Dominic Cooke wishes today’s playwrights would take more chances. “new writing has a way to go in terms of ambition. That’s not just about having plays with large numbers of people: it’s about how much playwrights can challenge audiences. You see devised work that opens up the possibilities of what can be done on stage, and I don’t understand why that’s quite rare with new plays. The writers I know are just as imaginative and original as the auteur-directors who are devising shows.”
Tag: 02.23.06
Fox To Launch New Network
Now that the WB and UPN networks are slimming down to one, Fox has decided to launch a new network. It’s called the My Network. “As billed, the star attractions of the network will be a pair of hourlong dramas inspired by telenovelas. Like those Spanish-language TV staples, the new shows, Desire and Secrets, will air Monday-Friday, and commit to wrapping up their soapy story lines in 13 weeks.”
Technology Makes Us More Productive (Or Less?)
“Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it’s slowed everything down, paradoxically. We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you’re on to the next thing. It’s harder to feel like you’re accomplishing something.”
Actor Tries To Trademark The N-Word
Damon Wayans has been trying to trademark the “N” word. “Wayans wants to dress customers in 14 kinds of attire from tops to bottoms, and use the controversial mark on ‘clothing, books, music and general merchandise,’ as well as movies, TV and the internet, according to his applications. But, so far, his applications have been unsuccessful.”
Can Movies Be Agents Of Social Change?
“Movies can envision the need for social change, but it is unclear that they can help bring it about. They are better at pointing the way to a different, happier, more fulfilling life. Not the least interesting thing about the hopeless love dramatized in ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ which garnered eight Oscar nominations last week, is how many social hopes it has inspired.” Still, those hopes might not translate. “Movies can take on the great social problems of their time, but they may be the least effective — or appropriate — medium for solving them.”
Packaging Billy Elliott For Worldwide Distribution
“Plans are afoot to send the show to Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia and the US. The challenge was finding talent among young boys in potential host countries. In the UK, auditions are still ongoing, with a casting director seeing children every two weeks around the country. This year in London, the musical – which contains the unusual conceit of tapdancing coal miners – will feature its first non-white Billys, set to take their places among the rota of seven young boys who share the role.”
At Miramax – The Man Who Replaces The Legend
Daniel Battsek has big shoes to fill as the new chief of Miramax. “Plucked last fall from Disney’s international film ranks in London, Battsek suddenly finds himself a major player in the competitive world of specialty films. The 47-year-old executive is under the gun to quickly reestablish Miramax as the kind of dominant force it was when the Weinsteins released such acclaimed hits as “Shakespeare in Love” and “The English Patient” in the late 1990s. It won’t be easy.”
London Hotel Wants To Separate Authors
“The London hotel hosting the event, Grosvenor House, has asked for an ‘exclusion zone’ between two of the shortlisted authors, Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson, on account of their now legendary personal feud having erupted into fisticuffs at a previous ceremony two years ago.”
What’s Wrong With Music Education
“Increasingly, musical tuition has become the preserve of the elite. The government’s obsession with targets and league tables does not help. The national curriculum affords less and less time to classical music. How many of those who do manage to take up and stay the course of learning an instrument are then encouraged, with little career advice at their disposal, to enter a confusing abundance of music colleges?”
What Are We Losing In Iraq’s Destructive Chaos?
“As the first images of a massive destruction at one of Iraq’s holiest shrines began coming in yesterday, it was hard not to think of the building, rather than what it stands for. How old was it? What was the architecture like? Was this another loss, like the Bamiyan Buddhas, needlessly destroyed by the Taliban? Is its destruction equivalent, say, to the bombing of St. Peter’s in Rome, or Chartres Cathedral? The mind grasps for an easy equivalence… Unlike so many images of terrorist destruction, the calculated demolition of the shrine in Samarra captures the ‘was’ and ‘is’ with rare power.”