Peter Marks: “I was curious about how an actor of color might approach entering a world not written for someone who looked like them, but I realized the question was riddled with absurdity. Isn’t musical theater intrinsically make-believe? Why do we sometimes persist in applying the strictures of realism to a platform on which characters interrupt conversations to break out in show tunes? Whose expectations are being served?” – Washington Post
Category: theatre
Can Theatre Really Help Fight Climate Change? Yes
Lyn Gardner: “Science … can give us the facts or the knowledge. But as a species we don’t always respond to facts because they make us feel guilty and paralysed. What we respond to as human beings are stories.” – The Stage
Watching A Play, In Black And White: Two Critics Discuss How Who You Are Affects The Way You See African-American Theater
“In a cultural medium whose producers, audiences and critics are still predominantly white, [Jackie Sibblies Drury’s] Fairview challenges playgoers to think about how the different backgrounds and assumptions they bring to the theater may produce vastly different results once inside.” Jesse Green and Salamishah Tillet talk about that issue with respect to Fairview and African-American plays more generally. – The New York Times
How, And Why, ‘What The Constitution Means To Me’ Works
“In the play’s first few moments — its preamble, really — [Heidi] Schreck lays out the elements for its perfect union of form and function: direct address, displayed enactment, meta-theatrical distancing, contemporary commentary, droll humor, and a disarmingly cheery demeanor that is both absolutely genuine and deployed for maximum comedic and critical effect.” Alisa Solomon examines each of those elements and how they fit together. – The Nation
Using Theatre Games To Teach Police Officers And Civilians To Communicate With Each Other
Brooklyn director Terry Greiss worked with the NYPD to develop a program called To Serve, to Protect, and to Understand, which brings officers and civilians together with meals and acting games and ultimately gets them to tell and act out each other’s stories. In New Jersey, a similar program called Walking the Beat involves police with high school students. – American Theatre
How Comedians At The Edinburgh Fringe Are, Or Aren’t, Dealing With Boris And Brexit
“Even leftwing performers in Edinburgh seem unsure what the best response to current affairs should be. Some feel that making Brexit party leader Nigel Farage, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Tory MP, and Boris Johnson into figures of fun has backfired. … Other young performers at the festival have deliberately made the choice to ‘stay silly’, in spite of their political feelings.” – The Observer (UK)
Theatre Union Accuses Arts Council England Of Not Enforcing Pay Rules
According to Equity, theatre employers are not always paying industry standard terms and conditions on funded projects, despite it being a requirement of receiving a grant. It described the funding body’s policing of this situation as “poor”. – The Stage
A Broadway Musical Gets A Very Broadway Post-Curtain Call Event
Though no one gets married in The Prom, the musical celebrates same-sex prom-going even as it lampoons celebrity culture, with a glitzy finale set (obviously) at the prom. “But all that glittered was rivaled after Saturday evening’s performance when two brides, gleaming in rose-gold sequins, exchanged marriage vows onstage.” – The New York Times
Paul Robeson’s American ‘Othello’
A new play about the play, and the man, and his affair with the woman playing Desdemona (who happened to be Ute Hagen), and also her husband (who happened to be José Ferrer) … well, there’s a lot to discuss about American theatre history. – BBC
Making The (Big) Leap From Edinburgh Fringe To Broadway
The musical Six is about – what else – the wives of Henry VIII, a musical inspired by Beyoncé and Ariana Grande. That makes it an obvious candidate for Broadway, right? Yep: “The show started out in a 100-seat venue at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017 before moving to London’s West End. It will open at New York’s 1,000-capacity Brooks Atkinson Theatre next February.” – BBC