Hello fellow theatricians. I've had a rough week, and it's too bad, because there's a lot of interesting writing happening that I'd love to comment on or look at in more detail. For the moment though, I'll just point you to some interesting stuff you may enjoy reading.
these four discussions, coming in rapid succession, really bowled me over ... My experiences at Denial, Alcestis, and Picasso tell me that there is an audience for the kind of work young theatre artists are hoping to make. How do they--we--tap it?Rorshach Theatre:
The world is a beautiful horrible place. Many times we shy away from art that invades our comfort zone. Seeing that a play deals with the issues of a soldier coming home from the war and finding his life is in shambles may not be at the top of your list for a way to spend an evening, but shouldn't it be?
As of now, blogs are a place to create a sense of urgency and activity that might not have existed beforehand. Then again, they are easily driven to a sort of distanced outrage.Theatre Conversation:
One of the best ways you can critique a director is how they solve problems. This is tricky, and it is also why it is a good idea for theatre reviewers to have practical theatre experience (we often bitch about the Times folks not having this, for example).Jamespeak has some good writing - and links to more good writing - about directing and writing and the relationship between the two.
I think that one of the main reasons why directors sometimes only get one-word adjectives attributed to them in reviews (which I think is unfortunate) is because in some cases, if a director does his or her job well, they're invisible (yes, there are exceptions to this): the actors don't look like they've memorized blocking, they look like they're making their own moves. The transitions seem organic. There are choices being made but not "Choices" (i.e., it doesn't look tacked on). The overall look to and style of the show appears as if it was the only way that show could be done.And Parabasis points us to website worth checking out.
New reader Maureen Towey dropped me a line asking her to check out her site, a document of her experience directing plays in South Africa on a Fulbright ... She has both photo galleries and a written record of her experience there.
