Met Opera’s Custom-Made Marc Chagall Stage Curtain Is Up For Auction

The artist — whose two murals for the opera house’s lobby, famously visible to passersby from well beyond Lincoln Center’s central plaza, were put up as collateral for a loan in 2009 and again in 2014 — created the 65′-by-48′ curtain for a 1967 staging of Mozart’s Magic Flute, the only opera production he ever designed. – The New York Times

Life After A Star (Wars) Turn

John Boyega is 28 and already been there, done that with a Star Wars trilogy. Where to go from that point in one’s career? “He decided it was time to ‘explore more versatility. I’m into so many different types of genres and storytelling. I want to explore that with the freedom I have now.'” And Boyega’s production company already has a several-film deal with Netflix for films from west and east Africa. – The Observer (UK)

A Decades Long Break From Writing, And Then The Booker Shortlist

Tsitsi Dangarembga’s first book, Nervous Conditions, published in 1988, “was hailed as one of the 20th century’s most significant works of African literature.” Then she went to film school. “What saved me was a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in 2016. My husband took care of the children in Zimbabwe, and I spent four weeks in a place where I was intellectually stimulated, talking about writing with writers.” – The New York Times

In Pandemic-Inspired Theatre, The Critic Can Also Be The Audience, And The Star

Says one critic of the Dutch Kills Theatre Company’s Temping: “‘Seen’ is wrong — there’s no audience, live or otherwise — but ‘done’ is right. The audience member does everything, including, if your brain works like mine does, thinking about what you’re going to wear on your first day.” – The New York Times

Steve McQueen Wants To Write (And Direct) Black British People Back Into The Historical Narrative

McQueen’s Small Axe series is “unprecedented” for the BBC – it covers Black British life from what one might call the time period so far covered by The Crown, which is notably missing Black and Asian actors, to put it mildly. McQueen: “We are missing from the conversation. We are missing from the narrative. And to me that is weird. Not to see yourself or any aspects of ordinary life that reflect your experiences of growing up in Britain, that is just plain weird.” – The Observer (UK)