One possibility is that “they reflect the common existential issues or dilemmas of living which preoccupy all human beings,” they write. “Another is that they reflect abnormalities of social-cognitive processes that, because they are important in everyday life, are universal.” - Nautilus
The Stratford Festival has come a long way in 70 years but the story of how racialized artists began to get a foothold and carve out creative space for themselves both onstage and backstage is a theme that has been omitted from the various historical narratives written about the festival over the years. - Aisle Say
Named after the one lightbulb that stays on in unoccupied theaters, the Ghost Light Residency gave a single dance artist (to maintain social distancing) 20 hours over five days to work on any project, using the stage, lights, sound or anything in a shuttered performance space. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
Now that Tracy Chapman's 1988 classic is becoming one of the biggest hits of Luke Combs's career, there are uneasy, complex emotional responses, especially for Black musicians, "knowing Chapman wouldn't be celebrated in the industry without that kind of middleman being a White man." - MSN (The Washington Post)
"In 2023, McAnuff argues, Tommy’s transformation from catatonic schoolboy to a charismatic cult leader resonates more strongly when considering modern-day celebrity worship. And the show’s exploration of trauma — including post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual abuse and bullying — is something that audiences now have a deeper understanding of." - The New York Times
The institution itself is strange, neither public nor private: still, after nearly 60 years, funded largely by contributions from abroad, yet located in a government complex. The museum is seeking its fifth director-general in seven years, though the old one is staying on as the new one's boss. - MSN (Haaretz)
The union's negotiating committee unanimously recommended that its National Board declare a work stoppage, and the Board will meet Thursday at 9 am Pacific time to make its decision. - The Hollywood Reporter
The casualties are Jack Ohman of the Sacramento Bee, Joel Pett of the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kevin Siers of the Charlotte Observer. The newspaper chain says the move is part of a "continuing evolution … based on changing reader habits." - MSN (The Washington Post)
"The position was initially held by Alex Poots, who founded the Manchester International Festival and served as the artistic director of the Park Avenue Armory. But he gave up the title in January, when the organization said he would solely focus on his role as artistic director." - The New York Times
Schjeldahl’s best stuff, to borrow something he said about Clement Greenberg, is always “in command of what it omits.” One conspicuous omission is any kind of overarching theory. - ARTnews
Some claim that he has “revolutionized pop,” while others argue that he has, as the clickbait-y title of one video essay puts it, “RUINED pop.” Either way, the critical consensus is that over the past eight years, Jack Antonoff has reshaped pop music, or a significant portion of it, in his own image. - The Drift
Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 once again fueled the debate in different Eastern European countries, including in Latvia and Poland, where imposing Soviet monuments, such as the Victory Monument in Riga, were hastily dismantled. - DW
We’d all known the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been broken for a while now, with prices running out of control. But it’s been difficult to focus on that in the past few years. With the pandemic lockdowns receding, though, the truth now feels obvious: there’s no help coming and nobody has any ideas. - The Stage
I have been experimenting with my literary automaton to see how well it accomplishes this task. Or, as Robot Kyle put it when I asked him to comment on the possibility of replacing me: “How could a machine generate the insights, observations, and unique perspectives that I provide as a human?” - The New Yorker
In a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers used a series of sonic illusions to show that people perceive silences much as they hear sounds. - The New York Times
