In comparison to the theater, live comedy has recovered from the pandemic in great commercial shape. But with success comes the danger of insularity, and while more new artists are entering the field than ever, the gulf in influence between celebrity comics and gifted young unknowns grows. - The New York Times
The production at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, which was to run from last week into early October, was a modern retelling of the Shakespeare fairy tale with a drum-and-bass score. It included a song with controversial references which theatre management requested be cut; the company refused. - The Guardian
Arifa Akbar: "My quotidian reality as chief theatre critic of The Guardian cannot compare: a supermarket sandwich wolfed down before the bell, a frantic filing of copy after the curtain goes down ..., or eating biscuits at my laptop into the small hours if it is a morning deadline." - The Guardian
The Play That Goes Wrong “was first performed at The Old Red Lion, a 60-seat fringe theatre in Islington, London, with the writers not thinking it would go much further.” That was … not the correct take. - BBC
The play - The Roommate - opened on Thursday with Farrow and Patti LuPone, but on Saturday, Farrow tested positive. Actor and associate director of The Roommate Marsha Mason went on, script in hand, on Sunday. - The New York Times
The rules? Be flexible. “We each have our audiences, which are different in Memphis than in Sarasota or Houston, and we each have our missions. For some theatres, it’s about the actors or the playwright. For us at Hattiloo, it’s about accessibility to all socioeconomic groups.” - American Theatre
The Pitlochry “theatre in the hills” is known for its unique ensemble and repertory practice: across the summer season actors appear in three or four daily changing productions, learning the parts simultaneously. - The Guardian
The Emmy- and Tony-winning actor will become artistic director of Pitlochry Festival Theatre, a well-regarded company located near his birthplace in the highlands of Perthshire. He begins the job this January and his first fully-programmed season will be in 2026. - BBC
"There’s a reason, aside from name recognition, that they keep coming back. Though products of vastly different times and cultures, they dig so deep into their specific truths that they reach a common, eternal one, from which many others may spring." - The New York Times
The new directors will take up their posts when current artistic director André Bishop retires next summer after 33 years. Sher, as executive producer (a new position at LCT), will focus on international partnerships, brand expansion, and fundraising; as artistic director, deBessonet will oversee programming, artist relations, and day-to-day operations. - Deadline
The new leadership structure is dubbed a "tri-directorate model" with three equal directors at the top each with distinct areas of specialization, as opposed to a single Executive Director. - Orlando Weekly
S. Shakthidharan, born a Sri Lankan Tamil, was a toddler when his family fled the fighting and settled in Australia. When he asked his mother about their old life on the island, she angrily refused to discuss it — until she saw a workshop of his play, Counting and Cracking. - The New York Times
For one thing (guilty over here at AJ), "Do they spell it t-h-e-a-t-r-e instead of t-h-e-a-t-e-r? That’s a good one. Only a true theatre kid spells it ‘theatre.’ A ‘theater’ is where you watch ‘theatre.’ You see?” - American Theatre
October 7, a verbatim play along the lines of The Laramie Project and Anna Deavere Smith's works, is drawn from interviews with more than 20 survivors of the atrocities by Irish journalists Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney. - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
There’s been a lot of bad news: Seattle theater companies are launching emergency fundraisers, exploring mergers, furloughing or laying people off, and cutting back on — or even postponing — shows and downsizing casts. Workers are worried about the future of the field. - Seattle Times
