Despite some trepidation from the actors, the Royal Shakespeare Company is live-streaming for the public select rehearsals for the upcoming production of Henry VI Part One. "I'm intrigued by how much I've learned," writes Michael Billington — who wasn't more impressed than anyone else ever is by watching actors warm up but was fascinated by seeing the actors work...
One Vancouver AD says that his colleagues are extremely burned out - and also worried about what's coming. On the other hand, post-pandemic: "I don't know that it's the same art form anymore. And that's interesting to me." - CBC
Theatre working conditions often aren't ideal for anyone, much less people whose bodies and minds have been harmed by the virus. "Theatre artists and practitioners with chronic illnesses and disabilities have long documented how the industry is inaccessible or even unkind." Can theatre change? - American Theatre
"The character of Michael Ritchie’s audience has not been shaped in this devout manner. The marketing of hits has replaced more time-consuming forms of outreach. On the level of scale, this may make sense. But theater isn’t a traditional business. And while loyalty may not register on year-end financial statements, it pays long-term dividends." - Los Angeles Times
In Godot Is a Woman by the theatre company Silent Faces, "three glum, bowler-hatted clowns … are waiting for the Beckett estate to answer their call about performance rights for Godot. They wait … and they wait, until a message that they have moved up to eighth in the queue sends them into a . … They become theatre...
Says actor Gabrielle Brooks, one of four co-founders of the Mawa Theatre Company, "Shakespeare remains a staple of British theatre. He's still the most produced playwright in the world and I think if we want to tackle diversity, representation and inclusion, then why not start with the Bard himself? … If we can, as black British women, embed ourselves...
"The change since last spring, as measured by the return of surging morning-to-midnight crowds, is head-snapping. While just 106,900 tourists visited Las Vegas in April 2020, according to the Convention and Visitors Authority, some 2.6 million people visited this April — a big rebound, but still almost a million shy of what the city was attracting before the pandemic."...
In response to news that Boris Johnson's government is considering postponing the full reopening of performance venues scheduled for June 21, the musical theatre mogul said he cannot afford to operate his West End theatres at the 50% occupancy permitted now and might have to sell them if capacity controls aren't removed. - BBC
From the 140-foot long sculpture of scripts and songbooks to replicas of armchairs from Hamilton, the Drama Book Shop in Manhattan will be reborn this week, from the ashes (and flood, pandemic, and rent hikes) of the old. - The New York Times
The National Black Theater is trading up - and up. It will replace its current building with a 21-story high-rise, where the theatre can have three floors while retail and housing occupy the rest. "National Black Theater leaders see the $185 million project, and the partnership they are entering with developers, as a new chapter with the financial and...
In Perth, Australia, the multi-arts Fringe World loses its decade-long sponsor, the decidedly non-edgy mining company Woodside, after three years of protests by festival artists. - The Guardian (UK)
Is the theatre industry training too many students? The pandemic sure made it seem so. "There is a vital need for creative practice and an equally critical need to earn a living. It’s not a binary consideration, but one that increasingly feels antithetical." - The Stage (UK)
The Cornwall-based company, a frequent visitor to the US whose production of Brief Encounter was nominated for Tony and Olivier Awards, said in a statement that it was financially stable, but that "recent changes in artistic leadership raised questions as to whether Kneehigh could sustain their vision going forward." Founding artistic director Mike Shepherd had resigned in March after...
