Category: theatre

“I have nothing against [public school-educated actors] Eddie Redmayne, Damian Lewis or Benedict Cumberbatch, but I think the acting industry should be more mixed. At the moment, it’s cutting itself off from a whole section of society. … I feel awful that young people don’t have the opportunities that I had. That understanding of the need for social mobility that came after the Second World War has gone.”

“Done well, interactive theatre is extraordinary: engaging, exhilarating and transcendent. All too often, however, so-called ‘interactive’ shows are sloppy and ineffective. They feel loose – anarchic even – when they actually demand a rigorous approach.”

“Talks between the Philadelphia Theatre Co. and union officials ended Sunday after ‘seven fruitless hours’ according to the union, without reaching a new labor agreement covering 27 stagehands. The strike, which began Friday, goes on.”

San Diego has major advantages – size, money, proximity to L.A. – but then there’s the whole Portlandia vibe…

“For the first time ever, the National Theatre will have four productions running simultaneously in the West End from March … With another four shows playing in repertoire at its South Bank premises, the National Theatre will have a total of eight shows open across the capital. However, that figure could yet hit double-figures.”

“Matthews Yard in Croydon has raised nearly £8,000 in just over a month through online pledge system Kickstarter to put towards a new performance space … housed in a disused basement that was previously part of a supermarket.”

“[The] country’s pre-eminent impressionist in the 1970s and for years a fixture on talk, variety and game shows, … he is plotting his re-emergence courtesy of Jimmy Stewart & Friends, a hybrid of biographical theater and comedy that tells the story of that beloved actor’s life, as voiced by Mr. Little, with vocal cameos by dozens of luminaries who crossed Stewart’s path, and a few that did not. (Somehow, Dr. Phil pops up.)”

“One of the most recognizable names in comedy, but one that has seen its brand image suffer in recent years,” is trying out a new stage review – Sketches from the National Lampoon, mostly featuring material from the vaults – in L.A. next month. The company folded its flagship magazine in 1998 and has gone a decade without a hit movie.

J. Kelly Nestruck: “Cirque has taken a serious hit to its artistic reputation along with its profits … and become a hit-or-miss company. Worse, Cirque has become the kind of organization that would produce a mediocrity like Banana Shpeel – and keep trying to foist it on its fans even when it was clear it wasn’t working.”

“The Israeli theater ensemble Nalagaat, which is made up of deaf and blind performers, tells stories through pantomime and by baking bread.”