Theatre

“Mainstream theatre criticism is unlikely to disappear. But professional, full-time critics, whose only real job is to review plays, may be a dying breed. It is unfortunately possible for publications to be committed to criticism whilst being utterly cavalier about individual critics.” – The Stage

You cast an actual Peruvian shaman, of course. And you get the entire rest of your cast do ayahuasca rituals furing the rehearsal period. Lyndsey Winship talks with Peruvian director-choreographer Oscar Naters, and with said shaman, about their performance piece, Ino Moxo. – The Guardian

That fashion statement, writes Chris Jones, was the breathing tube and oxygen device that Terrence McNally wore onstage as he accepted his lifetime achievement Tony, and his speech — as both a major American playwright and a survivor of the worst days of the AIDS epidemic — “was the most beautiful recounting of one of this nation’s most distinguished artistic careers.” – Chicago Tribune

The playwright and director René Pollesch will take the reins at one of Germany’s most important theaters in 2021. He succeeds Chris Dercon, formerly the director of London’s Tate Modern art gallery, who lasted only six months in the job in the face of regular protests over his presence there. “Those included personal attacks — feces were left in front of Mr. Dercon’s office at one point — and an occupation of the theater by left-wing activists.” – The New York Times

Raja Feather Kelly: “I think of virtuosic behavior as what I like to do with my choreography. That’s where I can help: by making the behavior specific and virtuosic. I feel like I found a place — that directors and writers now are wanting to do something different and that makes a place for someone like me who is different.” – The New York Times

“Performers and stage managers working in the largest West End theatres will earn more than £700 a week as a minimum for the first time, as part of a new agreement that also includes measures for job shares and flexible working.” – The Stage

Cynthia Rider, who was executive director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival from 2013 to 2018, will begin her new job at Hartford Stage July 1, the theater announced Wednesday. – Hartford Courant

“Actually, our growth curve as a company parallels almost exactly the growth of Silicon Valley as a thing. And I credit our success and durability as a company with the fact that we were in this unique area that was changing rather dramatically over time over this same period. It was becoming one of the most international and diverse places on earth, really. And diversity is one of the big commitments of TheatreWorks, one of our core values, and that was something that made the company, we think, increasingly attractive to people in the region.” – American Theatre

Lily Tung Crystal began her career as a news journalist who did stage acting on the side. She now says that “theater is the hobby that became a job” — in 2010, she co-founded the Bay Area Asian-American theater company Ferocious Lotus. She comes to Theater Mu following last December’s dismissal of artistic director Randy Reyes. – The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

So if #MuellerLive was a cold read of a legal document without any attempt at acting value, was it theatre? It certainly was a performance: the airing of a document with the use of theatrical tools to illuminate a text for others. – The Stage

What was once a glittery subculture on the edge of gay culture has become one of our global pop preoccupations with its own hierarchy of stars and story lines for the fans to get behind, marketing deals and Billboard chart-toppers.  – New York Magazine

The Tonys ceremony, a local party opened to the nation by the patronage of CBS, is a more welcoming showcase for idealism than the billion-dollar business of Broadway. But in paying tribute to those artists who stopped our breath with the unimpeachable honesty of their gifts, the awards point the way forward. – Los Angeles Times

There’s a disconnect between the insistence on the theater world’s wokeness and the blandness and inoffensiveness of the show. Or perhaps there isn’t. – The New York Times

The Telling Project works with veterans and their families to create devised work all over the country. How does that work, really? “We are using our decades of training as artists to translate the experiences of veterans and their families into narratives, and then to translate the narratives into performances. Another way to put it is that we are helping these folks with meaning,” says founder and director Jonathan Wei. – HowlRound

Basically, Hadestown. Sure, it didn’t win all 14 awards it was nominated for, but eight’s not bad. – The New York Times

Laura Stearns, the survivor, says it’s a bit too late. “They should never have made the motion to begin with. … It was an insensitive choice and it’s grown bigger.” – Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Will Harry Potter and the Cursed Child get a sweep? Will Hadestown dominate in the musicals? Here’s what New York Times readers said, and at the link in this post, find out what Los Angeles Times theatre writers think. – Los Angeles Times

Harvey Fierstein (who prefers a riot of color): “Superstition demands that a dressing room cannot be decorated until the reviews are published. It’s the old ‘counting your chicks before they’re hatched’ deal. But some actors take the monastic approach even further.” – The New York Times

Howard Sherman (who was one of the readers): “It certainly was a performance: the airing of a document with the use of theatrical tools to illuminate a text for others. … If journalism is the rough draft of history, then [the reading] was the first draft of drama based on history.” – The Stage

“The 2019 programme … includes 3,841 shows, up from 3,548 in 2018, and 59,600 performances, up from 56,796. The programme has a record 63 countries represented, and more than 700 free shows, with more than 400 ‘pay what you want’ shows, an increase from 260 last year.” – The Herald (Scotland)

Richard Eyre, a former director of the National Theatre in London, criticized a recent RSC production of Timon of Athens in which Lord Timon became Lady Timon — and, therefore, the line “I love that man” became “I love that woman”. Eyre, stressing the importance of Shakespeare’s use of iambic pentameter (which that extra syllable throws off), called the casting “a very bad decision. … Do the plays. Don’t rework it.” – The Times (UK)

Henry Hitchings and Fiona Mountford had been contract freelancers at the London Evening Standard, he for 10 years and she for 17. Their redundancy is part of what Standard ownership calls “necessary cost-cutting.” – PressGazette (UK)

“The plan is to have monthly rotating chief editors, who will help curate the content — slated to comprise around 15 pieces a month — with the help of ongoing editors Michelle Tse (one of Stage & Candor’s editors) and Penny Pun, a playwright. What kind of content, and for whom? [Rob Weinert-Kendt] spoke recently with Tse and Pun, who were joined by two of 3Views’s founders, playwrights Sarah Ruhl and Julia Jordan, about the new magazine’s ambitions and focus.” – American Theatre

“We were going round the table and he just went, “I wonder if there’s a world in which you say L.A. doesn’t really have a theater community, but you’ve made it your mission to bring one, and you’re going to perform them on a crosswalk.” – New York Magazine