"A raft of productions from Black theatre-makers have been making waves, garnering critical acclaim and exciting audiences. Black writers and directors are relishing telling the stories that they want to tell and are undeterred in getting them on stage. ... This moment has been a long time coming." - The Guardian
Roffey's The Mermaid of Black Conch "joins an impressive wave of recent books by Trinidadian women writers, including Ingrid Persaud's Love After Love and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's When We Were Birds, which are helping redefine a literature once dominated by noisy men." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
"Venues and organisations are frantically having to deal with a programming backlog and process delayed projects still 'on the books'. And from the visitor's perspective, there is a kind of 'just do it' attitude – the urge to attend events regardless of the semi-expectation of contracting a COVID variant." - ArtsHub (Australia)
Two hours south of London, Glyndebourne is the oldest and most famous of the summer opera festivals at the historic country homes of the nobility, but it's not the only one. Among the newest (its current incarnation opened in 2017) and best is Grange Park Opera. - The New York Times
Last week, after the Met's chorus posted an item about the company's participation in NYC's Pride festivities, Pape added a borderline-incoherent comment saying he wouldn't be returning to the company. After pushback, including from the Berlin Staatsoper, he issued a public apology and an acknowledgment of his long-rumored alcoholism. - OperaWire
On Monday, their target was Constable's The Hay Wain at the National Gallery; on Tuesday, it was a 500-year-old student copy of Leonardo's The Last Supper. Last week, the young protesters from the group Just Stop Oil did the same thing with works in London, Manchester, and Glasgow. - The Guardian
It is neither practical, nor desirable, to keep erecting scaffolding. “Scaffolding can be intrusive. You have to attach it to the building and you don’t want to do that too often on a historic structure. It’s also demoralising for the public and fundraisers to see scaffolding.” Instead, the climbers are called in. - The Guardian
Boston is losing an essential purveyor of invigorating new music — after 51 years, 109 commissions, 20 recordings, and 243 world premieres. Until now, BMV has stood as the country’s oldest professional ensemble dedicated to contemporary music. - Boston Globe
Older audiences will only be around so long. If you teach the rising generation that the theatrical experience is completely extraneous, that experience probably won’t be around for the next one. - Washington Post
For the artists and fans who experienced it, Lilith Fair felt revolutionary. It's success upended concert industry norms and created a new place where female artistry could evolve and flourish. - NPR
“They don't tell a story about me or my people, and it really makes me feel less-than because we are being represented by totem poles and teepees and that's just not who we are as Coast Salish people,” said Puyallup Council member Annette Bryan. - Crosscut
Reflecting on the row over the second rebuild plans he describes how an academic, from the school. Professor Ray McKenzie, had said publicly that it “should be left as a ruin” which was “unexpected and had shocked many”. - The Glasgow Herald
No longer must holiday fireworks look like either meteors or weeping willows. Pyrotechnicians can make the shells show smiley faces, words, and even dandelions and jellyfish (which are very cool). In an interview, pyrotechnician Mike Tockstein explains how these "patterned fireworks" are designed and made. - Salon
When Caro was almost finished with “The Power Broker,” he got an agent, Lynn Nesbit, and she matched him up with Gottlieb. If there is any enmity between Caro and Gottlieb, it would seem to be a remnant of Caro’s pain at the amount of material Gottlieb cut from “The Power Broker.” - The New Yorker
United Ukrainian Ballet, as the company is called, have set up a headquarters in the former Royal Conservatory building in The Hague. Their next touring program is a Giselle choreographed by no less than Alexei Ratmansky, with Alina Cojocaru as guest star. - Culture Whisper (London)
