Category: theatre

“[Forced Entertainment’s] success is due to having realised early what much larger arts organisations are only discovering now: they work abroad as much as they do here.”

Lyn Gardner: “It’s those companies who have already been looking beyond these shores for collaborations and co-productions” – not to mention touring opportunities – “who are likely to be the survivors as belts continue to be tightened here in the UK.”

“The major new tax relief scheme was confirmed by the government earlier this year and means that from Monday, touring shows can apply for 25% relief and non touring productions will be eligible for a 20% tax credit on qualifying production costs. It will apply to plays, musicals, opera, ballet, dance and circus shows and is expected to bring in up to £120 million for touring and commercial productions in future years. It is expected to benefit around 250 production companies a year.”

“I have loved my job, but critics shouldn’t go on too long. I feel I’ve had my say and it’s time to stop and put my feet up,” said the 59-year-old journalist on his decision to take early retirement after 25 years with the London-based paper.”

Mark Shenton: “It is not always appropriate for a critic to put himself at the centre of a narrative about a play he is reviewing, but when a play affects you directly and personally, it is honest to point it out. … I’m very proud of Charlie for doing so with such openness, and I have tried to follow his example.”

“But when you’re young, gifted, gay and black and the theatrical world is toasting you as the next great one, it makes sense to proceed with caution. You never know when the fickle star-making gods will turn on you.”

“Rarely offstage, rarely on hiatus, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ has already been back on Broadway for four revivals, played London’s West End four times and remains among Broadway’s 16 longest-running shows ever.”

“A movement to create theater that reflects the changing demographics of Portland has been picking up steam for years now, and by some measure appears to be working. So is Portland theater in good shape? Does it have a ways to go? Where are culturally specific theater groups in the mix?”

“It had the potential to be one of the most galvanizing cultural events of the season: a dozen Syrian women, refugees from that besieged country, performing in Washington a version of a 2,500-year-old Greek tragedy revised to include their own harrowing stories. But now the … State Department rejected the women’s applications for entertainers’ visas for the performances … because it is not convinced that the women would leave.”

The Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA is about to begin a one-year program “focusing on a musical’s lyrics as part of a push to incubate new shows and mentor fledgling lyricists.”