Category: theatre

“State support for culture — long posited as a taxpayer’s right, like decent roads or health care — is showing distinct signs of erosion, with a move toward the American fund-raising model, which suggests that art is a luxury to be paid for by those to whom it matters.”

“I would rather live in a theater culture where discussions about plays can get as contentious (and occasionally rude) as those about politics. Theater may be known as the fabulous invalid, but artists and critics who go into this low-paying, highly competitive field are tougher than you think.”

“The artistic director of the Cherry Lane Theater said on Thursday that she no longer planned to sell its building in Greenwich Village to pay down debts, and added that the theater’s recently precarious financial situation had been eased due to new rental income and changes to business practices.”

Jason Zinoman: “As the child of a theater director, I learned from an early age how much negative criticism can hurt. It can have a terrible impact on box office, careers and states of mind. … Bad reviews are also an essential part of the job. If you don’t write them, no one would believe the good ones. But more importantly, the popular idea that tough criticism emerges from malice or cruelty is almost always wrong.”

“Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has declared the intention to renovate all city theaters in two to three years’ time. Some 7 billion rubles (approximately $242 million) is to be invested in the project.”

“The $16.5 million musical production, which features a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, had a bumpy transition to Broadway.”

The company shut down in April. But “Intiman is moving forward with a new artistic plan for 2012. It will also open its 440-seat playhouse to other arts groups, and raise money while trying to retire a $500,000 debt and serve 2011 subscribers and ticket holders.”

“Georgia’s culture minister controversially sacked its best known theatre director Robert Sturua as head of the national theatre for ‘xenophobic’ comments [about President Saakashvili] he made earlier this year … [Sturua] is one of the best known of all theatre directors from the ex-Soviet Union in the West, where his stunningly visual productions have astonished audiences.”

“So why is ‘theatre’ so consistently used as a byword for ‘fakery’ by a political industry that relies so heavily on its techniques? When so many of its fundamental characteristics – drama, symbolism, stage-setting, voice, image, text, audience impact – are praised for their effectiveness, how can the theatre reclaim its proper territory, and stop being used as a term of abuse?”

“‘An hour is just too long to watch comedy’, my companion said.’I just get bored after about 40 minutes. I can honestly say I’ve never sat through an Edinburgh set without looking at my watch. At least once.’ This companion, it should be pointed out, is a professional comedian.”