The same 14 cast members in three plays at three different theatres, all running at exactly the same time. Happy 50th, Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. - The New York Times
It’s curious that booing is absent from modern theatre, because it’s as old as European drama. The earliest reports of audience booing were recorded at the annual festival of Dionysus in Athens where playwrights competed to win prizes for their efforts. - The Spectator
"Polonius isn't a good father. Good fathers don't make good drama. But he's a good character, more complex than critics usually recognize. Polonius is a single father struggling with work-life balance who sadly chooses his career over his daughter's well-being." And his pompous speeches? Big ol' dad jokes. - JSTOR Daily
It's an inventive — and animal-free — bunch of troupes with names like A Good Catch and Gravity and Other Myths. But they're not big or rich, and the combination of local lockdowns and the inability to tour overseas hit them hard. Now they're hard at work on a revival. - ArtsHub (Australia)
In 2022, the average cost of the most expensive tickets available for West End productions is £140.85, up 21.3% on 2019. The increase has been driven by new productions, with the average top price for long-runners falling over the same period. - The Stage
Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, and Tina did solid business before the pandemic. Yet with tourism to New York City still down, they've struggled since reopening, when they found themselves in competition with not only hot new shows (The Music Man) but also institutions like Wicked. - The Hollywood Reporter
"How can these stories end? What does deliverance look like in a world in which the odds are stacked against these Black characters, and at a time when, post-Black Lives Matter and post-George Floyd, artists are being held newly accountable for portraying Blackness responsibly?" - The New York Times
Comedy is a social corrective exposing the gap between what is (injustice, poverty, environmental disaster) and what some think it ought to be (fairness, equal opportunity, gentle breezes). This gap, which may be history’s largest mass case of cognitive dissonance, remains our omnipresent duality. - The Conversation
"In a statement, Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League, said audience members were still encouraged to wear masks, but would not be required to beginning July 1. The policy will be re-evaluated on a monthly basis going forward." - Gothamist
"Cutting us back because of where our postcode is will have a direct and negative effect on the nationwide work that this move is designed to address," said NT director Rufus Norris. "It will have the exact opposite effect of their stated intention." - The Guardian
For close to 62 years, the Brooks Atkinson Theatre has stood on West 47th Street, so it did 34 years previously as the Mansfield. On June 9, 2022, its current owner, the Nederlander Organization announced that this fall it will be renamed in honor of the distinguished performer Lena Horne. - Theatre Scene
From Pitlochry in Scotland to the Cotswolds to Sutton Hoo to Cornwall (well, that one's been there for 92 years) to north London, old Greco-Roman-style outdoor theatres are opening — and the few that have survived from the Roman era are being excavated. - The Observer (UK)
"The days of 'cripping up' - a term disabled actors regularly use to describe those with no physical impairment playing disabled characters - appear numbered now." - BBC
Arthur Hughes, who opens in the role at Stratford-upon-Avon later this month, lives with radial dysplasia and describes himself as "limb-different." "I've always wanted to play him," says Hughes, "I think a lot of disabled actors will think playing Richard is their birthright." - BBC
Mia Yoo took over La MaMa after the death of the formidable Ellen Stewart. (Yoo's father is Stewart's adopted son.) While Yoo has kept going what Stewart left behind (and is overseeing a major building renovation), her leadership style is "polar opposite." - The New York Times
