ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

THEATRE

Trump And The (Very Real) Art Of Political Theatre

But as with actual theater, not all political theater is created equal. Some of it is shudderingly effective, to the extent that it ceases to be theater. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

The Gwyneth Paltrow Skiing Trial Has Become An Off-Broadway Musical

The show, titled Gwyneth Goes Skiing, has already played in London, the Edinburgh Fringe, and Park City, Utah, where the actual events took place. The audience serves as the jury, and the show has three different endings depending on the verdict. (In real life, Paltrow won $1 in damages.) - Gothamist

A Play About TikTok Performed In Person And Online At The Same Time

"'If you get me to 20,000 likes, I’ll do something amazing.' That is what the performance artist Louise Orwin promises audiences in Famehungry, a TikTok-set existential crisis about being an entertainer in the digital age. - The New York Times

Britain’s Nonprofit Theatre Business Model Is Broken: Study

National Theatre CEO Kate Varah: "Many I speak to in the sector feel they are at a breaking point with limited funds and conflicting demands. … They are being asked to find new revenue streams to stimulate national economic growth with reduced core funding and no central, annual capital maintenance fund." - WhatsOnStage (UK)

Five Years After COVID: How Australia’s Theatres Are Doing

While it would be misleading to take the dollar figures in isolation as the only measure of these companies’ ‘post-COVID’ build-backs, their financial statements tell a story of responsible management in pursuit of recovery. - ArtsHub

Can You Really Fit Plays Into 45-minute Cookie-Cutter Slots?

The problem is that while Radio 4 does indeed feature drama, no regular slot there allows for anything other than a play lasting 45 minutes. Leaving aside the fact that this rules out broadcasting classics by, say, Shakespeare or Chekhov, where does this leave new commissions? - The Stage

Inside The Professional Theater Scene In Las Vegas

"It’s scrappy, sure, with its rock’n’roll energy but theatermakers here are resourceful and don’t fit in boxes. … There's a palpable hunger to make theater against the odds, locals who can keep it viable are ready for it and artists enjoy the freedom of straddling aesthetic and artistic worlds." - The New York Times

Parkland School Shooting Parent Makes Theatre With His Grief

"Joaquin “Guac” Oliver and 16 others were murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on 14 February 2018. Manuel Oliver turned this unfathomable loss into art, including a one-man show entitled Guac that honours his child and addresses the scourge of gun violence in America." - The Guardian

Grand Theft Hamlet Got Its Start From Actors Out Of Work During The Early Days Of The Pandemic

So began “a ludicrous journey to making one of the weirdest versions of one of the most performed pieces of literature: a staging of Shakespeare’s Hamlet entirely within the universe of Grand Theft Auto.” - The New York Times

They’re Already Thinking About An “Emilia Pérez” Broadway Musical

"We would love to put Emilia Pérez on Broadway," said co-composer Clément Ducol. "At the start, (director) Jacques (Audiard) mentioned he was thinking of it as an opera." Added the other co-composer, Camille Ducol, "We’d love a live version, and there have been talks. More to follow." - Broadway Buzz

Rehab For Actors Recovering From Playing Hamlet

It doesn't necessarily seem all that improbable, but no, this isn't really a thing. It is, however, the concept of the play Hamlet Camp, which has just opened in Sydney — starring, yes, three actors who have played Hamlet. - The Guardian

Former Theatre Company CEO Faces Trial On Multiple Sexual Abuse Charges

Timothy O’Connor, former chief executive of the Harvest Rain Theatre Company in Brisbane, Australia, faces charges from seven accusers aged from 12 to 29; alleged offenses include rape, attempted rape, sexual assault, indecent treatment of a child, recordings in breach of privacy, fraud, common assault and indecent acts. - ArtsHub (Australia)

Is London’s West End Dying? Not So Fast, Says Lyn Gardner

Writing theatre’s obituary based on misinformation or dismissing the entire art form as a turn-off on the basis of a single theatre visit (nobody writes off all literature because they didn’t enjoy Pride and Prejudice when they read it aged 17) is easy pickings, but is damaging when so regularly repeated. - The Stage

Prolific Young Producer Takes Over Off-Broadway Theater Left By Second Stage

Greg Nobile's Seaview Productions, which was behind such notable shows as Slave Play, Romeo + Juliet, Sea Wall/A Life (starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge), and the upcoming Good Night and Good Luck starring George Clooney, is taking the former Tony Kiser Theater, which will be called Studio Seaview. - The New York Times

Why Do So Many Critically Acclaimed Shows Come From London Only To Be Panned In New York?

Jesse Green, who admits to being one of those New York critics doing the panning, has some ideas. - The New York Times

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');