“His goal (is) to platform voices that many audiences won’t be familiar with — and to push back against a theater landscape he feels has lost its edge. ‘Professionalism has flattened its soul,” he said. ‘It can feel polished to the point of sameness.’ … His program ... (will) favor cracks over polish.” - The Hollywood Reporter
The show’s producing team told the playwright, Stephen Adly Guirgis, that he was no longer welcome at rehearsals after tempers flared on Friday between Guirgis and Mark Kaufman, who runs Warner Bros. Theater Ventures, an entity that is among the play’s lead producers. - The New York Times
Theaters have experimented with “Black Out” nights intended to attract patrons of color. At issue in the lawsuit was whether a discount offered as part of the Playwrights event was discriminatory. - The New York Times
“(A) grant (from the Stephen Sondheim Foundation) will go toward rebuilding Steppenwolf’s Scout program, which supports new works by emerging writers and was shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Steppenwolf has developed and launched more than 130 plays in its 50-year history.” - WBEZ (Chicago)
Why? “Antigone isn’t wrestling with a prophecy. In her story, fate is what one powerless girl makes it, and right action is possible, as long as we don’t fear the consequences.” - The New York Times
Three and a half hours is the danger zone: the length of many an unabridged classic. The artists, too often, haven’t thought of the way time sits on our bodies and our minds. This is the play you’re most likely to feel restless in, like it has taken up too much of your day, like it has outstayed its...
“Since January, (Nataki Garrett), whose era-defining OSF term lasted just four years, has been at another helm as interim artistic director of San Francisco's African-American Shakespeare Company, and she's optimistic that this new appointment will be less troubled. For one thing, she no longer retains a security detail.” - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
“Pittsburgh Public Theater, founded in 1975, and Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, founded in 1946, will cease to exist under the plan approved by their boards. … The new, as-yet-unnamed troupe plans to announce its inaugural programming this fall and debut in January. For now, the two groups will continue their planned seasons." - WESA (Pittsburgh)
Sara Holdren of New York magazine recounts how she went to review Every Brilliant Thing on Broadway and wound up as the star’s love interest. - New York Magazine (MSN)
“The former is the perfect excursion. If it’s a bad show, you’re not held hostage for long; if it’s good, you can bookend the night with a meal and a drink — or go home for an early night. … Stretch longer — five hours and beyond — and the entire shape of a work changes.” - The Guardian
Theaters cannot simply reduce expenses and expect to find long-term stability. At some point, the conversation must include new ways of thinking about revenue, capital, and value. - Leading Creativity
Lofty and pragmatic in equal measure, these leaders are reconstituting Los Angeles’ theater culture, fighting for the survival of nonprofit theater in America and shaping the future possibility of the art form, here and beyond. - Los Angeles Times
“’Playwrights Horizons regrets that Mr. Lynch felt excluded because of his race,’ the theater said in the six-sentence statement issued by both parties. The statement did not specify whether the theater paid any money to Mr. Lynch, but said (the parties) 'have agreed to resolve the matter out of court.’” - The New York Times
Indhu Rubasingham remembers the long lines when she brought Bollywood legend Shabana Azmi to the NT in 2000. “You can put people on this stage and that means something to different communities. It is like a beacon, and it opens its doors for different audiences depending on what you put on the stage.” - Variety
A new venture in Los Angeles brings the Shakespeare Center and local veterans together for a year-long learning and writing experience. They perform today, and the program is billed as “written by the Ensemble of Veterans In Art & US Vets in collaboration with William Shakespeare.” - LAist
