“‘I consider this the ultimate in fan-fiction, basically,’ [says] Lopez, … [who] wanted to know, ‘How faithful can you be to the novel while simultaneously blowing it up?’ For those who know Howards End well and need an intro to the gay New York of The Inheritance (or vice versa), the playwright walks a few key lines of comparison between the two.” – New York Magazine
Category: theatre
This Minneapolis Playwright Has Won $400,000 In Literary Prizes This Year
“I always imagined I would be a playwright at night and a CPA or something in the day,” Lauren Yee said. “I’m pretty organized and disciplined. There are times when I’m thinking about a project and I put the pieces together like a producer.” Now, she gets to be a full-time playwright. – Star-Tribune (Mpls)
Beloved NY Broadway Show Revival Series Gets A New Curator
Lear deBessonet is best known as the founder of Public Works, a much-lauded program of the Public Theater that once a year stages a new musical adaptation of a classic story, which is performed by a handful of Equity actors and more than 100 amateur performers drawn from across the five boroughs of New York. The program has proved influential, spurring similar ventures in multiple cities across the United States and in England. – The New York Times
Despite Difficult Conditions And Sniping From Tabloids, British Theatre Companies Continue Their Work In Prisons
“Last year The Sun ran a story that started: ‘Convicts at a drug-plagued prison performed a lavish version of musical Les Misérables for the public – to boost lags’ morale.’ Two years earlier, in the same paper, a story ran that ‘prisoners in Britain’s creaking jails are to be taught art, music and drama in a desperate bid to slash reoffending’. In 2008, the Daily Mail reported: ‘A sick joke: terrorist signs up for comedy classes at top-security prison.’ So why do these companies do it? Because the evidence that it works is overwhelming.” – The Stage
This Playwright Is Tackling Issues Her Indian Compatriots Would Rather She Left Alone
“Anupama Chandrasekhar isn’t one to shy away from a tough subject. The Indian playwright has written about acid attacks, sex tapes and her home country’s culture of patriarchal violence. ‘I have been asked so many times, mostly by men, ‘Why don’t you write comedies, or plays that celebrate India?” she says. ‘I tell them: on the day that these things don’t happen any more, I will happily start writing bedroom farces.'” – The Guardian
The Hero Of This ‘Hamilton’ Is The One Who Wrangles 200 Women In And Out Of 16 Bathroom Stalls At Intermission
Head usher Tanya Heath at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia begins working her miracle with a talk like this: “May I have your attention, please. We are at minute five out of a 20-minute intermission, which means I have 15 minutes to get you into this bathroom. I’ve formed a serpentine line. And it works. It only takes about six minutes from that door to get you in this bathroom. All I need you to do is trust me and trust your sisters.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Start Casting More Trans Actors In Cisgender Roles, Says UK Equity
Said a statement from the actors’ union, “The fact that [a performer] is trans may be completely invisible in the role or production, but it powerfully represents diversity in the industry. This ‘invisible’ diversity is just as important as more physically recognisable forms of diversity.” – The Guardian
Why Theatre Isn’t My “Other” Job
Only two per cent of actors actually make a living from acting alone and 90 per cent of actors are out of work at any given time so that means, more often than not, actors have to make money elsewhere. – Metro News
It’s Theatre! No, It’s Film! (Actually, It’s Both)
“Fascinated by the relationship between theater and cinema, Christiane Jatahy has made a show that’s both. “One is the utopia of the other,” she tells us, though anyone who has ever despaired at badly shot video in the theater might wonder if screen and stage are actually enemies. But Jatahy has managed a strange and difficult trick. By precisely setting live film and live performance against each other, she makes them into a mise en abyme— a mirror that reflects another mirror, leading the eye into infinity.” – New York Magazine
How To Cultivate And Train A More Diverse Next Generation Of Critics?
“Reviews can sometimes be the only documentation of these experiences, so what happens when the majority of people reviewing do not represent the community or the stories being told? How does the point of view and perspective of those reviewers influence the success of a production or theatre company?” – HowlRound