The Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Belgium’s national opera house, is presenting a staging of Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher (Joan of Arc at the Stake) by provocative director Romeo Castellucci in which the Maid of Orléans is shown, in extremis, unclothed. A group called the Pro Europa Christiana Federation has petitioned both La Monnaie’s director and Belgium’s minister of culture to close the show, arguing that the production, in which “Saint Joan of Arc is again the target of a pornographic representation, … [is] obscene and hurt[s] Christians.” (The Monnaie’s director is unmoved.) – Yahoo! (AP)
Tag: 10.30.19
How To Write About Those Outside Your Own Experience?
“Given all the excellent writing about the challenges of rendering otherness, someone who asks this question in 2019 probably has not done the reading. But the question is a Trojan horse, posing as reasonable artistic discourse when, in fact, many writers are not really asking for advice — they are asking if it is okay to find a way to continue as they have. They don’t want an answer; they want permission.” – New York Magazine
Propwatch: the only types of prop in the world in ‘The Antipodes’
Dave says there are seven types of stories in the world (starting with ‘rags to riches’). Josh says there are ten types of stories in the world (starting with ‘a threshold crossing’). One of the Dannies says there are 36 types of stories in the world (starting with ‘supplication’). But what is quite clear, by the end of The Antipodes by Annie Baker at the National Theatre, is that there are just seven types of props in the world. – David Jays
The twenty-five record albums that changed my life (12)
This was one of the first jazz albums to be widely owned by people who didn’t usually buy jazz albums, my father among them. I found a mint-condition copy in his record cabinet that looked as if it hadn’t been played for a decade. It suited me right down to the ground. – Terry Teachout
Despite Difficult Conditions And Sniping From Tabloids, British Theatre Companies Continue Their Work In Prisons
“Last year The Sun ran a story that started: ‘Convicts at a drug-plagued prison performed a lavish version of musical Les Misérables for the public – to boost lags’ morale.’ Two years earlier, in the same paper, a story ran that ‘prisoners in Britain’s creaking jails are to be taught art, music and drama in a desperate bid to slash reoffending’. In 2008, the Daily Mail reported: ‘A sick joke: terrorist signs up for comedy classes at top-security prison.’ So why do these companies do it? Because the evidence that it works is overwhelming.” – The Stage
After Public Pushback, Eastman School Cancels Orchestra Tour Of China
Earlier this week, news broke that three musicians, all South Korean nationals, in the Eastman Philharmonia, the student orchestra of the Eastman School of Music, had been denied visas to enter China for the orchestra’s upcoming tour. Eastman’s dean, Jamal Rossi, initially decided to go ahead with the plans and leave those three players behind — and he was promptly pummeled with criticism from alumni and members of the public. Rossi has now “postponed” the tour. – The New York Times