The Chicago company Collaboraction has edited the proceedings of the 1955 case — in which an all-white Mississippi jury acquitted two white men who later admitted killing the 14-year-old victim — into an immersive theater piece titled Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till. - MSN (Chicago Tribune)
In 1976, Sam Woodhouse and D.W. Jacobs launched a theater company "for a San Diego that didn't exist at the time" — cosmopolitan, with a vibrant downtown. After more than 330 productions, including 50+ world premieres, that helped create the city he envisioned, Woodhouse is stepping down. - The San Diego Union-Tribune
The Queen of Pop had insisted that everyone attending deposit their phones into small pouches, which were then sealed, given back to us to hold on to, and only unlocked at the end of the show. - The Stage
"Cutting the race-baiting from Harold's signature song feels like an easy enough fix, but … the elision leaves a vacuum at the show's center. Are the people of River City really that worked up about modernity? If Harold Hill isn't selling lightly coded racial anxiety, what exactly is he selling?" - Slate
As the company remade itself, it faced a real estate quandary: whether to renew its expiring lease at the New Haven Food Terminal, just off Interstate 95, where it has been performing for 57 years. - The New York Times
Northern Ireland Opera's performance of Sondheim's Into the Woods in Belfast last Saturday was cut short at the intermission after spectators moved around and talked so much that the cast complained to house management and ushers were abused as they tried to maintain order. - Belfast Telegraph
Hilton Als: "Harris's aim as a playwright is to remove the kitchen sink and slather the stage with blood and celebration. … Just as Tennessee Williams made 'deliberate cruelty' a major concern of his work, Harris aims to show how love can make you a target." - The New Yorker
Political humor had changed. It was less lighthearted, more snarky and sarcastic. Washington had changed, no longer a place where Democrats and Republicans would rib one another without too many hurt feelings. Moreover, America had changed, probably forever. - Washington Post
In order to survive at all during this period, theatre did need to adapt, and notable examples of genius materialised, reimagining the genre entirely. The survival of theatre has depended on the creation of these new formats, and its future depends on further innovation. - The Conversation
"The communal understanding that this is our space, our work, our shared awareness is an incomparable feeling. ... Every joke hit. Every cultural reference resonated. I remember thinking, why don’t we do this more often? Seriously. Why don’t we?" - Los Angeles Times
The musical Mrs. Doubtfire closed temporarily because of Omicron and will not reopen until April. "The hiatus left the show’s cast, crew and musicians without work ... but said he thought it was the best way to attempt to preserve their jobs longer term." - The New York Times
Antoinette Crow-Legacy says the Jeremy O. Harris play "gives me freedom to be messy and complicated and blur the lines between right and wrong." - Los Angeles Times
Toossi wrote one her plays going up in New York in white-hot anger after the Trump Muslim travel ban. "If all that ever gets produced of my work is just my stories about Middle Eastern people, I don’t think I would ever be upset." - The New York Times
According to a dozen LA-area artistic directors interviewed, the annual budget of small arts organisations has spiked by an average 40%, disproportionately punishing companies operating on less than $300,000 a year, particularly common in a state with a dearth of public funding for the arts. - The Stage
Says one, "There are so many moments where I'm shocked by humanity. Once when I called out for proof of vaccination and photo IDs, a man said, 'I got my proof of vaccination tattooed on my ass. Want me to pull my pants down?'" - Time Out New York
