Category: theatre

“Some Twin Cities performing arts venues have come in for severe criticism in recent years over issues involving inclusion, diversity and casting — issues that confront the field nationally. Yet at this moment, this last week of March, 2014, the offerings of major stages in the Twin Cities have never been more diverse. (And all the shows are commendable.)”

“British theatre is both art and part of an industry topped by film and television that produces highly skilled practitioners but doesn’t always know how to use them. Except stereotypically.”

Michael Dobson, director of the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, and Observer theatre critic Clare Brennan argue it out.

The Golden Mask festival began in 1995 as Moscow’s equivalent of the Tonys. Now theater companies (and opera and dance troupes) from throughout Russia spend three weeks in March and April in the capital competing for awards in 34 categories – and that’s not even counting fringe fests and tours.

Jasper Rees recounts the long and tortured genesis of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood.

Starting in September, producers of touring shows in the UK will be able to claim up to a 25% tax rebate, with other productions receiving 20%. So what exactly will be the definition of what qualifies as touring shows and productions?

“We looked round and saw smoke pouring out of the corner of the theatre. We went running over with a fire extinguisher, thought ‘well maybe it’s just a small fire’, went in and the whole building was just well alight.”

“After all, scalping—or price-gouging, if you prefer—already works for airlines and sports teams and hotels and Broadway shows and nobody seems to complain—at least, not those that can afford them. And furthermore, like it or not, pretty soon everybody will be doing it. So hey, why fight it?”

“I think it’s going to be a fun experiment for the Portland arts community which is very diverse but often falls into the trap that everyone’s competing for the same dollars, the few art dollars out there that are still left,” says organizer Peter Platt. “Instead there’s strength in numbers. You can come together, collaborate, create festivals and programming that shares expertise, talent and overhead.”

“While our change might just be producing an art that can create social commentary and create a message for an audience, I think that is an idea of expression in general and of our First Amendment rights: We’re given the ability to produce material that can create change and be a part of our society.”