Rome’s Coliseum will stage its first performance before a paying audience in 1,500 years. Instead of fighting lions of gladiators, Greek tragedy will be on the bill. “The performances were made possible by building a wooden structure over a section of underground labyrinth that once housed gladiators and wild beasts, capping years of restoration work.” – The Times of India (Reuters)
Tag: 07.19.00
BUT AT LEAST IT’S OUTDOORS
Ah, it’s the British summer theatre season. “Of course, many of these performances with their accompanying picnic hampers may be jolly social occasions, but have as much to do with theatre as a summer’s evening at Kenwood for the 1812 overture and fireworks has to do with classical music. Essentially these affairs are a substitute for the village fete, or a form of cocktail party where the culture is gulped down as easily as the Chardonnay. They are marked by the exclusivity that so dogs theatre.” – The Guardian
DIFFICULT TO LOVE
The theatre world gathers to memorialize producer David Merrick. “It was Mr. Merrick’s difficult, enigmatic personality that pervaded the memorial yesterday. While several speakers expressed a love of the shows he created, few conveyed a comparable love of the man.” – New York Times