Category: theatre

Making New Theatre From The Messenger Speeches In Greek Tragedies

“Show, don’t tell” is one of the most basic rules of dramatic writing. Yet the ancient Greeks told-rather-than-showing all the time: convention forbid onstage violence, so messengers recounted the tragedies’ grisly denouements. Five years ago, shortly after she had told friends she was giving up theatre, JoAnne Akalaitis got the idea to assemble some of those monologues — describing the sacrificing of Iphigenia, Pentheus being torn to pieces by the Bacchae, the poisoning of Jason’s bride by Medea, the slaughter of the Persian army — into a work called Bad News! I was there. – American Theatre

Theatre Pros Grade Boris Johnson’s First Week

“What we’re watching now is a man realising that the character he invented for himself in order to get something he didn’t want doesn’t work when you’re prime minister. It was fine for panel shows and PR opportunities, and for getting him into No 10, but he didn’t think it through. He failed to write the final act, and now he’s trapped in his own clown, in a costume that doesn’t fit any more, being forced to perform in a circus that’s packing up around him. How funny is that?” – The Guardian

Audience Members Loudly Enjoy Play, Man Shushes Them. But Why?

“I wish I could have told him that his outburst about our outbursts (if gasps and laughs are outbursts) betrayed the DNA of theater itself. Unless he plans on buying out venues to watch plays alone, he’s much better off consuming entertainment in the privacy of his own home. (Seriously, stay away from movie theaters, sir!)” – Los Angeles Times

Adrienne Kennedy, An American Original

A special package on the great African-American playwright as she approaches her 88th birthday (Sept. 13), including a Q&A with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a feature on the undergraduate playwriting seminar she taught at Harvard in 1997 (a class which is said to have changed many of the students’ lives), and tributes from a dozen colleagues and former students, including Natalie Portman, Ishmael Reed, Michael Kahn, Robert O’Hara, and Aleshea Harris. – American Theatre

When A Cell Phone Goes Off During A Play, Keep Quiet And Let It Ring, Says Chicago Tribune Critic

Chris Jones recounts what happened at a recent Broadway performance of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal when a cell phone went off, repeatedly, and seemed to make Tom Hiddleston cry without breaking character. It was a powerful. ambiguous moment — until the audience began to call out the phone and its owner. – Chicago Tribune

How A Small-Town New England Summer Festival Became A Major Feeder For New York’s Theatre Season

“Seven transfers in one season puts [the Williamstown Theater Festival] at the top of the list of New York stage feeders; no single theater, let alone one that’s lit only 50 days a year, comes close. And yet the achievement does not mean that the festival has strayed as far from its original vision as that might suggest.” As Williamstown artistic director Mandy Greenfield tells Jesse Green (who once worked there himself), “We’re not chasing Broadway. We’re chasing a way of working.” – The New York Times

Actors In UK’s Publicly Subsidised Theatres To Get Pay Raise Of 2% Over Three Years

“[After] negotiations described by union Equity as the toughest in recent times, … performers’ weekly minimum pay will increase from £450 currently to £459.05 over three years – leaving actors concerned that, after tax and agent fees, they will not be earning much more than the minimum wage, currently £8.21 an hour.” – The Stage

Why London Really Needs More Theatres

“The authoritative Theatres Trust reckons there are currently 263 theatres in London. It’s about the same number as Tokyo, whereas Paris has around 350. New York tops the list with well over 400. Producers believe more tickets could be sold in London. But first they need more places to originate shows in and to transfer existing shows to.” – BBC