All the world’s a stage
All the world’s a stage
From WikiLeaks to the Trayvon Martin case, real-life events have inspired many projects headed to the stage. Here's a look at some of the shows ripped from the headlines.
1. Festival of Short Plays Inspired by Trayvon Martin Case by Felicia R. Lee [ArtsBeat.Blogs.NYTimes.com]
August 5, 2013
The New Black Fest, which supports innovative plays by and about black people, has brought together seven playwrights to create six plays about race and privilege in the United States in the wake of the Trayvon Martin case.
The Alliance Theater in Atlanta, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Goodman Theater in Chicago, Center Stage in Baltimore, the Woolly Mammoth in Washington and the National Black Theater in New York are among those that have agreed to present the work, said Keith Josef Adkins, a co-founder and the artistic director of New Black Fest. ...
2. Whistle-Blower Has Inspired a Welsh Troupe: 'Radicalisation of Bradley Manning' Hits Home in Edinburgh by Roslyn Sulcas [Theater.NYTimes.com]
August 4, 2013
CARDIFF, Wales — “Bradley Manning is a traitor.”
“Bradley Manning is a hero.”
“Bradley Manning caused the Arab Spring.”
“Bradley Manning is innocent.”
The voices got louder and more argumentative, but they did not belong to commentators passing judgment on the court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the American soldier who has admitted releasing hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks. ...
3. 'Laramie Project' sequel to make L.A. debut run in September by David Ng [LATimes.com]
August 1, 2013
"The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" -- the stage sequel to the "The Laramie Project" -- will have its Los Angeles debut run in September at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center in Hollywood. The play revisits the citizens of Laramie, Wyo., where Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was beaten to death in 1998. ...
4. SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK: 'Scalia/Ginsburg' opera draws on writings of 2 justices by Mark Sherman [StarTribune.com]
August 6, 2013
WASHINGTON — He's a tenor stuck in the 18th century. She's a soprano who evolves over time.
They fight like cats and dogs at work, but somehow forge and maintain a beautiful friendship.
It's "Scalia/Ginsburg," the opera by award-winning composer Derrick Wang, who just graduated from the University of Maryland law school. ...
JUST FOR FUN
5. Pippin Circus Creator Gypsy Snider Shares the Moving Story of How Growing Up Under the Big Top Prepared Her for Life by Gypsy Snider [Broadway.com]
August 6, 2013
As a child, I performed in the Pickle Family Circus—the first alternative circus in the United States—alongside my mother and stepfather, the co-founders. My parents weren’t just people who made my lunches and told me to do my homework. ...