NOËL COWARD WAS NOT JUST AN AMIABLE JESTER BUT A SCATHING SOCIAL SATIRIST by Robert Shuman

(Michael Billington's article appeared in the Guardian, 3/21; Will Young as Nicky Lancaster and Diana Hardcastle as Florence Lancaster in The Vortex at the Royal Exchange theatre, Manchester…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 8:30pm on March 21, 2023[SHARE]

PLAYS FROM THE DISASTER: ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY, HOW DRAMATISTS DOCUMENTED IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN by Robert Shuman

  As Karen Malpede points out in her introduction to Acts of War, tragedy "arose as a complement to, perhaps also as an antidote to, war." The greatest of the early playwrights wrot…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 9:01am on March 20, 2023[SHARE]

FINAL SONDHEIM MUSICAL WILL BE STAGED IN NEW YORK THIS FALL by Robert Shuman

(Michael Paulson's article appeared in The New York Times, 3/16/2023; via Pam Green; Photo: Stephen Sondheim's long-in-the-works Luis Buñuel musical will be staged in September at the She…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 4:12pm on March 19, 2023[SHARE]

SIR DEREK JACOBI: 'THE SOUND AND MAGIC OF VOICE ARE DISAPPEARING FROM THEATRE' by Robert Shuman

(Dalya Alberge's article appeared in the Guardian, 3/18; via Pam Green.) The acclaimed actor " who is to receive a lifetime achievement award at this year's Olivier Awards " says the demise …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 7:19pm on March 18, 2023[SHARE]

VIRAL IRAN DANCE VIDEO INSPIRES IMITATORS TO DEFY REGIME by Robert Shuman

(Ray Furlong's and Golnaz Esfandiari's reporting appeared on Radio Liberty, 3/14.) Five Tehran girls were reported to have voiced contrition after posting a dance video that went viral among…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 5:06pm on March 17, 2023[SHARE]

REVIEW: IN 'DEAR WORLD,' DONNA MURPHY LEADS A RIGHTEOUS MARCH by Robert Shuman

(Juan A. Ramirez's article appeared in The New York Times, 3/16; via Pam Green' Photo: Donna Murphy, center, as Countess Aurelia in the Encores! production of "Dear World" at the New York Ci…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:29pm on March 16, 2023[SHARE]

EURIPIDES PERSUADES US THAT LOVE IS WHAT MAKES US HUMAN by Robert Shuman

(Michael Bulley's letter appeared in the Guardian, 3/14; Photo: the Guardian.) We ruin, waste and trivialise human life by ignoring that, writes Michael Bulley Charlotte Higgins is right …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 1:40pm on March 15, 2023[SHARE]

LESYA UKRAINKA: UKRAINE'S GREAT POET"AND PLAYWRIGHT"OF HOPE by Robert Shuman

(Kate Laycock's article appeared on DW, 3/8; Photo: DW.)   Ukrainian literary scholar and journalist, Tetyana Ogarkova, pays tribute to Lesya Ukrainka: the poet, playwright and activist w…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:41pm on March 12, 2023[SHARE]

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (147) by Robert Shuman

The words and wisdom of Constantin Stanislavski: Even the externalizing of a role is greatly influenced by the subconscious. In fact no artificial, theatrical technique can even compare with…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 2:20pm on March 11, 2023[SHARE]

TRAVELLING HOMER: HOW THE NATIONAL THEATRE IS STAGING A MULTI-CITY ODYSSEY by Robert Shuman

(Jessica Murray's article appeared in the Guardian, 3/8; Photo: Patsy Browne-Hope and Frank Hickman in rehearsals for The Lotus Eaters, the first episode of NT Public Acts' new five-part Ody…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 3:57pm on March 10, 2023[SHARE]

ACCLAIMED PLAYWRIGHT DAVID HARE OPENS UP ON HIS NEXT BIG CHALLENGE by Robert Shuman

(Kerrie O'Brien's article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, 3/6/2023; Photo: Sydney Morning Herald.) What David Hare wants to write about at the moment is pretty simple: the fact that t…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 2:00pm on March 8, 2023[SHARE]

THE RUMBLE OVER RUSSIAN COMPOSER TCHAIKOVSKY AT AN ELITE UKRAINIAN CONSERVATORY by Robert Shuman

(Rostyslav Khotin's article appeared on Radio Free Europe, 3 /4.) Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had Ukrainian roots and was influenced by Ukrainian motifs. Should he stay or shou…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 3:54pm on March 5, 2023[SHARE]

'DOGS OF EUROPE' (BELARUS FREE THEATRE, ADELAIDE FESTIVAL) by Robert Shuman

(Jansson J. Antmann's article appeared in Limelight Magazine, 3/2/2023;  Photo: Dogs of Europe. Photo © Adam Forte, Daylight Breaks.) Exiled from their homeland, the performers of Bela…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 4:40pm on March 4, 2023[SHARE]

HOW ART, MUSIC AND DANCE AFFECT YOUR BRAIN AND BODY by Robert Shuman

(Bethany Brookshire's article appeared in The Washington Post, 3/2; via the Drudge Report; Illustration: How art, music and dance affect your brain and body© George Wylesol for The Was…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 3:53pm on March 2, 2023[SHARE]

UKRAINE'S NATIONAL OPERA LOSES MEMBERS TO RUSSIA'S WAR, SAYS ART IS ALWAYS POLITICAL by Robert Shuman

(Olena Makarenko's reporting appeared in the Kyiv Independent, 2/2/23.) Following a three-month break after the start of Russia's all-out war, the National Opera of Ukraine resumed its perfo…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:32am on February 28, 2023[SHARE]

'NOBODY CAN GO BACK " WE ALL FACE JAIL': THE DISSIDENT THEATRE COMPANY OPENING ADELAIDE FESTIVAL by Robert Shuman

(Kelly Burke's article appeared in the Guardian, 2/26/23; Photo: … Nicolai Khalezin and Natalia Kaliada of Belarus Free Theatre in London. Photograph: John Sibley/Reuters.) Belarus Free…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 7:31pm on February 27, 2023[SHARE]

'MEDEA' REVIEW " SOPHIE OKONEDO IS MAGNIFICENT AS ANCIENT GREECE'S PREEMINENT REBEL WOMAN by Robert Shuman

(Arifa Akbar's article appeared in the Guardian, 2/17; via Pam Green; Photo: Never an outright monster … Sophie Okonedo, right, and Ben Daniels in Medea. Photograph: Johan Persson.) Med…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 5:37pm on February 25, 2023[SHARE]

FOR BURT BACHARACH, 'PROMISES, PROMISES' WAS ONE BROADWAY HIT TOO MANY by Robert Shuman

(Laurence Maslon's article appeared in The New York Times, 2/13; via Pam Green; Photo:Burt Bacharach, at the piano, arrived in New York as rehearsals began in September 1968. He was joined b…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 10:10am on February 19, 2023[SHARE]

RAQUEL WELCH, 'ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.' AND 'THREE MUSKETEERS' ICON, DIES AT 82 by Robert Shuman

(Carmel Dagan's article appeared in Variety, 2/15; via Pam Green; Photo: Corbis via Getty Images.) Raquel Welch, the actor who became an icon and sex symbol thanks to films like "One Million…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:12pm on February 15, 2023[SHARE]

'IT'S A GRIEF AND A HEALING': WHY DANCE-MAKERS LOVE THE RITE OF SPRING by Robert Shuman

(Sarah Crompton's article appeared in the Guardian, 2/12/23; Photo:  'I think you must do it just by feel': Dada Masilo's interpretation of The Rite of Spring, based on the traditional da…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:14am on February 14, 2023[SHARE]

NEW OHIO THEATRE TO CLOSE AUGUST 31, 2023 by Robert Shuman

(via David Gibbs/DARR Publicity, 2/13.) New York, NY " After 30 years as an indispensable pillar of the downtown independent theatre community, New Ohio Theatre will conclude operations at 1…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 7:21pm on February 13, 2023[SHARE]

THE TEMPEST REVIEW " ALEX KINGSTON IS A MAGNIFICENT PROSPERO by Robert Shuman

(Mark Lawson's article appeared in the Guardian, 2/2; via Pam Green; Revelatory … Alex Kingston as Prospero. Photograph: Ikin Yum.) Royal Shakespeare theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Climat…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:33pm on February 11, 2023[SHARE]

BURT BACHARACH, LEGENDARY POP COMPOSER, DIES AT 94 by Robert Shuman

(Chris Morris's article appeared in Variety, 2/9; via Pam Green; Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images.) Songwriter, composer, producer and arranger Burt Bacharach, a dominant force in American…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 12:02pm on February 10, 2023[SHARE]

VÁCLAV HAVEL: 'AUDIENCE' AT LA MAMA"THROUGH FEBRUARY 19 (REVIEW FROM NEW YORK) by Robert Shuman

by Bob Shuman Visit La MaMa Translated and Directed by Vít Hořejš Performed by Vít Hořejš & Theresa Linnihan Production design: Alan Barnes Netherton �

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 12:54pm on February 9, 2023[SHARE]

ANCIENT GREEK PLAY ECHOES FIGHT TO PROTECT AMAZON (BRAZIL) by Robert Shuman

(Suzanne Cords's article appeared in DW, 1/27; Photo from DW.) Activist Kay Sara portrays Antigone in Milo Rau's modern-day tragedy about the Indigenous people's fight for survival. Ancient …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 9:34pm on February 2, 2023[SHARE]