The working definition of a "classic play" here is one that's revived repeatedly through the years and reinterpreted over time. What happens in Australia, argues Anthony Nocera, is that the plays which get that treatment are famous British and American titles, though there are plenty of deserving Australian scripts. - The Guardian
Says Kip Williams, who won't pre-record video and insists that his actors perform before the cameras live, "It takes the best of cinema and the essence of theatre and combines them into a new space. ... I want audiences to get lost in that blurred area between film and stage.'" - The Guardian
"One of Mike Birbiglia's simplest and best talents is his instinct for leaping from sprawling existential ideas to prosaic little experiences. ... (His) power is to make that leap seem easy without undermining its magic: Here's the small thing that illuminates the big abstraction." - Vulture
Amid the spate of new shows, producers are facing higher costs due to inflation and extra understudies, as well as the added stressors of unpredictable and changing audience behavior. - The Hollywood Reporter
"The male philosophers in Ibsen's plays do not fare well. In fact, they are a bunch of ramshackle figures – either adding sheer comedy or making audiences cringe. ... His women characters play out ideas and positions on stage, and often pay the costs of their male counterparts' rigidly conceived projects." - Psyche
Well, partially fixed: even the planned $30 million renovation can't address all the issues from decades of deferred maintenance. But leaks will be fixed, bathrooms updated, murals cleaned, seats replaced. And you won't have to walk through offices to gets to some of the seats anymore. - The Philadelphia Inquirer
A marketing document from the Broadway Strategic Return Fund claims that the fund's value quadrupled from January 2016 through September 2021, a period that included the COVID shutdowns — this in an industry notorious for losing investors' money. And now the SEC has noticed this. - Broadway Journal
There have been other periods when stage monologues were big on New York stages. The difference this time is the audiobook and podcast boom; solo shows are easy to adapt, and companies such as Audible are actively producing such pieces to record them. - TheWrap
In its 25 years, the Lab welcomed more than 1,600 directors through its doors. It was an enormously popular, productive, and competitive program, and one that will be sorely missed by its alumni, and, if it is not revived, missed-out-upon by thousands of artists worldwide in years to come. - American Theatre
"Miser! Miser! is a complete translation of L'Avare (The Miser) of 1668 ... that Burgess wrote in the early 1990s, yet it has never been performed or published. But now it could finally be staged as it will published for the first time in a forthcoming book." - The Guardian
Nurse Blake, "(a) 31-year-old standup whose real name is Blake Lynch, is a genuine phenomenon, a social media star with millions of followers, which he leveraged to become a popular touring comic selling out theaters across the country." - The New York Times
"(The current Broadway revival has) many Black cast members, such that Blackness becomes more than any cartoonish notion of African-esque masculinity. We have moved on. In this production of The Music Man, Black people just are." And there's an unusually large Black presence on Broadway this season. - The New York Times
"I am a woman performer who wears pant/dress size 10-12. In the eyes of directors, producers, choreographers, and theatre’s other decisionmakers, that means I am undeserving of romantic love, real friendships, dignity, and accurate representation in the characters I play." - Howlround
Arts Council England has cut 100% of its grant to the company, which is known for small-scale productions that often go on to successful runs in the West End and on Broadway and for launching the careers of leading directors and actors. - WhatsOnStage (London)
Last week, mere days after long-time director Gaëtane Verna left for a bigger job in the United States, board members resigned en masse, saying interference from Harbourfront made it impossible to fulfill its duties. - The Globe & Mail (Canada)
