The Grand Unification Theory of Theatre Reviewing begins, as all theories must, by rejecting the historical paradigm. The historical paradigm, in this case is “A good review = A positive review.” But what to replace this with?
Tag: 11.02.15
Barcelona’s Fantastical Sagrada Família Enters Its Final Construction Stage
132 years after construction began in 1883, the magnificent Sagrada Família has reached its final stage of construction. According to the current chief architect, Jordi Fauli, six more towers will be added to the basilica by 2026, bringing the grand total to 18.
Love Of Creative Work Versus Making Money
“Can we who labor for the common good find common cause? Can we activate our collective will to be part of finding solutions that would allow us to dedicate ourselves to work with meaning while also making a decent living—with health care, time off, and savings for when we can’t work?”
After Years Of Cutbacks, Arts Education In L.A. Schools Is In Tatters: District Study
“For the first time, L.A. Unified in September completed a detailed accounting of arts programs at its campuses … Arts programs at a vast majority of schools are inadequate, according to district data. Classrooms lack basic supplies. Some orchestra classes don’t have enough instruments. And thousands of elementary and middle school children are not getting any arts instruction.” (complete results of study here)
100 Women Directors Hollywood Should Be Hiring
“Studio executives often protest that there simply aren’t enough talented female filmmakers to choose from. They are wrong. … Contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, it wasn’t hard to assemble such an enormous list of smart, eminently hireable female directors. The only difficult part was culling it down to just 100.”
A First: UK Theatres Sell £1 Billion In Tickets
UK Theatre member venues – predominantly theatres outside London – recorded £429 million at the box office in 2014. When added to the box office for theatres that are members of the Society of London Theatre in 2014 (£624 million), it reveals that theatre across the whole of the UK recorded a total box office of £1.05 billion.
How Amazon Is Trying To Reinvent The Physical Bookstore
“Not only is it one of Amazon’s first physical locations, but it’s also Amazon’s first physical bookstore. Amazon says that it won’t entirely be doing things like a traditional store, however; it’ll be relying on Amazon.com data — including customer ratings, sales totals, and Goodread’s popularity — to decide which books to stock. Curators will have some say, too.”
Italy Declares Museums Essential Services So Museum Workers Threaten To Strike
On 22 October, Italy’s Chamber of Deputies passed a measure to reclassify museums as “essential public services” on a par with schools and hospitals, effectively limiting the right to strike.
Independent French Bookstores Celebrate As Fixed-Pricing For Books Continues
Last month, that threat was taken off the table by the European Union’s chief negotiator, who stated unequivocally that fixed book pricing — or “le prix unique” in French — would not be a matter of debate.
Yundi Li Has Onstage Memory Lapse; East Asian Internet Explodes
The 33-year-old pianist – who, along with rival Lang Lang, has megastar status in their native China – was performing Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony in Seoul when he took a wrong turn in the music and got lost; he and the orchestra had to stop briefly and start again. So far, so human. Then Li suffered one of the downsides of megastardom …