Theatre

“The 17-page agreement says that producers must require all members of the traveling company to be fully vaccinated and mandates free weekly virus tests. Also: ‘absolutely no interaction’ will be permitted between performers and audience members.” – The New York Times

Declaring “Come to the theatre and arrest us,” Lord Lloyd Webber vowed last week to reopen all his West End venues at full audience capacity on June 21, “come hell or high water.” At the beginning of this week, with caseloads of the Delta variant of COVID rising, Boris Johnson postponed the lifting of theatre restrictions from the 21st until at least July 19. Even so, Johnson and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden have offered to make Cinderella part of a pilot scheme of public performances in the next few weeks — but Lloyd Webber doesn’t want to participate if the plan doesn’t involve the entire industry. – The Daily Mail (UK)

Marissa Wolf was midway into her first full season as artistic director at Portland Center Stage and had just opened The Curious Incident of The Dog In the Night-time in March of 2020. – The New York Times

Despite some trepidation from the actors, the Royal Shakespeare Company is live-streaming for the public select rehearsals for the upcoming production of Henry VI Part One. “I’m intrigued by how much I’ve learned,” writes Michael Billington — who wasn’t more impressed than anyone else ever is by watching actors warm up but was fascinated by seeing the actors work closely with RSC specialists on Shakespearean verse. – The Guardian

One Vancouver AD says that his colleagues are extremely burned out – and also worried about what’s coming. On the other hand, post-pandemic: “I don’t know that it’s the same art form anymore. And that’s interesting to me.” – CBC

Theatre working conditions often aren’t ideal for anyone, much less people whose bodies and minds have been harmed by the virus. “Theatre artists and practitioners with chronic illnesses and disabilities have long documented how the industry is inaccessible or even unkind.” Can theatre change? – American Theatre

“The character of Michael Ritchie’s audience has not been shaped in this devout manner. The marketing of hits has replaced more time-consuming forms of outreach. On the level of scale, this may make sense. But theater isn’t a traditional business. And while loyalty may not register on year-end financial statements, it pays long-term dividends.” – Los Angeles Times

In Godot Is a Woman by the theatre company Silent Faces, “three glum, bowler-hatted clowns … are waiting for the Beckett estate to answer their call about performance rights for Godot. They wait … and they wait, until a message that they have moved up to eighth in the queue sends them into a [dance routine]. … They become theatre historians, listing all the productions that have been banned, then judge and jury in a travesty trial of the Beckett estate.” – The Guardian

Says actor Gabrielle Brooks, one of four co-founders of the Mawa Theatre Company, “Shakespeare remains a staple of British theatre. He’s still the most produced playwright in the world and I think if we want to tackle diversity, representation and inclusion, then why not start with the Bard himself? … If we can, as black British women, embed ourselves into the history of classical texts, then I think we can bring about real change.” – The Guardian

Its physical beauty is a far cry from the rough-and-ready look of the previous Tom Patterson Theatre: a converted curling rink. – Toronto Star

In response to news that Boris Johnson’s government is considering postponing the full reopening of performance venues scheduled for June 21, the musical theatre mogul said he cannot afford to operate his West End theatres at the 50% occupancy permitted now and might have to sell them if capacity controls aren’t removed. – BBC

The first production on Broadway that hadn’t been previously scheduled and postponed will be Paradise Square, a show about the origins of tap dance, set in the 19th-century Manhattan slum called Five Points and featuring songs by the pre-Civil War composer Stephen Foster, directed by Moisés Kaufman and choreographed by Bill T. Jones. Drabinsky, a three-time Tony-winning producer in the 1990s, has spent the past few years restarting his career after serving a prison sentence in Canada for fraud. – The New York Times

From the 140-foot long sculpture of scripts and songbooks to replicas of armchairs from Hamilton, the Drama Book Shop in Manhattan will be reborn this week, from the ashes (and flood, pandemic, and rent hikes) of the old. – The New York Times

The National Black Theater is trading up – and up. It will replace its current building with a 21-story high-rise, where the theatre can have three floors while retail and housing occupy the rest. “National Black Theater leaders see the $185 million project, and the partnership they are entering with developers, as a new chapter with the financial and institutional backing to allow them to live out the dream of [their founder, Barbara Ann] Teer, who died in 2008: to nurture a space where Black artists can thrive, and the company can work to bring a deeper sense of racial justice to the American theater industry.” – The New York Times

In Perth, Australia, the multi-arts Fringe World loses its decade-long sponsor, the decidedly non-edgy mining company Woodside, after three years of protests by festival artists. – The Guardian (UK)

Is the theatre industry training too many students? The pandemic sure made it seem so. “There is a vital need for creative practice and an equally critical need to earn a living. It’s not a binary consideration, but one that increasingly feels antithetical.” – The Stage (UK)

The Cornwall-based company, a frequent visitor to the US whose production of Brief Encounter was nominated for Tony and Olivier Awards, said in a statement that it was financially stable, but that “recent changes in artistic leadership raised questions as to whether Kneehigh could sustain their vision going forward.” Founding artistic director Mike Shepherd had resigned in March after 41 years; deputy artistic director Carl Grose left in January.- The Guardian

The citations from the federal government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration were issued to the Shubert Organization for the Winter Garden Theater “six months after Peter Wright, a 54-year-old stagehand, fell nearly 50 feet from a narrow, raised platform while performing routine maintenance in the theater.” – The New York Times

“As new ways of making money from The Sound of Music and the rest presented themselves, the job of advising the heirs and maintaining their income became much bigger. It was no longer simply a matter of giving (or withholding) approval for major new productions but also a strategic puzzle: How do you uphold an artistic legacy while exploiting technology, adjusting to a changing theatrical environment and serving progressively larger corporations?” Ted Chapin, who did just that for four decades and recently retired, tells Jesse Green how. – The New York Times

“Former pupils have raised allegations including how tutors have ‘grabbed’ female students’ breasts, made sexual comments about their bodies and pressurised them to remove clothes during rehearsals or performances. … [At one of the schools,] a female student complained that a visiting teacher had sexually assaulted her at home.” – The Telegraph (UK)

With capacity restrictions, social distancing rules, other safety measures, and eager-but-nervous audiences and performers, venues from mighty Caroline’s to tiny Stand Up NY have some difficult tricks to pull off. There are some good jokes, though. (Brian Scott McFadden: “I spoke with my agent and I can’t get COVID because I have a deal with Ebola.”) – Gothamist

The earliest decision-makers were not at all sure this was the direction to go. Ask then-newly installed interim director Shirley Serotsky at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca – proposing something “completely new, hugely ambitious, and hardly cost-neutral” to the board was a challenge. “It took some convincing … But I did believe that it was the only way we were going to produce in-person theatre and have our community—our artists and also the audiences—feel comfortable and safe. And even then, who knew? It was still a gamble.” – American Theatre

Celebration Theatre’s longtime AD Michael Shepperd was accused of sexual misconduct over more than a decade – and the accusers say that the theatre mishandled those complaints until last week, when an internal investigation prompted the theatre to let him go. When there’s a power differential, can a small theatre be a “safe, sex-positive” space? – Los Angeles Times