Plays are frequently products of their specific era, and as such, it can be difficult to make an old script seem relevant (or even understandable) a few decades after it was written. “The toughest problems in keeping a play contemporary are prices and politics… The question of what to do with dangling 1970s references has recently occupied many rehearsal rooms, because theatre seems to operate a 30-year rule when it comes to choosing plays to restage.”
Tag: 02.01.07
Record Art Auction Predicted In London
A single four-day Sotheby’s auction could bring in as much as £200m next week, experts are estimating. If the sale meets expectations, it could be the richest art auction in European history, featuring works by masters from Degas and Renoir to Warhol and Banksy.
Are Cable Companies Conspiring To Kill Canadian TV?
The Canadian Television Fund, which draws money from the license fees paid by cable and satellite companies and uses it to support homegrown TV programs, is the focus of a major inquiry in Parliament after Canada’s two largest cable companies cut off funding for the fund. Concerned MPs demanded hearings after a cable executive was quoted boasting that the fund would soon be dead and buried.
She’s Just Not That Kind Of Dame
“Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has told a court seeing underwear being thrown made her cancel three concerts. She is being sued for up to AUS$2m [$1.55m] by a concert promoter after pulling out of shows with Australian star John Farnham in 2005. She told the New South Wales State Supreme Court footage of Farnham catching underwear and holding it like ‘a trophy’ had alarmed her.”
Fight Over Derrida Legacy Explodes Into View
“The University of California has sued the family of Jacques Derrida, a pioneer in contemporary philosophy and literary theory who died in 2004. The lawsuit is the first public eruption of a bitter, behind-the-scenes battle that involves both the papers and, perhaps, the legacy of the thinker… What is at stake in the battle may be the remainder of Derrida’s papers, which are held by his estate or in other repositories.”
What Will A Western Art Influx Do For Abu Dhabi?
Abu Dhabi’s breathtakingly ambitious plans for a major new cultural district make for great visuals, but there are serious issues to be considered as an Arab country attempts to embrace Western-style art and culture. The first question, writes Kate Taylor, ought to be who expects gto benefit from this massive cultural push. “Will the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi be a tool of cultural imperialism, or of diplomacy? Or will it be neither?”
NACO Offers Side-By-Side Training
Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra is launching a unique “orchestral academy” program for student musicians hoping to make a career in the orchestra world. “The Institute will see four Canadian students and one American sitting side by side with NACO musicians, who will act as mentors to the students, offering feedback and advice. The students will also have individual coaching sessions, orchestral repertoire study sessions and chamber music coaching with NAC musicians.”
Terrorism? Nah, Just Another Dumb Marketing Gimmick
The city of Boston was turned upside down Wednesday when a guerrilla marketing campaign for a Cartoon Network program was mistaken for a terrorist attack. Obviously, it’s no laughing matter, but Lisa de Moraes says that the Boston debacle doesn’t even come close to the top of the list of bizarre and terrifying marketing gimmicks that TV writers have to deal with regularly.
No End In Sight For Canadian Actors’ Strike
“The trade association that works on behalf of Canadian producers said Wednesday it’s ‘astonished’ the union representing artists and performers is appealing an Ontario court’s decision to bring in an arbitrator to end a three-week-old strike… At least three large scale U.S. productions have cancelled plans to bring work to Canada due to the prospect of a long strike.”
Pottermania To Resume In July
Author J.K. Rowling has announced on her web site that the final installment in the wildly popular Harry Potter series will be released in July. “Bloomsbury, her British publisher, said it would publish a children’s hardback edition, an adult hardback, a special gift edition and an audio book on the same day… The Potter franchise is so important to the company’s earnings that it announced the publication to the London Stock Exchange.”