The announcement comes toward the end of a difficult year for (arguably) the world’s most famous improv comedy institution: in addition to the crippling effect of the COVID-19 epidemic (which saw two-thirds of the company’s staff laid off), The Second City has been shaken by accusations of institutionalized racial discrimination which saw co-owner and executive producer Andrew Alexander resign in June. – Variety
Category: theatre
Break Zoom (Theatrically)
Even “live” is up for debate or redefinition. Does “live” mean in person, breathing the same air? Or does it mean, like, live TV news, that it’s happening now, simultaneously? We’re also learning to define online spaces. Are you and I in the same space now? We’re in the same Zoom room. – Howlround
How Online Theatre And Its Audience Are Changing Each Other
“Our great crisis, the coronavirus, forces us to watch plays alone, in the crannies of our homes, instead of drawing us into proximity with strangers. Our current government, unlike that led by Franklin Roosevelt, doesn’t see a connection between economic privation, social estrangement, and the kind of nourishment that can come only through an encounter with art — and has no sense of responsibility to encourage the flourishing of art and public life. And so, in a very real way, each of us is on her own. The work of playwriting, acting, and theatrical production today might be to reintroduce us to one another, one at a time.” – The New Yorker
LA’s Center Theatre Group Creates A New Digital Stage
CTG Artistic Director Michael Ritchie said in an interview that he would like to make the Digital Stage a permanent fixture, even after the threat of the coronavirus fades. The hope is that the kind of work appearing on the Digital Stage will transcend COVID-related restrictions to establish a new language for theater. – Los Angeles Times
LA’s Small Theatres Come Together
The LA Together Festival is proof that something positive has emerged from an unprecedented crisis: With mutual survival on the line, L.A.’s network of small theaters has strengthened its communal bonds, pooling resources, expertise and ingenuity and setting aside (at least for the time being) competition. – Los Angeles Times
Grading The Trump Presidency As An Act Of Theatre
Trump’s political drama is unlike anything we’ve seen before. No one can figure out the rules of the script. Just when you think the action is building to a climax — the Mueller report, impeachment, more than 200,000 dead from a pandemic — a different calamity usurps our attention. – Los Angeles Times
Unemployed Actors Have One More Thing To Worry About: Qualifying For Medical Insurance
Currently, professional actors and stage managers have to work 11 weeks to qualify for six months of coverage. But starting Jan. 1, they will have to work 16 weeks to qualify for a similar level of coverage. – The New York Times
Britain’s National Theatre Has Been Closed For Six Months, But What’s Left Of Its Staff Has Been Working Hard
“Rufus Norris, the theater’s artistic director, has been spending his time lobbying Britain’s government for extra funding and putting together a reopening plan. Its digital team has been running NT at Home, a streaming service of recorded plays from the theater’s archive, some of which have been viewed millions of times. Other staff members have been working out how to run the theater in a world changed by the coronavirus. Even the theater’s pest controller has been busy.” Seven of those staffers, including Norris, talk about what it’s been like. – The New York Times
Peter Marks: What I Learned Watching An Experiment Unfold
“Rex Daugherty — whose work I’ve reviewed several times — and I were both interested in how artists and critics could learn more about each other’s functions, could demystify our roles in some small way. Social media has brought many reviewers into far closer proximity with theater artists than ever before. It occurred to us that exploring how the mistrust that often develops between critics and artists might be mitigated was worthwhile, especially when live theater has been sidelined and many theater events are occurring in the digital space. I ended up learning far more than I contributed.” – Washington Post
$5 Million From Mellon Foundation To Support Black Theaters
“The initiative, known as The Black Seed, is described as the first national strategic plan to provide financial support for Black theaters across the country. It is backed by a $5 million lead gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; … according to a news release, [it] is the largest-ever one-time investment in Black theater.” – The New York Times