Category: theatre

The theatre historian J. Leeds Barroll III, who carefully sifted through the surviving records, concluded that in the years between 1606 and 1610—the period in which Shakespeare wrote and produced some of his greatest plays, from “Macbeth” and “Antony and Cleopatra” to “The Winter’s Tale” and “The Tempest”—the London playhouses were not likely to have been open for more than a total of nine months. It is all the more striking, then, that in his plays and poems Shakespeare almost never directly represents the plague. – The New Yorker

“Performances in front of an audience are still out of the question for now. But on May 18, Austria will become one of the first countries on the continent where theater troupes can return to rehearsal, with detailed restrictions to limit the virus’s transmission. Actors must stay at least three feet apart, government guidelines say, and performers can come closer only if they wear face coverings or masks. In Germany, an insurance body has outlined similar rules. In interviews, leading theatermakers in both countries said rehearsals would be impossible under such conditions.” – The New York Times

On top of the obvious difficulties of staging a televised ceremony to promote Broadway shows when theaters are closed until god-knows-when, there may be no fair way, at this point, to vote for winners. – Variety

Actors’ Equity Association is rethinking almost every direction: How can more space be added to dressing rooms? Which costume fabrics resist the virus better? How many people need to touch a prop in a 10-minute period and how can that prop be cleaned? They’ve hired David Michaels, who ran the Occupational Safety and Health Administration under President Barack Obama, to advise. – AP

“Cancellations [due to the pandemic] have now been extended from 31 May to 28 June. ‘This does not mean theatres will reopen on 29 June,’ [the Society of London Theatres] stressed in its statement. ‘If further cancellations are necessary they will continue to be announced on a rolling basis.'” – The Guardian

“Jackson’s win marks the first time the committee has awarded a black writer for a musical. … That’s particularly poignant given the material itself: a discursive meta-tale about a young, gay, black musical theater writer, who’s writing a musical about a young, gay, black musical theater writer, and so on down the rabbit hole.” – Forbes

The theatre company Slung Low is used to thinking creatively, says its artistic director. This is just a bit different: “Constantly I’m on the phone doing deals. The other day, I swapped a load of tote bags that I got from the university for some face masks, which I split in half and swapped the other half for a lot of cream. It’s constant creative thinking, constant problem solving.” – BBC

Emily Mann was set to wrap up three decades as the director of McCarter Theater Center in Princeton this spring. Then everything shut down – and her gala went online. “‘I think I liked this better,’ Mann, 68, said by phone later that evening, moved that more than a thousand people had registered to tune in online and looking forward to watching it all again on video.” – The New York Times

Everyone’s watching to find out, but one big issue is social distancing and profit margins (such as they are not, typically, in theatre). “Keeping audience members two metres apart would limit the audience to 30 per cent of normal capacity, and that simply isn’t sustainable.” – CBC

This isn’t a great time for teachers and performers of improv comedy. Caroline Martin, who taught at Upright Citizens Brigade: “I have seen and been invited to do improv shows online on Zoom and on Instagram, and I have declined because there’s something about it that fundamentally makes me sad. Zoom does not help comedic timing.” – Slate