Christopher Acebo, who spent 14 years working with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, starting the Latinx Play Project and and helping found the Latinx Theatre Commons, says the only way forward is through serious commitment to equity – extending the invitation to underrepresented groups in theatre, and following through. – Oregon ArtsWatch
Category: theatre
After 15 Years, The New York Musical Festival Has Shut Down For Good
Debts, staff resignations, and what the board described as a “national arts funding crisis” meant that the festival – which premiered more than 400 musicals in the summer, some of which made their way to Broadway – not only shut down immediately, but also declared bankruptcy. The artistic director and other staff had been working without pay since August and said they were not informed in advance of the board’s decision. – The New York Times
The 2010s In Black British Theatre
“The last 10 years have seen a boom for black British playwrights, actors, artistic directors and others in the industry. What has changed on and off stage – and what’s next?” Eight Black theatremakers offer their answers. – The Guardian
Anne Bogart On The Difference Between Looking And Seeing
Children see naturally because they have not already stored up and processed information about how they are supposed to categorize what it is that they are looking at. They puzzle through, notice and work out each detail with a freshness that radiates both spontaneity and play. As we grow older, many of us lose our ability to see and we begin to accept the assumptions that have accumulated while looking. – SITI
For The First Time, The Most Influential Person In British Theatre Is An Actor: The Stage 100 For 2020
“Why? Actors are clearly a core part of theatre. But, while individual actors have certainly been influential – Mark Rylance has featured prominently in recent years – it is rare for them to truly wield influence on the whole of theatre. This is, to some degree, a sign of the times … Had we started this list in the 1950s or 1960s, Laurence Olivier would have been in with a fair shout of securing the top spot, probably repeatedly. But the era of the actor-manager has largely passed, meaning that … their influence is often limited in scope and scale.” But this year, the list is topped by an actor — an 80-year-old, no less. (For the complete list and further coverage, click here.) – The Stage
Legendary Leaders: Foundry’s Melanie Joseph and Playwrights Horizons’ Tim Sanford Talk About What They Did Right
Passion for artistic freedom is ballasted by a concern for the economic welfare of artists. Whatever excitement the future holds for the American theater, it’s thanks to artistic leaders likes these whose ethics have been as forward-thinking as their aesthetics. – Los Angeles Times
‘Her Invention Is Ceaseless, Her Influence Is Profound’ — Playwright Lucy Kirkwood Pays Tribute To Caryl Churchill
“In the course of a writing life that spans 60 years, she’s changed the dramatic landscape of two centuries, and evolved more than any other British playwright our conceptions of what a play even is. She’s even changed the way we write them down.” – American Theatre
Why Do Other Art Forms – Books, Movies, TV – Make Fun Of Theatre?
As if theater weren’t already mocked enough for its hysteria and jazz hands, it now seems to be pop culture’s punching bag. – The New York Times
French Theatre’s Conflicts Are Starting To Fray The Humans On All Sides
This is bad. “From Bethune to Dijon, noted directors landed in the National Drama Centers – devoted to theatrical creation – thinking they were touching the Grail: a place and means to make their work exist on a large scale in the service of the greatest number. They discovered companies that were cumbersome to maneuver, using tools that were often obsolete or to renovate, and subsidies at half mast.” Now it’s all lawyers and consultants. – Le Monde
Puppetry Can Do A Lot More Than Look Good On Stage Or Screen [VIDEO]
Indeed, it can help trauma victims and survivors start to heal. – BBC