Cate Blanchett and her playwright husband, Andrew Upton, have become co-artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company (STC), Australia’s most prestigious theater. “The Australian media and theater community, nonetheless, is still struggling to come to terms with the couple’s lack of experience in running a theater company…”
Tag: 02.14.08
Massachusetts To Get More Free Shakespeare
“A year after a much-criticized decision to cut in half its free Shakespeare production on Boston Common, the Citi Performing Arts Center announced today it will restore some of the lost shows, and travel to Springfield for three performances.”
Oscar Making Up For Lost Time
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences isn’t wasting any time getting ready for the Oscars, unveiling the list of presenters, performers and scripters only days after the end of the writers’ strike. The Academy is clearly thrilled to be able to present its usual glam-heavy show, and acknowledges that a show without writers or stars would have been tough to pull off.
16th Century Painting Too Racey For London Tube
London’s transport authority has refused to display a poster featuring the 16th century “Venus” by German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder, saying it is overtly sexual.
Museum Discovers Fake Monet
A German museum has discovered that a painting long believed to be by French impressionist Claude Monet is a forgery, officials said Thursday.
Scotland Academy On The Brink
The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Scotland’s principal music academy, is in financia crisis. The Academy has to “find £600,000 of savings through job cuts and the curtailment of a popular drama course. No sooner had the dust settled than news quickly leaked of an alleged overspend of £100,000 in relation to its recent co-production with Scottish Opera of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.”
The Museum Problem
“Little art was created specifically for the museum or gallery, at least until recently, and the museum is not necessarily the best place to appreciate it. If the museum experience becomes one in which the visitor is regularly concerned with negotiating a way through the crowds and avoiding noise, the status of the museum as a vehicle for displaying art becomes highly questionable.”
The Underground Theatre Of Belarus
” Their performances are forbidden by Belarus’s restrictive regime, which controls every aspect of life in the country, in a manner that has barely changed since the days when it was part of the Soviet Union. So the Free Theatre has to keep one step ahead of the authorities.”
UK Proposes More School Arts Education. Teachers Say How?
“Teachers welcomed the concept of giving children the opportunity to visit more museums, art galleries and the theatre but said funding was ‘inadequate’ and the school day too full to meet the new target. Schools already have to ensure pupils receive two hours of sport a week. On top of that they are under pressure to make sure pupils reach attainment targets in reading, writing and maths.”
Suicide As A Piece Of Art
A woman named Jane started a blog and said whe was going to kill herself in 90 days. She got a web following. Turns out, the blog is a kind of “art” project… “It was meant for me and
(what I ignorantly thought would be) a small number of people who
might find it on BlogSpot.”