Herbert Sigüenza, a founding member of the Chicano sketch company Culture Clash and playwright-in-residence at San Diego Rep (which premiered his latest script, Bad Hombres/Good Wives) talks to dramaturg Matthew McMahan about “the unique dynamics of bicultural comedy. He frames the comic writer as a type of diplomat whose plays yoke together divergent ideas, jokes, characters, and languages, while managing to get a diverse group of people to laugh at it all the same.” – HowlRound
Tag: 01.05.20
Woolly Mammoth Theatre’s New Leader Pushes To Be Artistic Leader In Fighting For Social Justice
To survive long-term, companies such as Woolly need to convince social-justice-minded, cash-challenged millennials to buy tickets. The crucial challenge: Can they do this without alienating a crowd who, liberal as they may be, might also be slower to get with the times? Or do you have to, in effect, fire one audience to lure the other? – Washingtonian
Why Wampanoags Are Looking Forward To Mayflower 400 Events
“Native Americans whose ancestors suffered at the hands of 17th-century European settlers and adventurers are hoping commemorative events marking the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s journey will reveal their story to the whole world – and even lead to the recovery of one their long-lost treasures.” – The Guardian
Edinburghers Are Rising Up To Resist ‘Disneyfication’ Of Their City
“On one side is Underbelly, the London events company which claims to have taken Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations to another level. It is backed by a city council which has gleefully watched the numbers rise in those indexes that confer tourism superstardom: unique-users, profits and exposure. Facing them is a rebel alliance … [called] Citizen, launched last April to bring together local groups seeking to restore Edinburgh as ‘a place for people rather than profit’.” – The Observer (UK)
JFK’s Cold War Cultural Dogma — and Where It Came From
During the cultural Cold War, President John F. Kennedy delivered eloquent speeches claiming that only “free societies” fostered great creative art. But no one scanning centuries of Western literature and music could possibly believe that. Where did this Cold War dogma come from? One Nicolas Nabokov. – Joseph Horowitz
No Picture This Time, at the New Year
No picture this time because food was so bad. The kitchen, which prepared the takeaway in front of me, tried hard and worked like crazy, getting it hot and out. – Jeff Weinstein
Notre Dame’s Survival Far From Certain
“Today we can say there is maybe a 50% chance that it will be saved. There is also a 50% chance of the scaffolding falling on the three vaults, so as you can see the building is still very fragile.” – The Guardian
Book Clubs Sprang Up Across The Country After The Death Of A Cultural Icon
After Nipsey Hussle was killed on an L.A. street in front of his shop last March, fans wanted to figure out how to honor him. Shop at his store? Paint his face as murals on walls? Yes, and start book clubs around the country, founded to read Nipsey’s favorite books. “A 31-year-old fan from Wisconsin created a meme listing all of the books that Hussle had mentioned in interviews, songs and motivational messages that she had been compiling for years. It includes self-help bestsellers, cult classics and little-known books by black authors.” – Los Angeles Times
The Heart Of Reggae Still Beats In The Bronx
And Lloyd Barnes, the founder of Wackie’s, wants his reggae studio and label to live on after he retires – but more than that, the sound and the style. “His concerns now are ensuring that his studio carries on the traditions of roots reggae and lovers rock — the primary styles he works in — and sharing his knowledge with the younger people who populate it.” – The New York Times
The V&A Discovers The Dangers Of Turn-Of-The-20th-Century Hats
The V&A’s collection of women’s hats from the time has a lot of feathers, and those feathers were preserved in arsenic salt. Yikes. – The Guardian (UK)