#American theatre

[the-cricket-chirps]

Thomas Hart Benton

Poker Night (from a Streetcar Named Desire)

1946

[shakespearenews]

While negotiating his loan with Antonio, Shylock retells the biblical story in which clever Jacob tricks his shifty uncle into promising to give him all the lambs that were “streaked and pied”—e.g., not all white—then finagles (through highly improbable means) to ensure that the ewes in mating season produce mixed-color lambs. In a period when Jews were routinely disparaged as black, Smith posits, “Shylock’s Jacobean construction of blackness is coterminous with ingenuity, resilience, and tactical surety that resists cooptation.” I thought immediately of a moment in Arin Arbus’s 2022 production of Merchant when John Douglas Thompson as Shylock made a servile bow and flashed a disarming trickster’s grin at Antonio as he calculated his revenge. Smith’s book is clearly aimed at fellow scholars, but insights like these on Othello and Merchant could prove valuable to theatre practitioners preparing for production—and prepared to wade through some eye-glazingly academic prose.

[spacesapphist]

"How They Learned to Drive. And Why They're Driving Again." (New York Times, 2020)

I read this quote from Paula Vogel a while ago and it's stuck with me ever since!

Image description: A quote from Paula Vogel which reads, "Three things that I want to talk about. One was a promise to my mother, who read it. To say that her health was fragile is putting it mildly. She asked that I not say that it was autobiographical. The other thing is that whenever women write autobiographically, we are told that we are confessional. No one says that about Sam Shepard, or David Mamet, or Eugene O'Neill. Third thing was there's a myth, and it's I think a very perilous myth, that the reason that women become lesbians is because of sexual trauma, a fear and a hatred of men. The last thing I'm going to do is get put into that category. Now I'm 68, man; I'm in the grandmother category. So say whatever you will."

[staticsnowfall]

michaela mabinty deprince (1995-2024)

🩰˚✧₊⁎

today, september 13th, 2024, the ballet world lost an extraordinary dancer and woman.

michaela mabinty deprince was born on january 6th, 1995, as mabinty bangura, in sierra-leone. she was orphaned, her parents passing to due to both direct and indirect causes of the civil war in her home country. she was demonized by her caretakers for her vitiligo, being called a “devil’s child”, and suffering from other forms of neglect and abuse. in 1999, deprince was adopted by an american couple along with another girl, and they were taken to new jersey, united states of america.

her hopes of becoming a ballerina had been planted when she found a ballerina on a magazine cover in her home country. she didn’t know of ballet at the time, but treasured the picture and dreamed of dancing. this dream blossomed into truth when she moved to the states, being put into ballet lessons soon after her arrival. deprince was a four-time participant in youth america grand prix, one of the largest ballet competitions in the united states. she was awarded a scholarship to study at the jaqueline kennedy onassis school of ballet, the associate school of american ballet theatre.

despite facing racial discrimination and other hardships in and out of the industry, deprince persisted in her dream of becoming a professional ballet dancer. in 2012, at the age of 16, she became the youngest member of dance theatre of harlem, and the next year, she joined the junior company of the dutch national ballet. she soon rose through the ranks, joining the main company and attaining the rank of soloist. she was the first dancer of african origin to ever join the company, and a shining advocate and role model for black women in ballet.

her other accomplishments include being an ambassador for war child holland, a dutch organization working to improve the wellbeing and resilience of children directly affected by war. she visited uganda and lebanon through the organization. she also appeared in beyoncé’s 2016 music video for ‘freedom’.

she will dance among all the stars in the sky. rest in peace beautiful michaela mabinty, you are already so missed. ♡

[erainbowd]

Writers Aren't Magic

People got very upset about a proposal for rethinking the American #theatre. It's like they thought it was going to happen, like it was #magic. I wish we could make change with our words but it usually takes more than that.

A writer of my acquaintance recently had an op-ed published in the Washington Post about theatre and what should be done about the death spiral it seems to be in. In the piece, she proposed some ways to fix some of the problems the field has found itself in. She named the difficulties, the history and offered a solution. In watching the response to the article roll in, I was struck by how those…

[profamer]

Exciting News: Lux Radio Theatre Joins Golden Age Radio Lineup! | Vintage Radio Drama Compilation

Immerse yourself in the timeless world of Lux Radio Theatre as we bring you a compilation of classic radio dramas. Journey back to the golden age of radio with performances from ‘Dulcy’ (1935), ‘Legionnaire and the Lady’ (1936), ‘The Thin Man’ (1936), ‘Burlesque’ (1936), ‘The Dark Angel’ (1936), and ‘Irene’ (1936). Relive the magic of these vintage broadcasts. Get ready for a thrilling addition…

[genuinelyshallow]

Israeli soldiers opened fire on starved Palestinians as they tried to get to a truck distributing aids

[tennwriter]

"Placement is an important quality in all things, almost entirely ignored by all people. Ambition was always something I believed should be an interior item, cared for, tended to, but hidden. Like a pancreas or a prostate, you know? It's in there; I should take care of it; I should listen to it, so to speak. But no one needs to see it. Too many people think to be busy connotes progress, so they run around and do many things and make many announcements, and that is just ambition, the setting up of mirrors to expand one's profile, one's needs. I don't like seeing that, and I tend to not work with those who flex perennially and never expand. Ambition is the still, small voice, but in the American arts particularly, it has been given the largest of megaphones."--Mike Nichols #FolliesOfGod (Photo by Mary Ellen Mark)

[18crowsinatrenchcoat]

Hello Ride the Cyclone fandom. A line up of the six doomed teens.

[ao3-crack]

(x)

[theatreism]

JEREMY JORDAN timeline (broadway, off-broadway & west end)

[toiletpotato]

The 2023 American Girl Doll of the Year is Kavi Sharma, a South Asian American theatre kid who loves Wicked SO SHE HAS A REPLICA ELPHABA COSTUME. I am absolutely ecstatic that kids get this.

edit: SHE ALSO HAS A GLINDA COSTUME

SHE ALSO HAS THIS!! BECAUSE SHE PERFORMS A TRADITIONAL DANCE ROUTINE WITH HER FRIENDS AT SCHOOL AND SHE LOVES BOLLYWOOD

[shakespearenews]

Every time an able-bodied actor plays Richard, that’s one less role available for a disabled actor. Since disabled actors are less likely to be cast in roles for able-bodied characters, employment opportunities are limited. This dynamic has the look and feel of structural discrimination on the basis of disability, which laws and standards since the 1990s have sought to curb. In the main, having disabled actors play Richard III isn’t about offering a radically new interpretation of the play or even a better, more realistic performance; it’s about enhancing the visibility and status of disabled actors in the hopes that they will secure more roles, including roles for characters that don’t have disability as a centerpiece. The political goal of disabled actors is to bring the way the world looks and feels onstage closer into line with reality. This means having disabled actors portraying characters in stories about disability, as well as disabled actors playing characters in stories having nothing to do with disability.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre

[greendayauthority]

Green Day performing at the St. James Theatre after the final performance of American Idiot on Broadway, 24 April 2011

[enlitment]

In case you're wondering like I was: the reason why a lot of the 18th-century philosophers can't seem to stop making Cato the Younger references (Voltaire talks about Cato at least 6 or 7 times in Letters on England which is a lot because it's by no means a long text. Mandeville too of course — hi bestie!)

is because there was a play in the early 1700s about Cato (Addison's Cato, a Tragedy to be precise) which seemed to have had the cultural impact of early seasons of Game of Thrones

Catoo! this actor is from an 1800s production but still. Look at that facial expression. The sad wet cat energy. The pain in his eyes. It's all there!

Oh, and by 'cultural impact of Game of Thrones' I don't mean an increase in theatre subscriptions or of Cato action figures sales (though that would have been awesome!)

I mean it had a pretty significant influence on many of the American Revolutionaries (and French too most likely, since, cultural osmosis and all that). A lot of these nerds sure loved to quote it!