(lemme just squeeze in a bit btn the Heather and R'Owl' [aka Roger
Day]--"go-at")
Good Lor', thank ye for the fervour of converts/transplants! U go, Canadian
girl!!
And R'Owl---thank U, ever-so-subtle Upstart Boy, for getting Heather off her
wotsit and tell us wot she's been doing and finding out! (Incidentally,
R'Owl, how'd that Glasgow art Mac thingie work out?)
And a note from a nother convert/transplant (that would be me): It's pretty
much the same stuff theatre-wise going on here in the US of A as Heather so
thoroly describes---but without the percentages of government financial
support that UKers enjoy -- even as UKers, +quite ritely+, complain about
its paltriness relative to the fundings of non-art orgs.
Best, and now y'all carry on with yr regular programme.....
Judy
*************************
"We all have baggage."
*************************
----- Original Message -----
From: "Heather Taylor" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 5:43 AM
Subject: Re: Some bits
I'm seeing that people want to do it and people want to see it, so then it
should be put on. All the histories sold out at the Roundhouse - I
couldn't get tickets - and they weren't Daily Mail readers as you insinuated
before but all walks of life AND other theatre professionals that clamoured
to get tickets. Its not the only thing that helps theatre survive -
anything with a name can help draw in audiences - Tennessee Williams,
Pinter, Sam Shepard, Mamet, to name a few. It is continuing because PEOPLE
WANT TO SEE IT! If they didn't, no tickets would be sold and companies
wouldn't do it anymore. Theatre is ALSO a business.
People often like to go to things they know because they feel it's a
guarantee. Why pay £20 to see an unknown play with unknown actors? If the
reviews end up being good then maybe...but it's still a risk. It's not a
failure of nerves per se but a failure of the audience to be open minded and
not to be scared of risk. I am guilty as well as I've seen some shockingly
bad theatre and hate paying for it.
Very few of the Shakespeare plays I have seen in London are "trying to be
accurate" ie as done in people's view of Shakespeare's time. Perhaps you
haven't seen any of them so you are assuming? As you seem to think that
this is forced down audiences throats as the only thing to watch....there
are hundreds of venues in this city and I'm sure only 4 or 5 are playing
Shakespeare at any one time.
If you are interested in New Writing and where it's going look up theatres
such as the Finborough, Bush Theatre, Soho Theatre, Paines Plough, Royal
Court, Young Vic, BAC, Lyric Hammersmith, Theatre 503 - there's many more
and a lot of them are doing amazing things. It doesn't mean that they can't
draw from Shakespeare at times. Here is a list of producing theatres across
the UK: http://www.writernet.co.uk/php2/company.php?id=195®ion=all or
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/subjects/links.php?sid=15 which includes
touring companies - just click on the letters
As for education, the Globe is only one of many many many companies that
provide education and tour nationally to schools (such as Oxford touring
theatre company, Bitesize theatre company, NTC, Bubble Theatre, etc). And
the Globe is the only one that does Shakespeare. And I'd only compare it to
coca cola IF the Globe was saying Shakespeare is the best and the rest
sucks, or if it was the only educational theatre - but clearly it is not.
When I read your responses it makes me assume that you think there is only
Shakespeare on offer. It's far from the truth. It's a minority but a strong
presence. I personally enjoy going to see it at the Globe every year.
As for theatre in Rep, there have been a couple companies doing rep (Young
Vic just did and the Royal Court sometimes do as well) but I think with
Shakespeare it's easier - cast sizes are the same for one. (I did a summer
performing two Shakespeare Plays in a park - good fun) It's the choice of
the theatre/company really...
With funding cuts it's getting harder, but we theatre practitioners are
still going at it.
(http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/subjects/homepage.php?sid=15) I'm producing
5 short plays inspired by Turner Paintings for the Camden Fringe - it's hard
work, but worth getting out as many new voices as possible.
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Day [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 07 June 2008 09:25
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Some bits
I am not denying the incidental pleasures of going to the theatre to
see S or read him. I took up writing "poetry" through a love of Romeo
& Juliet.
"a lot of new theatres writing" - all true. Still, I'd like to
revivals of shakespeare rather than this continuous main-lining of
something which really needs to sleep. New theatre as an adjunct to S.
Not a good thing. Kind of implies a weakness on the part of new
theatre. A continual failure of nerve maybe?
As for s being vital to the survival of THEATRE, no art-form has a
right to continue regardless. If people don't want to see it or do it
then really it should be put to rest.
Roger
On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 3:43 AM, Heather Taylor <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> I guess you have to think about it this way - a company who does new
writing
> is taking a big risk - especially on unknowns. In London there are a lot
of
> new writing theatres (definitely not in the West End but there is the
> National Theatre after all and they are all about getting lots of Arts
> Council funding) Smaller companies might do a Shakespeare production to
make
> money so that they can do the new modern plays...What's bad about Theatre
> doing well regardless if it's modern or not? The Globe usually does (I
> think) 4 Shakespeare and 2 modern in a season that is accessible
financially
> and artistically and they also run educational projects to get people of
all
> ages interested in theatre (not just Shakespeare).
>
> Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet inspired my sister so much that she bought
the
> play text and read it at 15 - the first book she ever read that wasn't a
> school book. She's never stopped reading since. So for that, I'm glad
that
> Shakespeare is going strong. Controversial but maybe modern playwrights
> have to just write better...or wait 400 odd years to see if they last the
> test of time.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: andrew burke [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 07 June 2008 02:14
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Some bits
>
> Hey, Roger, as a once-upon-a-time surrealistic playwright in 70s I can
> understand you preferring modern plays, but I was in London two years
back,
> walking to the Tate Modern when I spyed the Globe: amazing. So I went in -
> five pounds, as someone has pointed out and a full-on traditional version
of
> Coriolanus, one of my favourite S plays. So I was a pleased tourist. I
> recognised the lead as a tv guy (out of Spooks and such BBC fare). Not
much
> else of London is so English! (Maybe the USAmericans will buy the Globe
and
> move it to the centre of 'civilisation'.)
>
> So, as a tourist, I really enjoyed The Globe.
>
> Andrew
>
>
> 2008/6/7 Roger Day <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>> You got me there. It's my prejudice. New plays I can dig but for me
>> any money wasted on Shakespeare is money not being spent on modern
>> theatre. But hey, I'm in a minority here.
>>
>> http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/ - not the histories *again*!!!!!! At
>> least the Daily Mail likes it I suppose.
>>
>> Roger
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 5:50 PM, Heather Taylor <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>> > Hmmm....I'm curious if people who are writing about the globe here have
>> been
>> > there? Or go there regularly. Not only are they doing Shakespeare in
>> modern
>> > ways to packed audiences but they are putting on new plays that are
>> written
>> > for that space. Some of the work is fresh and exciting. People were
>> even
>> > fainting during Titus Andronicus which was a bloody affair. Also it's
£5
>> for
>> > groundling seats - best priced theatre in town!
>> >
>> > Also Shakespeare is all over the west end and in theatres around London
> -
>> > Cheek by Jowl doing Troillus and Cressida at Barbican and doing a world
>> > tour, RSC doing the Henrys and both Richards at the Roundhouse - I also
>> say
>> > a marvellously modern and sold out Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart
last
>> > November that had an extended run...
>> >
>> > And I'm not a tourist. I'm a playwright and producer.
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: Roger Day [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>> > Sent: 06 June 2008 17:32
>> > To: [log in to unmask]
>> > Subject: Re: Some bits
>> >
>> > I think, also, the globe is a little more insidious than that. I think
>> > it's part of the heritage industry; it's designed for tourism. For
>> > God, Harry etc. Nostalgia. And toy-trains - the globe reminds me of
>> > those railway enthusiasts who have to get right *every* detail of York
>> > circa 1929.
>> >
>> > Roger
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 4:32 PM, David Bircumshaw
>> > <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >> Almost anything's potentially a tourist trap these days. That's what
>> >> living in a culture focused on marketing does to things.
>> >> My masterplan for the coming years is to persuade the Arts Council
>> >> that I'm a rare cultural antiquity. I expect stiff competition from
>> >> Patrick.
>> >>
>> >> 2008/6/6 Roger Day <[log in to unmask]>:
>> >>> the Globe is a tourist trap, little more, little less.
>> >>>
>> >>> On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 8:01 PM, David Bircumshaw
>> >>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >>>> The Globe isn't government subsidized you know.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> 2008/6/5 Roger Day <[log in to unmask]>:
>> >>>>> Indeed. But would that make Hamlet as good as the Mousetrap? At
> least
>> >>>>> the Mousetrap didn't have to be subsidized to be shown.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Roger
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 2:58 PM, David Bircumshaw
>> >>>>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >>>>>> The Mousetrap ran for years.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> 2008/6/5 Roger Day <[log in to unmask]>:
>> >>>>>>> Very little Shakespeare is played out on the professional
west-end
>> >>>>>>> stage these days. Most of it is in the Shakespearean churches.
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> On Mon, May 26, 2008 at 12:05 AM, Mark Weiss <
>> [log in to unmask]>
>> > wrote:
>> >>>>>>>> Roger: This is silly. Shakespeare is performed on the
profesional
>> > stage in
>> >>>>>>>> the US all the time. Two years ago I saw a wonderful production
> of
>> > As You
>> >>>>>>>> Like It in Tucson. There are sold out summer Shakespeare
> festivals
>> > in
>> >>>>>>>> Oregon, New York, and Connecticut that I'm aware of. When I was
a
>> > teenager a
>> >>>>>>>> complete cycle of the history plays was done at a major downtown
>> > theater in
>> >>>>>>>> NY. Lear was done on Broadway last year.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> The ways of the censor tend to be unpredictable, perhaps because
>> >>>>>>>> unpredictability is such a potent weapon.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> Mark
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> At 05:40 PM 5/25/2008, you wrote:
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>> one swallow a summer does not make.
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>> On Sun, May 25, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Mark Weiss
>> > <[log in to unmask]>
>> >>>>>>>>> wrote:
>> >>>>>>>>> > Right now the hottest ticket on Broadway is MacBeth, with
>> Patrick
>> >>>>>>>>> > Stewart in
>> >>>>>>>>> > the title role. The run is sold out--even the scalpers are at
> a
>> > loss.
>> >>>>>>>>> >
>> >>>>>>>>> > Mark
>> >>>>>>>>> >
>> >>>>>>>>> >
>> >>>>>>>>> > At 12:47 PM 5/25/2008, you wrote:
>> >>>>>>>>> >>
>> >>>>>>>>> >> Those were the days - the Lord Chamberlain (member of the
>> Royal
>> >>>>>>>>> >> Household) and his malign influence on the British Theatre.
> In
>> > another
>> >>>>>>>>> >> email list, a long time ago, I mooted the theory that
>> > shakespeare's
>> >>>>>>>>> >> continuing popularity down the ages was due in part to the
>> > Bard's
>> >>>>>>>>> >> acceptability before the LC. My logic, fwiw, ran thus: you
>> want
>> > to put
>> >>>>>>>>> >> on a play and in those days, the least likeliest plays to
get
>> > banned
>> >>>>>>>>> >> were Shakespeares. So, you play safe, put on the Bard. Until
>> the
>> > 60s,
>> >>>>>>>>> >> when the LC threw away his blue pencil. Nowadays, S hardly
>> > appears on
>> >>>>>>>>> >> the commercial stage.
>> >>>>>>>>> >>
>> >>>>>>>>> >> American bannings are two a penny: their school libraries
> have
>> >>>>>>>>> >> committees which are battle-grounds for the
>> inclusion/exclusion
>> > of
>> >>>>>>>>> >> books. Harry Potter is a notorious example of this - the
> poor,
>> > deluded
>> >>>>>>>>> >> fundies trying to stave off the influence of the heathen
>> (WTF?).
>> > There
>> >>>>>>>>> >> are lists on line of books that have been banned in the US.
>> Are
>> > there
>> >>>>>>>>> >> any for the UK?
>> >>>>>>>>> >>
>> >>>>>>>>> >> Roger
>> >>>>>>>>> >>
>> >>>>>>>>> >> On Sun, May 25, 2008 at 9:38 AM, David Bircumshaw
>> >>>>>>>>> >> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > Lear was banned from performance between 1788-1820 when
>> > George III
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > was considered insane, and the link between stage and
>> royalty
>> > would
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > be
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > too close for official comfort. Contemporaneously with
this
>> > Tom Paine
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > was also banned in England and, famously, Coleridge and
>> > Wordsworth
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > were watched for talking about Spinoza (Spy-noza)
>> >>>>>>>>> >> >
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > While 'Silas Marner' was banned in Anaheim CA in 1978 (?!)
>> and
>> > '1984'
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > in Florida in 1981 because it was considered
> 'pro-communist'
>> > (?)
>> >>>>>>>>> >> >
>> >>>>>>>>> >> >
>> >>>>>>>>> >> >
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > --
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > David Bircumshaw
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > Website and A Chide's Alphabet
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > The Animal Subsides
>> > http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
>> >>>>>>>>> >> > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
>> >>>>>>>>> >> >
>> >>>>>>>>> >>
>> >>>>>>>>> >>
>> >>>>>>>>> >>
>> >>>>>>>>> >> --
>> >>>>>>>>> >> My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
>> >>>>>>>>> >> "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
>> >>>>>>>>> >> She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
>> >>>>>>>>> >> The Go-Betweens
>> >>>>>>>>> >
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>> --
>> >>>>>>>>> My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
>> >>>>>>>>> "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
>> >>>>>>>>> She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
>> >>>>>>>>> The Go-Betweens
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> --
>> >>>>>>> My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
>> >>>>>>> "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
>> >>>>>>> She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
>> >>>>>>> The Go-Betweens
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> --
>> >>>>>> David Bircumshaw
>> >>>>>> Website and A Chide's Alphabet
>> > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
>> >>>>>> The Animal Subsides
>> http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
>> >>>>>> Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> --
>> >>>>> My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
>> >>>>> "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
>> >>>>> She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
>> >>>>> The Go-Betweens
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> --
>> >>>> David Bircumshaw
>> >>>> Website and A Chide's Alphabet
>> > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
>> >>>> The Animal Subsides
http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
>> >>>> Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
>> >>> "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
>> >>> She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
>> >>> The Go-Betweens
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> David Bircumshaw
>> >> Website and A Chide's Alphabet
>> > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/
>> >> The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
>> >> Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
>> > "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
>> > She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
>> > The Go-Betweens
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
>> "She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
>> She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
>> The Go-Betweens
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Andrew
> http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/aburke/
>
--
My Stuff: http://www.badstep.net/
"She went out with her paint box, paints the chapel blue
She went out with her matches, torched the car-wash too"
The Go-Betweens
|