“Mobile County, the city of Mobile and the Alabama Historical Commission say work will begin ‘immediately’ on an Africatown Heritage House that will feature artifacts from the slave ship Clotilda … [which] is believed to be the last ship to bring a cargo of captive Africans into slavery in the United States, shortly before the start of the Civil War.” – The Press-Register (Mobile)/AL.com
Tag: 03.11.20
How Shakespeare Became An American Gold Standard
The 17th-century puritans who founded the first English settler colonies were “rabidly anti-theatrical”, and colonial insurrectionists rejecting the motherland in the 18th century would not necessarily have embraced the quintessential English playwright. “How Shakespeare won over America in the early 19th century is something of a mystery.” – New Statesman
Egypt’s Oldest Pyramid Reopens After 14-Year Closure
Assembled between 2630 and 2611 B.C. in Saqqara, Egypt, the pyramid, where Djoser and 11 of his daughters were buried upon their deaths, contains roughly 11.6 million cubic feet of stone and clay. Looping through and around the burial chambers is a winding, maze-like network of tunnels that was likely designed to prevent theft but apparently weakened the building’s structural integrity. – Smithsonian
Needed: A Rethink Of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act And Creativity
The platforms are under no legal obligation to proactively seek out infringement and remove it, nor – most annoyingly of all – do they ever have to permanently remove an infringing work. “Notice and takedown” does not mean “notice and stay-down,” which results in an ongoing game of Whack-A-Mole for copyright owners who get a work removed, only to see it pop up again somewhere else on the internet… again, and again, and again… – Creative Future
Ex-President’s Estate Sues Otis College
The legal complaint by Bruce Ferguson’s sister, who is executor of his estate, alleges that Otis committed discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination related to Ferguson’s illness at the height of a power struggle on campus, when faculty members whose jobs were threatened by organizational changes waged a letter of no confidence campaign against Ferguson after his illness became public. – Argonaut News
UK Finally Makes E-Books Exempt From Sales Tax, As Print Books Are
“Printed books and newspapers have always been zero-rated for VAT but until now their digital equivalents – such as books from Amazon’s Kindle service or online subscriptions to news websites such as the Times or the Guardian – have been subject to the sales tax.” (Audiobooks will remain taxable, though.) – The Guardian
What Happens To ‘The Merchant Of Venice’ When Shylock Is A Woman?
Carey Perloff, who directed Seana McKenna in the role last year in Calgary: “I am not always convinced that cross-gender casting helps illuminate Shakespeare; many of the plays focus so specifically on gender that swapping out men for women can sometimes muddy the actual narrative or intent of the play. But in the case of Shylock, who is the ultimate ‘other’ in the play, gender served to crack open the drama in fascinating ways.” – American Theatre
Most Arts Events Canceled In Seattle
If the future is unclear for arts organizations, it’s even scarier for individual artists, backstage artisans and stage hands, many of whom survive job to job. Those who are union members may have access to specific emergency funds, but others are left adrift. – KUOW
‘You Know, It’s Going To Cost You Something’: Building A New Opera About The Police Shooting Of A Young Black Man
The quote is what composer Jeanine Tesori told bass Ken Kellogg about taking his role (the young man’s father, a police officer himself) in Blue, which Tesori wrote with librettist Tazewell Thompson for Glimmerglass Opera and Washington National Opera. Matthew Guerrieri meets Tesori, Thompson, and Kellogg at a rehearsal. – The Washington Post
Warning: US Theme Parks Will Likely Close
Amid the worries on Wall Street, stock prices have tumbled for Orlando-based SeaWorld Entertainment, which operates 12 theme parks across the country. The stock, previously trading above $35 per share for several days in February, fell to about $15 Wednesday before the market had closed. – Orlando Sentinel