Category: theatre

Over the last 10 years, the company has grown to a staff of about 120, encompassing Broadway fare, a robust road biz, an expanding global reach and an active licensing trade.

A few years ago the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle had a thriving music and theatre scene. But a spurt of redevelopment and rising rents have squeezed out much of the art. Anything to be done?

Robert Falls “plans to take the Goodman to the world and bring the world of theater to the Goodman. His aim, he said, is nothing less than to help America tend to its global reputation, a priority to which the next president of the United States will surely need to commit, ‘whichever of the three candidates is elected’.”

Mike Daisey makes an argument “about how regional theaters, in pursuit of growth, have lost sight of their original mission: They have put more money into expensive new buildings than grooming and rewarding actors; despite lip service about promoting diversity and community, artistic directors want to keep theater as a luxury item for the wealthy; the importing of actors, mainly from New York, has divorced theaters from their communities.”

There are few words in modern theatre more dirty than “naturalism”. Since Peter Brook, theatre has been about “empty spaces” rather than slices of life. But lately, it looks like 19th Century naturalism is making a comeback…

“Computers and other technologies have transformed our every day lives and they have become a crucial part of the way theatre is made, and our theatre-going lives too.” But increasingly, technology seems to be stealing the show…

There’s no shortage of anti-Iraq War content on Canadian theatrical stages these days. But Canada isn’t part of that war, and it is part of another that is taking an increasing toll. So where’s the theatrical and artistic response to Afghanistan?

It’s a good time to be a small theatre company in Australia. “Smaller companies that are both drawn to the big-name playwrights and wary of the financial and production pressures they involve.” But unlike past years, the big names are out there and available to companies of nearly all budget levels.

The union representing stage actors is preparing to begin talks with Broadway producers on a new contract. “But officials from both sides said these negotiations were not likely to be as contentious as last year’s talks with the stagehands’ union, which culminated in a 19-day strike that shut down most of Broadway.”

“The scene at [Australia’s] National Institute of Dramatic Art has been far from pretty over the past couple of years… Nervous students, unhappy staff, resignations, petitions and a letter of protest from leading arts industry figures” have all been par for the course at the high-profile Sydney school. All in all, quite a challenge for NIDA’s new director, who started work this week.