Category: theatre

So the British government is launching a £2.5 million free-ticket scheme for 18- to 26-year-olds. “But price is not the only factor,” Lyn Gardner argues. “Large numbers of young people simply don’t think that the theatre is for them, and may well end up having that view confirmed if they turned up on a Monday night to see Turandot at Hampstead theatre or were unfortunate enough to get Afterlife rather than War Horse at the National – or, indeed, are forced to deal with the mysteries of the RSC advance booking system.”

“At this time next year, American Players Theatre audiences will be attending productions indoors as well as out. The company’s board of directors has voted to continue with previously announced plans to erect a 200-seat black box (flexible) all-weather conventional theater that will increase the number and range of productions the Spring Green company will offer audiences.”

As many as 95 publicly-funded theatres in England will offer £2.5-million worth of free tickets to young adults as part of a government-funded scheme.

A musical based on the comic book hero has been in the works for three years. “A move to Broadway would put Marvel in the company of Walt Disney Co., which has been very successful in expanding brands like Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King into theatrical productions.”

“We may be experiencing an unprecedented profusion of performing arts from ever-growing and ever more various communities of creators. Theatres have embraced the need and the responsibility to respond to this profusion and to get out there and find audiences for the kind of stuff that not so long ago would have caused bewilderment among a much more homogenous crowd.”

“The actress Cate Blanchett was behind the launch of an initiative led by her Sydney-based theatre company this week that brings together acting, writing and directorial talent from the three countries. Such projects suggest a growing trend for cultural “cross-pollination” that could bring more foreign investment to London’s theatres and create a new boom in global arts franchises that span a number of theatres or galleries.”

“Eleven employees of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival have been let go in reaction to an operating deficit for the season that is expected to run well into seven figures. It’s not expected news from an organization that has run its last 14 seasons in the black.”

“From a raft of dramatic revivals to a series of musicals largely based on movies and books, there’s very little original on the upcoming playbill to lift the heart.”

“Better known as the home to Hollywood movies, Los Angeles is fast starting to beat to the sound of new musical stage productions that debut here then dance their way to Broadway.”

The Canadian government’s $45 million cut to federal arts funding is forcing many projects to be shelved, including an award-winning play commemorating the Rwandan genocide which was scheduled to travel to Rwanda itself in 2009.