The Royal Shakespeare Company's artistic director is taking indefinite compassionate leave (the UK equivalent of family/medical leave) to care for his husband, actor Antony Sher, as he faces a terminal illness. - The Guardian
"An unusually large proportion of the 10 plays opening this fall are what one producer calls ‘formally inventive’ and others might label downtown, avant-garde, or (that dread word) challenging." Jesse Green considers three of them: Is This a Room?, Dana H., and Pass Over. - The New York Times
In a world dominated by Netflix, Google, Facebook, Apple, and Twitter, the idea of using theatre to drive change and inform our political life may seem naïve, even quaint. But theatre offers something none of these platforms can: space. - American Theatre
"As Broadway rolls out its return, costumers are again busy with the meticulous, mess-making handiwork that makes the industry sparkle onstage. … 'When you need a costume for Hamilton, … you can't just buy it from the 18th-century clothing shop down the street.'" - The New York Times
"It would be absurd to call for them to be abandoned entirely. But if they're going to be embedded in the fabric of musical theater forever, then we shouldn't shy from putting the ugly parts of them on display" the way that Daniel Fish's revisionist Oklahoma! did. - Slate
The British Mawa Theatre Company's "goal is to change the industry from within, creating more space for marginalized voices in a field that is all too often dominated by privileged white men." - Vogue
"The pride-in-resilience, show-must-go-on attitude has started, at last, to be paired with other questions: Whose show? Why must it go on? Last year's reckoning revealed the shoddiness of the American theater system: baked-in racism, pay scales that undershoot the cost of living, a rigid gerontocracy." - New York Magazine
Three associate artistic directors, Scarlett Kim, Mei Ann Teo, and Evren Odcikin, join artistic director Nataki Garrett "to serve as a nonhierarchical team working to transcend traditional text-centric models and give priority, resources and space to theater artists across media and professions." - The Mail Tribune (Medford, Oregon)
"Hundreds of productions have been performed at the Théâtre du Peuple, a 126-year-old playhouse 45 miles from the German border. Yet no matter how good the actors, they are often upstaged by the theater's unusual backdrop: a steep forest, visible right behind the stage." - The New York Times
Laura Collins-Hughes interviews four young performers who were just about to start living their dream when COVID shut Broadway down. (The youngest of them, now 13, spent months worrying that his voice would change or he would outgrow his role.) - The New York Times
"Their work is just as dangerous and exciting as the bull riders they're employed to protect. Working in teams, their job is to distract an enraged bull from attacking the rider who's just been catapulted to the dirt." - Texas Highways
Charles McNulty, in Los Angeles, says yes, but: "Anticipating the stress of the new COVID-19 protocols, I forgot the old stresses, the lunatic driving at Hollywood and Vine, the $25 parking fee ('credit card only, please'). The woman sitting behind me returned after intermission with a bag of potato chips." - Los Angeles Times
Winfrey is narrator for the audio and video components of a multi-million-dollar campaign across print, broadcast, and social media to convince COVID-wary audience members to go ahead and see a show. - The New York Times
