ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

THEATRE

Need A Film That Truly Captures The Process Of Making Theatre?

Then you're in luck with Oscar nominee Drive My Car. The three-hour Japanese film is "an impeccably textured elucidation of a group of strangers joining up to animate the written word, and of the ways a great play remains eternally relevant." - Washington Post

End Of An Era: Humana Theatre Festival Calls It Quits

Several of the more than 400 plays presented at the festival have gone on to win wider accolades — “The Gin Game” by D.L. Coburn, “Dinner With Friends” by Donald Margulies and “Crimes of the Heart” by Beth Henley, all won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama — and the event is often regarded as a milestone in the careers...

Would Chekhov Weep? A Drama Critic On Russia’s Bombing Of The Mariupol Theater

Peter Marks: "Russia is a nation of passionate theater-, music-, and dance-lovers. ... It is beyond comprehension that terrified women and children could turn to a theater for physical security and have their safe space shattered by a (Russian) force set on destroying Chekhov's humane legacy." - MSN (The Washington Post)

Russian Air Force Bombs Theater Where More Than 1,000 Ukrainians Were Sheltering

Very luckily, it appears that most of the civilians inside the Mariupol Drama Theater were able to get down to the building's bomb shelter before the shelling started, and the survivors have begun to emerge. - CNN

Hiring And Pay Equity In US Theater Did Improve In 2020, But Just Barely: Actors’ Equity

The union's third annual Diversity and Inclusion Hiring Bias Report found that just under a quarter of contracts went to actors and state managers of color, up 3.3 percentage points from 2016-19, with those union members averaging 91.8% of the pay their white colleagues received. - Deadline

The Oldest Form Of Jewish Theater Takes New Shape

Purim spiels, retelling the story of Queen Esther, are documented back to the 14th century and doubtless happened for generations before that.  New versions still get written (one New Jersey cantor has published 11), though they tend to be all too family-friendly, lacking the sharp satire spiels once had. - Tablet

Theatre Had A Racial Reckoning And A Pandemic Reckoning, And Yet

"The 'We See You, White American Theatre' movement demanded an end to unpaid internships ... and more recently, employers across the Bay Area started saying that they can’t hire enough workers to fill open positions." But somehow it's not ending exploitative unpaid internships." - San Francisco Chronicle

Mark Rylance And His Path To Screen Stardom

Stage success was steady and gradual - and then, "somewhere around his 50th birthday, this eccentric, perennial amiable performer became a unlikely favourite of Steven Spielberg." Then an Oscar. Now whatever he really wants. - Irish Times

This Is The Question About Black Life In America That Underlies Dominique Morisseau’s Plays

"Getting free in the past, it's just getting free. Like, you're literally in bondage. Getting free in the present is a very different thing. What does freedom look like now?" - The New York Times

After A COVID-Wracked Winter, Broadway Producers Anticipate A Big Spring Comeback

The holiday season in particular was plagued by constant cast changes or cancellations when someone in the company got sick or tested positive.  With the pandemic now receding among the vaccinated, Broadway will have 16 productions opening over about six weeks. - Variety

Humana Festival Says It Won’t Do Festival

The Humana Festival of New American Plays, as envisioned prior to the Global Pandemic, has inspired a new approach to develop and produce new work on multiple platforms year-round,” Fleming’s emailed statement read, in part. - WFPL

Audible Goes All In On Its Push Into Live Theater

"The company, which created its theater division just five years ago, has already released 93 audio theater works, ... commissioning new work from 55 playwrights, presenting 25 shows in person ... and becoming one of the most active commercial producers in the city." - The New York Times

Belarus Free Theatre Does Its First Show Together Since Fleeing The Country Last Fall

In the wake of the stolen presidential election and Lukashenko's vicious crackdown on the subsequent demonstrations, the underground troupe decided to go into exile. Now they're in London to stage a production that premiered two years ago in Minsk and is now more timely than ever. - The Independent (UK)

Olivier Award Nominations Led By “Cabaret”, “Anything Goes”, “Life Of Pi”

"A new production of the musical Cabaret starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley leads the Olivier Award nominations with 11. It's followed by a adaptation of best-selling novel Life of Pi and a revival of Anything Goes, with nine each." - BBC

Could Technology Help Preserve Musical Theatre Voices?

“Similar to how your iPhone nowadays tells you, ‘Oh, you listened to music a little too loudly this week; watch out, because we don’t want you to get a hearing impairment due to overuse’ — it would be the same idea for the voice.” - Variety

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