Behind the row lay an unanswered question: how does a post-settler, multicultural society create a national identity? This latest case put a spotlight on the performance arts in this evolving cultural debate. This raises its own question: what can theatre contribute to the nurturing of our national identity? - The Conversation
Part of the roof caved in on the 393-seat main auditorium of the Rep’s historic Arcade Theatre. The orchestra pit was under six feet of water, which nearly reached the edge of the seats. Three inches of thick black sludge covered the administrative offices, rehearsal halls, and storage areas. - American Theatre
“Scene shops and lighting and sound shops got rid of a lot of their equipment during the shutdown. They sold it or did other things, so there’s literally not enough equipment on the shelves to go around.” - Hyperallergic
Starring Ralph Fiennes as Robert Moses, the play has churned up considerable interest: Performed in a 500-seat theater, it’s already sold out for the entire two-month run, and tickets are reselling for as much as $2,000. (Don’t despair entirely, though: There’s a waitlist.) - Bloomberg
"Jokes about raising children make an easy connection with certain sleepy-eyed audiences, but that can be its own parent trap. This is well-trod ground. ... The primary challenge of stand-up on this subject is that it risks cheap sentimentality. Nothing smothers comedy faster." - The New York Times
"The craft of shadow puppetry had historically been passed down, master-apprentice style, through the generations. With varied technologies and media dominating contemporary performance, practitioners of puppetry and scholars say this ancient form of theatre is under threat of extinction." - Hyperallergic
"iO shut down in June 2020, having been closed during the pandemic, with longtime owner Charna Halpern facing charges of racism on social media. Halpern put the building up for sale and (said) the biggest factor was upcoming property taxes bills she would have struggled to pay." - MSN (Chicago Tribune)
"For much of its running time, Camp Siegfried resembles a romantic drama, a coming-of-age story. That's a queasy proposition, considering the play's setting. In this boy-meets-girl, the girl lives on Hitler Street." - The New York Times
“If a seat’s good, you don’t notice it,” he said. “You only notice it when it’s bad.” In the world of theater seating, he added, “No news is good news.” - The New York Times
And her play, new to Broadway, is "about 'the precarity of life' — the way that one bad break, financial or physical or emotional, can tumble a person into desperation — and the need we all have to be taken care of." - The New York Times
Is the mainstream media the place to debate the process of theatremaking? Or does honesty, however it cuts, break the compact of the rehearsal room, of the backstage? - The Stage
I’ve had artists and members of the theater community reach out after a review — yes, even ones where I didn’t care much for the show — and extend grace and understanding for my point of view on their work. As I sit here, I can’t fathom why some can’t extend that same hand to their colleague. - Seattle...
Lena Brown's play Sonia Itelson, or, A child, a Child was written, and set in, the 1910s; it was almost certainly not produced then, being against the same anti-obscenity laws under which Emma Goldman and Margaret Sanger were prosecuted. Then it sat in a drawer for decades, until ... - Tablet
"A small but growing number of Dalit comedians (is) breaking into India's Brahmin-dominated comedy scene. Onstage, they're finding that examining caste through humor not only makes for better comedy, but is also personally empowering." Says one, “If you don't laugh at my jokes, I'll touch you." - The Christian Science Monitor
"Broadway producer Garth Drabinsky is suing Actors' Equity for $50 million, accusing the theater union of defamation after he was placed on its 'Do Not Work' list following his tumultuous production of Paradise Square." - Variety
