worlds, and by putting the audience there—especially with the class spectrum—I feel like the plays get deeper and bigger.”
Rules Of Engagement: The Line Between Audience Participation And Abuse
“The rules of engagement in theatre have changed, and now audience participation is everywhere. But artists have a responsibility to take care of those they pick on.”
Fear Of ‘Extremist Agenda’ Was Reason For Cancelling Play About Girls Who Joined ISIS
In a just-released email sent July 30, the UK National Youth Theatre’s artistic director wrote, “The creatives have failed to meet repeated requests for a complete chronological script to justify their extremist agenda and so it doesn’t look good for the future of Homegrown on National Youth Theatre turf.”
Touring Theatre On A Long, Skinny Canal Boat
“Despite having to deal with endless locks, cabin fever and chemical toilet mishaps, the Mikron theatre company is flourishing, thanks to its passionate following.”
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival Has Been Focused On Diversity. Here’s How It’s Going…
“Once settled in your seat, I suspect the first thing you’d notice would be the unusual ethnic and racial diversity onstage.”
For Whom Should (Or Shouldn’t) Broadway Dim Its Lights? It’s Less Simple A Question Than Ever
“For at least 50 years, New York has honored the passing of lifelong theater-industry participants by briefly dimming the lights of Broadway marquees. But in the social-media era, the decision over whose legacy merits the tradition is kicking up painful public controversy.”
Rock Legends Are Lining Up To Write The Spongebob Squarepants Musical
David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Aerosmith, Jonathan Coulton, The Flaming Lips, Panic! At the Disco, and They Might Be Giants are just a few of the folks headed to that pineapple under the sea …
Edinburgh Festivals Post (Yet Another) Record Year At The Box Office
“The fringe broke the 2 million barrier for the second year in a row, recording a rise of 5.24% on last year’s figures to 2,298,080, on an increase in productions of 3.79% to 3,314. The Edinburgh International Festival posted ticket sales valued at a record £3.8 million. The number of tickets issued passed 163,500, the highest since 2003.”