Category: theatre

“We have a fascination with the domestic side of history. We know who the kings and queens were but we want to know about what happened when they shut the door.”

“All but 20 minutes of the necessary audio was lost: precious minutes upon minutes of the crucial pauses, ‘ums,’ ‘aahs’ and similar grammatical acne that made the first episodes (which ran a total of some eight stage hours) such distinctively funny, if at times maddening, viewing.”

“There may be elements of gay experience, no matter how integrated gay people get, that remain different, that don’t have enough mainstream appeal to be programmed at regular nonprofit theaters.”

“The unceasing Williams wave has to do with the torrent of productions of his least-known plays. The critical response to these dramas has been mixed, but audiences and theater artists alike seem determined to get the fullest possible picture of the oeuvre compiled by this exceptionally prolific playwright.”

“In a message to one publicist, Purves said that the Times editor John Witherow had ‘decreed that he does not want me to continue as chief theatre critic’ … Purves joined the Times as its chief theatre critic in 2010″ – succeeding Benedict Nightingale – “after an acclaimed broadcasting career spanning three decades.”

Libby Purves, whose contract is not being renewed, “will be succeeded by Dominic Maxwell, her deputy and the paper’s theatre editor. He also currently covers comedy for the paper.”

Lyn Gardner: “I’d argue that no one ever became an actor expecting long-term job security, and while the freelance way of life does not suit [everyone], uncertainty can be a genuine spur to creativity, rather than stifling risk.”

The ability to memorize lines, the higher risk of injury, the sheer effort of doing eight shows a week – Derek Jacobi (almost 75) and Sheila Hancock (80) talk about why, despite those challenges, they and their colleagues like Vanessa Redgrave (76) and James Earl Jones (82) keep coming back to the stage.

“Is he still an irresistible force or simply a chapter in theatrical history whose reputation has declined with the collapse of eastern European communism? In weighing up the pros and cons, one has to start with a basic fact: as both a practising dramatist and visionary theorist, Brecht changed the face of modern theatre.”

“They would have one eye on the director, to make sure they don’t offend them, one eye on the writer, to make sure they seduce and tantalise them so they maybe might want to write something for them, and one eye on the artistic director to let them know they are not a difficult person to have around the theatre.”