Category: theatre

“Given the relegation of theater to the cultural margins, any program that promotes theater is worthwhile. I hope that the National Theatre Live programs are providing pleasure to the people who attend, but more than that I hope they inspire people to seek out and support live theater in their communities.”

“The auditorium in Dublin’s Abbey Theatre is to close for nine weeks this summer while asbestos is removed. … Other parts of the theatre are to remain open for business during the operation, with the auditorium due to reopen in time for the Dublin Theatre Festival [in late September].”

Kelly Nestruck reviews the controversy over Olivier Choinière’s “hacking” of a Molière production in Montreal (via recorded commentary over headphones) and suggests that – far from being a “rape” (as the director of the Molière put it) – this could get interesting …

“The musical, about a phony evangelist who experiences a spiritual conversion during his latest con, struggled from its first preview performance, on April 3, with the creative team meeting daily to concoct changes to overcome some toxic word of mouth.” Despite harsh reviews, Leap of Faith received a Best Musical Tony nomination – but even that wasn’t enough …

Simon Stephens: “British playwrights have tended to fall into two camps in the past 15 years: the type that succeeds on Broadway and the type that succeeds in Berlin. This is a gross simplification, of course … [but] I suspect there is something in it. Over the past decade my failure to have work produced in New York has been only consoled by the fact that I’ve managed to work in Germany. Something about this makes me happy.”

Fulfilling a dream he’s carried for 45 years, Mohawk actor August Schellenberg heads an all-First Nations cast in a National Arts Centre production that sets Shakespeare’s tragedy in the Algonquin nation in the 17th century, not long after the first contact with Europeans.

“The Playhouse might be the canary in the coal mine for Canada’s regional theatre network, which was set up in the 1950s and 1960s. It’s time to look at what that institutional model offers us and ask whether it’s good value for public money compared with the smaller, more dynamic companies that are in comparatively robust health.”

The Life of Jesus Christ, a 3½-hour production with a cast of 70, “featured men from Angola and women from the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, who traveled an hour and 40 minutes by bus each morning from St. Gabriel to this 18,000-acre prison farm on the Mississippi River. Much of the cast was in rehearsal on and off for two years.”

“Recent Off Broadway productions of the musical “Once and the play Sons Of The Prophet won top honors on Sunday night at the presentation of the 27th annual Lucille Lortel Awards, which recognize excellence at medium-size and small New York theaters.”

“Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week backed a move by Istanbul’s Islamist mayor to take over decision-making at Istanbul City Theaters, a theater troupe which is funded by the city and staged [a] play that outraged conservative critics. Erdogan also threatened to privatize state-run theaters — essentially cutting their funding — in response to resignations and protests by secular-minded artists against alleged political interference.”