Scotland’s Cutting Edge Theatre, which pioneered giving outdoor performances of classic plays in some of Scotland’s most historic castles and palaces, has had to cancel plans for a new season because of lack of funding. “In the wake of a series of complaints at the end of last year over the level of Scottish Executive support for theatre in Scotland, Cutting Edge’s fate will seem almost predictable to critics of arts funding.”
Tag: 01.08.03
Critic Norman Lebrecht Wins Whitbread For First Novel
The Evening Standard’s Norman Lebrecht has won the Whitbread Award for a First Novel. “Starting at 54, even with this groundwork established, is still kind of late. There are precedents – Annie Proulx, Penelope Fitzgerald and most famously Mary Wesley. But why, if Lebrecht is capable of writing such a good novel, did it not spring from him sooner? Simple, he says. He wasn’t ready…”
This Year’s Grammy Nominations
Grammy nominations got spread around this year. “In years past, a glut of nominations would push a single artist above the fold, but this year the flattened field presented more subtle story lines amid the sprawl of 104 categories. Among those themes: the musical reverberations of Sept. 11, the solidifying of rap’s stature in top categories and the heralding of a new generation of young female stars in the closely watched category of best new artist.”
Who Are These Guys?
Grammy nominators did a ho-hum job of picking artists this year. “In the top three categories alone, the reaction to the nominees is likely to range from hurrah to ‘huh?’ to ‘double-huh’?”
Wearing Apologizes For Cover Art
Turner Prize winner Gillian Wearing was one of several artists invited to design a cover this week for the front page of The Guardian’s tabloid section. “To illustrate an article on the new reality game shows, her front cover consisted merely of the three words “Fuck Cilla Black” [Black hosts a reality show] in black felt tip pen surrounded by white space. The cover provoked more than 200 complaints,” and today Wearing apologized.
The Complete List
Here’s a list of all of this year’s Grammy nominees
The Guardian Explains
“Some more cynical readers have suggested the outcry over the cover was just what we were after. ‘Shock tactics designed to outrage people so you can belittle their ideas about art,’ was how one reader saw it. But if we knew an image like Wearing’s was bound to offend some of our readers, I can assure you there was absolutely nothing satisfying about the wave of anger and dismay that rolled into the paper yesterday.”