Category: theatre

When a play lands can be as crucial as the quality of the writing and the rigour of the dramaturgy. In a ‘new play culture’, always seeking ever newer writers, a play whose timing is just a bit off and fails to chime with the zeitgeist is unlikely to get a second chance. – The Stage

“Issues-based theatre when it happens falls into two categories at the moment. Moscow’s Teatr.doc embodies the company that produces grimy work to challenge society – and gets targeted and closed down by the authorities, often violently. Not to be confused with productions that push the wider boundaries, like the Bolshoi’s lavish Nureyev, which got pulled for its overtly gay themes. The difference? Oligarchs, ministers and prestigious Golden Mask awards go to one and not the other.” – The Stage

And the problem is that men somehow still think that no matter what women write about, it’s “domestic.” One playwrighting contest judge: “There is still an element of surprise when a woman writes a play that doesn’t have domestic concerns, and there is no element of surprise when a man does it. So the woman who manages to do it is seen as an anomaly rather than the norm.” Hey, 2019. – The Stage (UK)

Mary-Louise Parker, of Fried Green Tomatoes, Weeds, and Angels in America fame, has returned to Broadway in a play that requires her to be onstage (and speaking) for the entire 90-minute span. How does that work? “‘It requires a lot of technique,’ she said. ‘It most requires it because I don’t want you to see the technique. I want you to feel like there’s a person standing there talking — just talking.'” – NPR

This comes after its longtime artistic director, Burgess Clark, resigned and was then accused of sexual misconduct by many former students. The theatre has canceled its holiday production and said its financial situation is “even more precarious than usual.” – The Boston Globe

Or at least that’s the warning right now. Bristol Old Vic’s artistic director Tom Morris: “It is harder to make shows that are specific to your audience, though it doesn’t mean it’s impossible, and it’s harder to make shows specific to your region. Not impossible again, but I think we’re at an interesting tipping point.” – The Stage (UK)

“From at least the late 19th century, when David Belasco had actors cook and brew coffee on stage to heighten the realism of domestic scenes, to recent efforts to evoke a piney forest or the tang of gunpowder, directors have tried to involve an audience’s olfactory sense to intensify their experience. In his screen-to-stage adaptation of John Cassavetes’s 1977 film, Opening Night, Cyril Teste — the French director known for his ‘filmic performance’ technique that uses real-time video, live acting, music, and some audience participation — has added scent to the storytelling of this play within a play.” – Hyperallergic

“It was both a destination for tourists and it was also our hub, and so we wanted to keep it close to the theater district. And, too, we’re in the business of creating community, and that’s another thing the Drama Book Shop does, and that’s incalculable — I can’t tell you how many creative teams on theater companies say ‘Let’s go meet at the book shop and talk there’.” – The New York Times