Philly Live Arts/Philly Fringe starts August 31. Minneapolis's Children's Theatre Company presents a visually stunning Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Actor Robert Symonds has passed away. Andrew Dickson provides an Edinburgh wrap-up. Something To Crow About - a musical from the Philippines the played at La MaMa ETC - has created a 5 million peso controversy back home. Thunderbird Theatre presents Aaah! Rosebud! in San Francisco. Performers from New York-based Shalimar were crowned Best Ensemble in the Stage Awards for Acting Excellence.

Technology, Entertainment, and Design: an annual conference held since 1984 to bring together the leading minds in each of these (broadly defined) fields. The archive on their website has over 100 speeches and performances by some important artists and thinkers, including Julia Sweeney, Anna Deavere Smith, and the man known simply as Rives. Featured in the video above is modern dance group Pilobolus.

From The Next Stage's interview with David Benedict Brown.

4.) How well did your college training prepare you for producing theatre professionally?

It didn't! Aside from hinting at its level of difficulty with sceptical remarks.

The Gift rehearsed 5 months for their 3 hour Three Sisters in Jefferson Park. Maryland Ensemble Theatre celebrates 10 years. Walmartopia opened in New York City. Three Baltimore regional theatres open their 2007-8 seasons. Houston's Alley Theatre seems to have lost its edge. The Kentucky Girlhood Project includes visual art and live performances at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Lahore-based theatre director and political activist Madeeha Gauhar has been imprisoned twice for promoting the anti-extremist theatre movement in Pakistan since 1983. Don't miss the Bukowsical. George Hunka of Superfluities recommends upcoming shows. The Scotsman claims this is proper theatre. Exciting things are ahead for Utah theatre this season. StarDotStar Books is in the process of catalouging aboout 300 "theatre souvenir programmes from the 1930s through the early 2000s from theatres throughout the UK". Writers wanted for the London Theatre Blog. In Charleston, an actress has turned her "cancer blog" into theatre. "Parking lot theatre" in Binghamton, NY.

I'd like to mine the collective opinions round here. What do you think of Evil Dead: The Musical? ... and ... What do you think of Shining City, the Conor McPherson play?

The funniest entry of August so far comes from Qui Nguyen's Beyond Absurdity. It should be no surprise to anyone that the man behind the Vampire Cowboys is a hoot, and yesterday he shared with the willing public some of the trials and tribulations he's endured in trying to explain himself (and all of us) to his Vietnamese parents.

"Son, how is work in New York?"

"It’s good, Dad. We’re in our last week of rehearsals for my newest play and it’s looking pretty good."

"No. I no ask about how you play. I ask about work."

"I know, dad. I write plays. I’m not actually playing."

"I ask about work."

"This is work."

"You said you play."

"No, Dad, I said I write plays."

"See, you play!"

"I. Write. Plays."

"Right! You play!"

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I ask about work."

"Who’s on first?"

"Don’t make fun of your father!"

"Work is good, Dad. I’m making money."

"That’s all I want to know. Thank you."

So, the feeds to the side have become links, at least for now. We finally got to the point of having so many feeds that the site wasn't working reliably. Rather than having usability problems, which would only get worse as we added more feeds, I've turned it into a big blogroll for now. We're working on some creative solutions and such. Key an eye out for things to come.

Bash'd is a Gay Rap Opera, starring T-Bag and Feminem. Indie Theater dot org reports that there are lots of fuzzy bears in the FringeNYC. Black Watch is going to the Barbican. There's a play called Killing Neil LaBute. Have you had a theatrical orgasm lately? NYC has some new plans for distributing public funding for the arts. The Sun chronicles Bill Rauch's first year helming Oregon Shakes. Yes, the Broadway Show League softball season is over. Talento Bilingue de Houston Cultural Arts Center presents Jose Torres Tama in The Cone of Uncertainty: New Orleans After Katrina.

Orfeo at Edinburgh sounds great. Cincinnati's Know Theatre recycles a couple of Cincy Fringe hits. The recently opened in Chicago High School Musical "represents a significant philosophical evolution of the Greasian liturgy." The Flyover Blog explores "the arts as means to experiencing 'objective truth'". Chazz Palminteri, Rosie Perez, and Claire Danes head to the Great White Way. Lee Blessing brings together an esteemed eye surgeon and the mother of an African dictator in Going to St. Ives in New Jersey. Camaguey’s Dramatic Ensemble stages the classic Mi socio Manolo in Cuba.

Honor the actors, because they make the show happen every night, rain or shine, sick or well, in the face of acceptance and in the face of hateful reviews, they go out there and do it.

In most cases, if they are non-equity (and many actors are) they are not simply paid inadequately. The fact is: they are not paid at all. They will spend hours and days rehearsing, sometimes in cramped quarters, in any space available including living rooms, and then transfer to a poorly ventilated, tiny theater where they will share rehearsal space with one or two or more groups rehearsing other shows.

When the play finally opens, the actors will be exhausted by their schedules and broke due to the costs of transportation, parking, meals, and in some cases babysitters and loss of income due to time off for the show. On stage they will probably wear at least one garment from their own “costume wardrobe” at home, and very likely shoes that they have provided. They will wear makeup they bought. They will pay their way to and from the theater every night. And still they will not be paid for their work.

This is a given in theater. It is accepted. It is mentioned and occasionally debated. But nothing is ever done about it. Every show begins with high hopes and plans to pay all the artists, and ends with the producer passing the hat to buy wine for the closing night party.

Chris Boyd has "The (bad) form guide to the 2007 Helpmann Awards". The legendary Penny Arcade returns, briefly. Williamston Theatre will premiere Maidens, Mothers and Crones: The Women of the Midwest, in its second season. Queersighted spotted a possible hit at NYU, Alive at Ten. The Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards nominations have been announced. The RSC's performance of 'King Lear' "enchants Singaporean audiences".

Who gets to unleash the greatest number of obscenities in the film adaptation of Glengarry Glen Ross?

a) Alec Baldwin
b) Kevin Spacey
c) Ed Harris
d) Jack Lemmon
e) Al Pacino

Here's another Peter Brook quotation, this one from Between Two Silences.

I think that the only thing that really concerns us in working is to try to know what the heart of the theatre experience is, an to work outwards from it. It's a very strong question: why? Why make theatre? Why impose something of one's own on other people? Or, why waste one's time going to watch other people's efforts? That is the question that's at the heart of the experience. If one doesn't start from that question, then one goes often into endless theoretical discussions about commitment. Am I sufficiently committed? Should the other person be more committed? Should the audience be responding better? These are not primary questions; they're secondary questions. If one's clear about why it's essential to make a certain experience, if one's really convinced of this, then other people can also be convinced. Now, how can one be convinced about the "why" of making theatre? There is no point whatsoever in going into a theatre space to experience something that you can get outside it. Simple common sense.

Isaac at Parabasis has been blogging about his thoughts as he reads Peter Brook's The Open Door. It's a brief but powerful volume that certainly left it's mark on my psyche when I first read it. My favorite part is the parable of the the golden fish, but he's not gotten that far, so I won't spoil it for those who are reading along. (If you're not reading along, or haven't read the book at all, do yourself a favor.)

I've been reading along, and one tiny thing has stuck with me from all the way back on page 4. It goes like this.

An empty space makes it possible for a new phenomenon to come to life, for anything that touches on content, meaning, expression, language and music can exist only if the experience is fresh and new. However, no fresh and new experience is possible if there isn't a pure, virgin space ready to receive it.

It's so difficult to find virgin territory, whether in discussions like those of the theatrenet or in our art. It's incredibly challenging, if not philosophically impossible to worm your mind around to a place without presumptions and prejudices. That simple, obvious fact makes a lot of what we want to accomplish very, very difficult.

For example, in our online discussions, a whole lot of time and energy has put into exposing those presumptions and prejudices. Wouldn't it have been nice if we all had the advantage of a virgin space that somehow existed outside of those issues in which to stage our theoretical collaborations? Impossible, of course, but maybe it's worth considering what that utopia would be like.

In making the art, of course, nothing can occur without previously created contexts. It might be an interesting thought experiment, though, to imagine what theatre might look like if we were creating something brand new to fulfill its purpose.

The Civilian's The Beautiful City is one of eight new works underway at Sundance. Here's a nice, little article about Bread & Puppet from Arthur magazine. The Guardian lists 5 ways to rustle up Fringe audiences. The LA Times has a great article about Signature Theatre and their work. Karen Finley returns with "Wake Up!". Steppenwolf has photos from their First Look Rep. Margaret Atwood's first play is also the first-ever collaboration of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Canada's National Arts Centre, and apparantly it's pretty good. Shanebo covers the Berliner Theater Szene.

Jacki Weaver, the darling of Australian theatre, has joined the cast of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. In NYC, ETC becomes ETE. Is it actually theatre is it's in Second Life? If you're going to the NYC Fringe, there's no better place to plan than nytheatre dot com's FringeNYC Previews. Reverand Billy is making the leap from street theatre to film. Holla! Surely by now you've read news of that musical about two rare book dealers and Louisa May Alcott's ?thuggism, feminism, hashish, transvestitism" stories. Something stinks in Boston at the Citi Performing Arts Center. Another effing Sondheim revue? Soho Rep has some bigger and bigger plans.

Athol Fugard has a new play opening! Hallelujah! Famous people petition for the Bristol Old Vic. Here are a few more ways live performance and the internet are interacting. How to attract yonug audiences: cheap tix and Orlando Bloom. The new Public Theater season includes Hwang, Shepard, Churchill. NYC's Ma-Yi had an Open House for 70 actors and changed the world. Don't miss the Bay Area Playwrights Fest, August 3-12.