His enormous body of prose fiction, poetry, stage dramas and screenplays (including the Oscar-winning Pelle the Conqueror) won him virtually every major Nordic literary prize other than the Nobel. As he once told an interviewer, “Every time I feel depressed that I’m not doing anything, I look at this bookshelf [of my work] and say to myself, ‘Well, that is seven meters and I have done a little bit, so I can die.'” – The Washington Post
Tag: 04.27.20
We’ll Have To Learn New Ways To Use Public Space
As a post-lockdown city edges into view, we’ll have to develop new ways to use the places we share, from public restrooms to restaurants, classrooms, hallways, subway cars, and sidewalks. Prodded by fear and guided by tape, we will develop new social dances that resemble the formal ballroom steps of yore. – New York Magazine
Texas Arts World Confused And Uncertain About Governor’s Reopening Orders
“The governor proclaimed that all retail outlets, as well as restaurants, movie theaters, museums and libraries, are free to reopen May 1 — but with occupancy no greater than 25%. That’s expected to expand to 50% by May 18. Debbie Storey, president and CEO of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, which is home to five resident companies in the Dallas Arts District, summed up what many were feeling. ‘It didn’t specifically give us permission to open,’ Storey said, ‘so we’re still trying to assess what this means for us, and what it might mean on May 18.'” – The Dallas Morning News
Alamo Drafthouse Won’t Reopen Texas Theaters This Weekend Despite Governor Approval
“Opening safely is a very complex project that involves countless new procedures and equipment, all of which require extensive training,” said a statement from company management. “This is something we cannot and will not do casually or quickly.” (Meanwhile, here are the precautions one arthouse cinema in Tulsa is taking as it prepares to reopen in May.) – Variety
Bernard Gersten, Heroic Administrator Who Saved Two Major Theater Institutions, Dead At 97
For 18 years, Gersten was second-in-command to Joe Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater (where his interventions twice saved Papp’s and the company’s future), and he spent 28 years as executive producer at Lincoln Center Theater, where, alongside artistic directors Gregory Mosher and André Bishop, he “took a theater that had almost been completely dark for eight years and a failure for 20 and helped turn it into one of the nation’s leading nonprofit stage organizations.” – The New York Times
For The First Time, There Is No Wagner Running The Bayreuth Festival
Katharina Wagner, the composer Richard Wagner’s great-granddaughter, became co-director of the festival (alongside cousin Eva) in 2008 and sole director in 2015. Now, just short of age 42, Katharina has stepped away from the job indefinitely due to a long-term illness (not COVID-19, according to festival management). – OperaWire
Stratford Festival Puts Entire 2020 Season ‘On Hold’
Last month, the festival canceled all April and May performances and laid off hundreds of workers. But with the repertory company’s actors appearing in several productions and with audience members circulating among four theatres, festival management decided the risks of spreading coronavirus would be too great for the foreseeable future. – Toronto Star
A Glimpse Of The Post-COVID Art Scene: Seoul Reopens Its Galleries
“Elsewhere around the world, art galleries and museums remain shuttered, hemorrhaging staff and plaintively asking, What will it take to reopen? And just as crucially, What will this new art world look like? Seoul, a dense metropolis with a population of nearly 10 million but only two coronavirus deaths to date, is offering one possible answer.” – The New York Times
If Ever The BBC Proved Its Worth, It’s Now
Nick Hornby: “Before all this started, the BBC was under assault, apparently because of its independence. It was, is, being threatened with all sorts, including the loss of its lifeblood licence fee. The BBC, one of our crowning achievements as a nation! I will not waste space here listing what it has given us, the comedy and the drama and the sport, some of the things that have helped to define who we are now . You know that already, even if you’re the dimmest Tory MP in Parliament. But right now, the BBC is helping me to live through and understand a crisis.” – Penguin
The loosely-coupled future of live performance
Any sustainable and resilient plan for returning to live performance will have to be highly adaptable, nimble, responsive, and risk-tolerant. The trick will be to find loosely-coupled approaches to what has become tightly-coupled work. – Andrew Taylor