You cast an actual Peruvian shaman, of course. And you get the entire rest of your cast do ayahuasca rituals furing the rehearsal period. Lyndsey Winship talks with Peruvian director-choreographer Oscar Naters, and with said shaman, about their performance piece, Ino Moxo. – The Guardian
Category: theatre
The Mainstream U.S. Theater World Is Finally Starting To Diversify — Do We Still Need Culturally Specific Theater Companies?
In a word, yes. As one such producer puts it, “There’s layers of conversation of what diversity really means in a cultural arts landscape. … We have the opportunity to go deep within multiple layers and not just check off the box.” Reporter Makeda Easter talks to members of African-American, Asian-American, and Latinx companies about that difference. – Los Angeles Times
The Tony Awards’ Most Important Speech, And Most Important Fashion Statement, Were Barely Even Noticed On The Telecast
That fashion statement, writes Chris Jones, was the breathing tube and oxygen device that Terrence McNally wore onstage as he accepted his lifetime achievement Tony, and his speech — as both a major American playwright and a survivor of the worst days of the AIDS epidemic — “was the most beautiful recounting of one of this nation’s most distinguished artistic careers.” – Chicago Tribune
Ending A Turbulent Few Years, Berlin’s Volksbühne Appoints A New Director
The playwright and director René Pollesch will take the reins at one of Germany’s most important theaters in 2021. He succeeds Chris Dercon, formerly the director of London’s Tate Modern art gallery, who lasted only six months in the job in the face of regular protests over his presence there. “Those included personal attacks — feces were left in front of Mr. Dercon’s office at one point — and an occupation of the theater by left-wing activists.” – The New York Times
The Choreographer Who Makes Theatre Move
Raja Feather Kelly: “I think of virtuosic behavior as what I like to do with my choreography. That’s where I can help: by making the behavior specific and virtuosic. I feel like I found a place — that directors and writers now are wanting to do something different and that makes a place for someone like me who is different.” – The New York Times
Narrative-Sharing and Narrative-Shifting With Digital Technology
Members of the Detroit-based collective Complex Movements discuss the connection between technology, performance, and social justice community organizing. – HowlRound
UK Actors Equity Gets 9% Pay Raises, Possible Job-Sharing For West End Workers
“Performers and stage managers working in the largest West End theatres will earn more than £700 a week as a minimum for the first time, as part of a new agreement that also includes measures for job shares and flexible working.” – The Stage
Hartford Stage Gets New Director
Cynthia Rider, who was executive director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 2013 to 2018, will begin her new job at Hartford Stage July 1, the theater announced Wednesday. – Hartford Courant
Robert Kelley On 50 Years Of Running TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, This Year’s Regional Tony Award Winner
“Actually, our growth curve as a company parallels almost exactly the growth of Silicon Valley as a thing. And I credit our success and durability as a company with the fact that we were in this unique area that was changing rather dramatically over time over this same period. It was becoming one of the most international and diverse places on earth, really. And diversity is one of the big commitments of TheatreWorks, one of our core values, and that was something that made the company, we think, increasingly attractive to people in the region.” – American Theatre
Twin Cities’ Theater Mu Hires New Artistic Director To ‘Reunite’ Company Following #MeToo Scandal
Lily Tung Crystal began her career as a news journalist who did stage acting on the side. She now says that “theater is the hobby that became a job” — in 2010, she co-founded the Bay Area Asian-American theater company Ferocious Lotus. She comes to Theater Mu following last December’s dismissal of artistic director Randy Reyes. – The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)