Suzan-Lori Parks Wins $100K Playwriting Prize by Matthew Westphal

“The critically acclaimed epic play Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) by Suzan-Lori Parks has won the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for a theatrical work inspired by Ame…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:01am on February 24, 2015☆⚑

Opening Up Paris Theatre To Visitors And Expats by Matthew Westphal

“While the locals flock to the 300 or so venues, they are largely un-visited by tourists and expats because one of the main requirements for a visit is a good knowledge of French. At l…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 3:39am on February 24, 2015☆⚑

Brian Dennehy On The Hard Work Of Acting Eugene O'Neill by Matthew Westphal

“You feel like crap, you’re exhausted, you may be sick, you may have a cold. I’ve got arthritis everywhere. … But it all disappears the minute the lights come up and …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 2:05pm on February 19, 2015☆⚑

Guthrie Theater Names New Artistic Director by Matthew Westphal

“His name might not have been on the handicappers’ shortlist, but Joseph Haj’s appointment Tuesday as artistic director of the Guthrie Theater brought waves of acknowledgme…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:05am on February 19, 2015☆⚑

Is This America's Weirdest Playwriting Professor? by Matthew Westphal

“He asks students to write bad plays, to write plays with their nondominant hands, to write a play that takes five hours to perform and covers a period of seven years. Ms. Satter recal…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 2:33pm on February 18, 2015☆⚑

Go Ahead And Muck About With Shakespeare, Says Top British Shakespearean (He Can Take It) by Matthew Westphal

“Despite his reverence for the Bard, Simon Russell Beale argues against a puritanical approach to his texts, suggesting that they should be seen as blueprints. Shakespeare is ‘bi…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 1:01pm on February 18, 2015☆⚑

Even The Cheap Seats On Broadway And The West End Aren't Cheap Anymore, And That's A Serious Problem by Matthew Westphal

Mark Shenton: “Every single seat, regardless of where in the house it is, is becoming an investment. And if you have to pause before you even book a ticket in the balcony, why bother? …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 3:55am on February 18, 2015☆⚑

Shakespeare's Globe Faces Strike By Tour Guides by Matthew Westphal

“Union BECTU is demanding a rise in the hourly rate that tour guides working at the venue receive, claiming that collectively the employees help make the Globe thousands of pounds. Acc…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 3:43am on February 18, 2015☆⚑

Tom Stoppard Says Audiences Are Now Too Ignorant To Get His Plays by Matthew Westphal

“Sir Tom explained how he had to change a scene in The Hard Truth three times between the previews, making a particular allusion more and more obvious each time. … ‘And I m…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:00am on February 12, 2015☆⚑

Even 2,500 Years Ago, Acting Prizes Caused Drama by Matthew Westphal

Except that the prize at the festival of Dionysus wasn’t a statuette. It was a live goat.

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 3:35am on February 12, 2015☆⚑

One Of Britain's Most Admired Actors Is Giving Up The Stage Because He Can No Longer Remember His Lines by Matthew Westphal

Michael Gambon: “This can’t work. You can’t be in theatre, free on the stage, shouting and screaming and running around, with someone reading you your lines.”

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:39am on February 11, 2015☆⚑

The Playwright Whose Work Is Never Done (In More Than One Sense) by Matthew Westphal

“Terrence McNally plays are like city buses: They sweep by, may not take you where you think you’re going, and, when absent for a while, suddenly arrive in droves and from all di…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 3:42am on February 10, 2015☆⚑

Conor McPherson Has Been Trying A Little Tenderness In His Ferocious, Malevolent Plays by Matthew Westphal

Charles McNulty: “What is different about his most recent plays, however, is that amid the dilapidated settings, killer hangovers, corrosive humor and generalized brutality, McPherson …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:02am on February 6, 2015☆⚑

British Theatres Are Doing More Plays With Less Funding by Matthew Westphal

“More plays were staged by the UK’s most-subsidised theatre companies in 2014 compared with five years earlier, despite fears about funding cuts, BBC research suggests. A total o…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:02am on February 5, 2015☆⚑

The State Of UK Theatre: Boom Or Bust? by Matthew Westphal

“A few years ago, the theatre establishment mobilised stars from Danny Boyle to Dame Helen Mirren to warn about funding cuts. New figures suggest theatres have actually increased produ…

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:01am on February 5, 2015☆⚑

Double Mastectomy Survivor Tells What It's Like To Do Major Stand-Up Comedy Gig Topless by Matthew Westphal

“But nothing could prepare the audience for set at New York City’s Town Hall last November, where [Tig Notaro] stunned attendees by removing her shirt and performing the rest of …

SOURCE: ArtsJournal at 4:36am on February 4, 2015☆⚑