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THEATRE

New York State’s $400M Broadway Tax Credit Has Already Run Out Of Money

“Tax credits ran out quickly this year, both due to demand, and as productions had been conditionally approved for the credit before the (law was signed). This meant there was already a line of shows ready to receive the funding once it was approved in May, and it went quickly.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Maybe You Can Get Famous Playing The Edinburgh Fringe, But You Sure Won’t Get Rich

“The sprawling festival, open to any act that can find a venue and pay a registration fee, will this year showcase over 3,000 acts.” … Yet costs there, especially for lodging, are so high that “a sellout run doesn’t guarantee that a performer will break even, much less turn a profit.” - The New York Times

Another Leader Of Theater In DC Is Stepping Down

“The early announcement of David Muse’s 2027 departure as artistic director of Studio Theatre … allows the institution ample time to search for a replacement. That person will join Hana S. Sharif at Arena Stage, Karen Ann Daniels at Folger Theatre and Maria Manuela Goyanes’s successor at Woolly Mammoth in a fresh class of leaders.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

That Challenge Of Political Theatre

A play is political if its subject is taboo and its story mirrors, exposes, and critiques the suppression and repression that interferes with the treatment of a cultural disease. A political play is a problem that is ignored, denied, maligned. A political play is, by definition, unpopular. - American Theatre

The Crazy Costs Of Performing At The Edinburgh Fringe

“It has the potential to make careers, but it’s so expensive it’s not just the working-class comedians who are getting shut out – so are middle-class comedians. If you don’t intervene financially, Edinburgh is just going to become more elitist. Then comedy on telly becomes more elitist.” - The Guardian

Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Shrinkage Poses Warning/Challenge To City Arts Organizations

“We have to decide where does the art in our town that's made in our town sit versus touring productions, and what does it mean to be a city of makers versus importing talent? - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

How Trump’s Fight With Canada Has Affected The Shaw Festival

We have more than 600 employees, produce between 11 and 14 productions across four stages from April to October—plus two holiday shows—and host upwards of 325,000 attendees a year. This summer, however, the political tension in the air threatens to destabilize things again. - Maclean's

Not Surprisingly, Ukrainian Standup Comedy Was Completely Transformed By Russia’s Invasion And War

Also unsurprisingly, the humor tends to be much darker than before 2022. And there’s a sense of purpose: “We get a lot of feedback, like, ‘You saved me from my mental problems,” says one comedian. “Now we have a mission. It’s to stop people from going crazy.” - The Guardian

Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre Has A New Artistic Director

Paolo Santalucia, 35 and a native Torontonian, is a director, playwright, and actor known for both stage and television work. A co-founder of Toronto’s Howland Theatre Company and a graduate of the Soulpepper Academy (the company’s training program for young professionals), he’s currently associate artistic director of Crow’s Theatre in Toronto. - Ludwig Van

Nearly Half Of Freelance Workers In British Theatre Earn Less Than Living Wage

“The report shows 44% of freelancers earn less than the UK National Living Wage, up from 34% last year. ... The survey reveals high levels of unpaid work, rising expenses and falling incomes, with 32% of respondents saying over half of their working hours are unpaid and 75% reporting higher work-related costs.” - WhatsOnStage (UK)

Why, After Years Of Progress, Have Women Playwrights Lost The Spotlight?

The low representational numbers for women are difficult to square. By various measures (including the numbers of women graduating from degree programs in the arts), roughly two-thirds of the field’s writers are women—there is not, as artistic directors once argued, a pipeline issue. - The New Yorker

Perusing The 5,000-Odd Goodies In The Sondheim Archive At The Library Of Congress

“Among them are hundreds of music and lyric sketches of Sondheim’s well-known works as well as drafts of songs that were cut from shows or never made it to a production’s first rehearsal. Dozens of scrapbooks hold theatre programmes, clippings and opening night telegrams.” - The Guardian

Britain’s Oldest Working Theatre To Get $41 Million Renovation

St. George’s Guildhall, located in the Norfolk town of King’s Lynn and dating from 1445, and the surrounding buildings and courtyards are to undergo a £30.5 million restoration and development.  The venue’s original stage floor, on which Shakespeare is believed to have once performed, was uncovered earlier this year. - BBC (MSN)

The NYT Is Replacing Its Theatre Critic. So What Is Needed?

Diversity matters. So does excellence. And the future of theatre criticism at the Times should reflect both. So what kind of critic do we need now? - Onstage Blog

Why Did This Film Studio Buy An Off-Broadway Theatre?

The company says it plans a wide-ranging slate of programming, prioritizing theater — Cherry Lane describes itself as the birthplace of the Off Broadway movement — but also featuring comedy, music and film. - The New York Times

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