Do You Hear the People Sing?, the defiant chorus from the musical Les Misérables, has become a song of protest in Hong Kong and, more recently, mainland China. Explicit references to Li Wenliang, the Wuhan doctor censured for his warnings about the coronavirus outbreak, and to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, are stamped upon – but lines from the song slip through the net on China’s social networks Weibo and WeChat, fostering a community of covert opposition. – The Guardian
Category: theatre
How Hard Is It To Be A Freelance Theatre Critic Under California’s New Gig Law? This Hard
Lily Janiak, the only theatre critic in the entire Bay Area to have a staff position, writes about her friend and colleague Sam Hurwitt, who was earning all too little money before the law AB5. Now, with the new cap of 35 submissions per year before an outlet is required to put a freelancer on staff (which outlets insist they cannot afford to do), Hurwitt thinks he may have to abandon criticism altogether. – San Francisco Chronicle
38 Years After It Won A Pulitzer, Charles Fuller’s ‘A Soldier’s Play’ Makes It To Broadway
The script was first produced by the Negro Ensemble Company (Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, and David Alan Grier were in the cast) back in 1982, and Fuller never did anything like it again. Almost everything he wrote since was aimed at Black audiences, and, as he tells Salamishah Tillet, he’d never expected to be having a Broadway premiere at age 80. – The New York Times
How Instagram Is Changing Theatre
“Instagram is absolutely shaping the theatre industry,” says Jay Armstrong Johnson, who recently played Raoul in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Johnson notes that Instagram has become “a necessary app, a connecting device” not just for fans and those without access to the arts, but also “to other artists, which has often led to new projects and/or collaborations.” – American Theatre
What’s An ASL Interpreter’s Most Difficult Job? Stand-Up Comedy
Obviously, the challenges of rendering timing, tone of voice, and wordplay into a silent medium are daunting. Worse (since comedians aren’t exactly known for respecting boundaries) is when a comic starts directly interacting with the interpreter. – Vulture
Bay Area Theatre Folk Are, Well, Ambivalent About Little Clapping Man In SF Chronicle’s Reviews
One local company head says that the “wild ovation” man can be very helpful, as can the step below, but anything lower stops single-ticket sales dead. The Chronicle‘s arts editor grants that some critics and theatermakers have mixed (at best) feelings about it, but that many readers love it. Critic Lily Janiak worries that it can encourage readers to stop reading. And ACT artistic director Pam McKinnon says the little guy is “a white supremacist icon.” – American Theatre
Study: Why There’s So Little Critical Coverage Of Theatre Made By Disabled Artists
Factors contributing to a “noticeable gap in critical coverage” include a crisis in mainstream arts criticism, a lack of diversity within mainstream theatre critics and a reluctance to be critical when it comes to artists with learning disabilities. – The Stage
‘The Inheritance’ Playwright Matthew Lopez Responds To Criticism Of Its Representation Of Queer Communities (Okay, Its Whiteness)
“I wasn’t attempting to create a generationally defining work of theater that spoke for the entire queer experience. I think that if I had started with that intention, I never would have finished. There are some who feel the play should have done just that, and who fault me for not painting on a broader canvas. … Art can be expected to hold a mirror up to society, but it cannot be expected to hold a mirror up to every individual who is engaging with it.” – The New York Times
England’s Arts Council Forgot One Major Discussion In Its Ambitious Plan: Women
The women of English theatre are not happy. Sphinx Theatre artistic director Sue Parrish: “All along we’ve been given assurances that our concerns were being taken very seriously and being addressed, and that is clearly absolutely not the case. … I think they think that women’s progress will happen by osmosis, that it doesn’t need direct support, but all the research shows that is not the case.” – The Stage (UK)
Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Plans To Be A National Leader
New OSF director Nataki Garrett has big plans. In the next few years, she plans to push technology-driven initiatives, like the launch of a digital archive and an OSF app. She’s also developing a residency for artists across different mediums as well as forging an alliance of West Coast theatres. As she marches toward her one-year anniversary, Garrett continues to think about OSF’s expansion and catalyzing larger shifts in the American theatre. – Playbill