Category: theatre

Could some of this be the future of online theatre? “In response to this crisis, Actors Equity Association created a new, temporary streaming agreement available for select producers to record these performances, sell tickets through the theatre’s website, then stream the production online for one-time viewing by ticket buyers. In essence, the idea is to make the patron experience as close to a true theatrical experience as possible.” – American Theatre

Ben Brantley: “Remember that plays — even those lofty classics that show up on college reading lists — are meant to be spoken and heard. And saying their lines aloud, no matter how clumsily, helps you hear the music and cadences in them. This is true not only of Shakespeare, but also of linguistically rich latter-day writers like August Wilson, Caryl Churchill, Edward Albee, [and] Suzan-Lori Parks.” – The New York Times

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, one of the oldest and largest American nonprofit theaters and a popular travel destination, said on Friday that it would lay off 80 percent of its 500 employees, cancel half of this year’s productions and postpone any live performances until after Labor Day. – The New York Times

“The new two-month National Theatre at Home programme will begin with One Man, Two Guvnors, the Richard Bean comedy starring James Corden. The films will be shown at 7pm every Thursday to try to recreate, where possible, the communal viewing experience. They will then be available on demand for seven days.” – The Guardian

In the coming weeks, virtual walks may become a thing. Meanwhile, the architect David Rockwell is first onstage, having elected to look at Broadway’s hibernating theaters. – The New York Times

Insulted and incensed, Oedipus responds as intemperately as Trump when crossed by a politician or held to account by a member of the press. To salve his injured pride, Oedipus harks back to the equivalent of his electoral coup. It was through the sharpness of his wit that he, an outsider not in the royal line of succession, solved the riddle of the Sphinx and won the throne. – Los Angeles Times

“Earlier this month, the theater industry announced that Broadway venues would go dark through April 12, and as the pandemic shows no sign of slowing down, that date is expected to be pushed back to May or June.” This year’s awards had been scheduled for June 7. – The New York Times

To find out, you have to go back 102 years to the 1918 influenza epidemic. “Even when people knew in advance the closures were imminent and that deaths were surging, they didn’t relinquish theatregoing easily.” – American Theatre

Helen Shaw: “To try to understand the complexity of a situation that was changing minute by minute — last Thursday, we still had a full theater calendar for April, for instance — I talked to members of one downtown company: Elevator Repair Service,” best known for Gatz, its eight-hour, word-for-word re-enactment of The Great Gatsby. – Vulture

“With its shows canceled until further notice and its revenue stream obliterated, Chicago’s most illustrious comedy theater … is trying to improvise its way out of a major crisis. … [Job losses] includ[e] all casts, front-of-house workers and food and beverage workers.” – Chicago Tribune