Why don’t young people come to the theatre? Theatres certainly try hard enough to lure them – “they choose new writers; they cast stars from television soaps; they allow audiences to bring drinks in with them; they even, in the case of the National Theatre, reconfigure the auditorium in an effort to make it more youth-friendly.” But maybe it’s just a price issue. If theatre cost the price of a movie, would they go? One experiment offers some answers…
Tag: 12.07.02
The Educated Unread
Was a time that if you were educated you read. Seriously. Now you can be educated and not have to read. “We are, as the experts like to say with a horrified sense of wonder, aliterate – able to read, and read well, but disinclined to do so. We can blame time and tiredness, changing technologies and altered priorities; still, a reluctance to read is not all that different from an inability. As Mark Twain observed, in that terribly trenchant way of his, ‘The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them’.”
Reinventing What It Means To Be National (Again)
As Nicholas Hytner takes control of London’s National Theatre, it’s clear he’s got big ideas for a change of direction. “Like most large subsidized theatres, the National has a spotty history of success. Some would argue it has never truly been a ‘national theatre,’ and the work it has produced with its multimillion-pound budget for its massive building with three auditoriums on London’s South Bank has often not been of national, not to mention world, standards.”
Kennedy Center Gets $100 Million
Philanthropist Catherine B. Reynolds has given $100 million to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. It’s the Center’s largest gift ever, and “the first donation to the center’s plan for a major expansion over the next decade. One of the new buildings will be dedicated to educational programs and exhibitions on the performing arts; the other, to rehearsal space. Together they will be the focal point of a new plaza.”
Why Fantasy Rules
Fantasy movies are the engine that drives the movie business these days. Why? Westerns have lost their appeal, war movies are too violent, and stories from ancient times look dated. Besides, the teenage boy market…
Banning Fog Could Keep Movies Away
San Francisco supervisors are considering a ban of theatrical stage fog after complaints by chorus members of San Francisco Opera. But the movie industry warns that such a ban will discourage movies from being shot in the Bay Area city.
Looking For Extra Respect
“Extras, those people behind the stars, who – despite appearing out of focus, without speaking and for all of a nanosecond – play as important a role in a film as the props or costumes or even musical score. In fact, extras are so necessary that they’ve opted for the far less marginal-sounding term of ‘background performer’ in hopes of getting a little more respect.”
Thieves Steal Van Goghs
Thieves broke into Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum overnight and stole two of the artist’s drawings. “Police were studying video tapes recorded by security cameras, while curators rearranged the paintings to cover the blank spaces on the walls before opening the museum to the public.”
The Ruin Of Angkor Wat
“It was a year ago that a high-ranking Cambodian official said the time had come to rev up the old ruin with things like sound-and-light shows, zigzag escalators and hot-air balloons. ‘Angkor is asleep. We will wake it up’. Since a rough-edged peace came to this battered country in 1997, tourist visits to the Angkor temples have risen from almost zero toward a projected one million in 2005. The temples are already swarming.”
Hi, I’m Phil From Devon…I Carved The Parthenon…
The Belgian newspaper De Morgen printed a blockbuster scoop last week – the Parthenon Marbles weren’t really made by a Greek but by a “wandering stonemason from Devon called Phil Davies who changed his name to Pheidias to ingratiate himself with his ancient Athenian patrons.” That means that the English would have a stronger claim to retaining the Marbles in the British Museum. The story included denials from the Greeks and quotes from the gloating Brits. Of course the story was a hoax, and the newspaper later printed a sheepish retraction. “It was a stupid mistake. It all happened on a Sunday when we had a skeletal staff. We noticed it ourselves the next day and ran a correction. What can you say.”