By Heather O’Donovan Nestled unassumingly on a Chelsea side street sits New York’s Irish Repertory Theatre, or, as most call it, Irish Rep. It’s an inconspicuous space: no Broadway-style marquees, only a suitably green banner poking out from the facade alerting in-the-know theatre-goers to its presence. It was in the basement blackbox studio of this … Continue reading
Category Archives: Features
If It Opens, Will They Come?
by Martine Sainvil In the last complete Broadway Season before the global COVID pandemic, Broadway was breaking attendance records with the highest numbers in its history. But the nearly 18 month shut down changed everything and the subsequent return has been slow going. Industry insiders always knew that getting back to business would be a … Continue reading
Julia Miles: Making Theatre for the Women’s Century
By Alexis Greene The twentieth century in America was the women’s century. The century opened with the ascendance of what the media at that time called the New Woman. The New Woman didn’t yet have the right to vote, but she was out there: getting jobs, so she could support herself; organizing unions; establishing settlement … Continue reading
Finding Meaning – The Art of Translation by Martine Sainvil
American audiences don’t get access to many contemporary plays originally written in another language despite the burgeoning number of talented playwrights in the US and around the world who are creating work for the stage in languages other than English. Traditionally, classic European plays such as those written by Moliere, Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov … Continue reading
CELEBRATING 1,000 YEARS OF WOMEN WRITING PLAYS
by Alexis Greene Hrotsvitha and Alice Childress; Rachilde and Zora Neale Hurston; Ana Caro and Mrs. Harlow Phibbs. They lived centuries and continents apart, but they shared two enticing characteristics: they were women and they were playwrights. And now they are among the 250 dramatists who constitute “ON HER SHOULDERS: Celebrating 1,000 Years of … Continue reading
Using ZOOM to Create Theatre by Suzanne Willett
When the news hit in the spring that theatres in New York were going to be shut down, I–like many of my fellow theatre-makers–was devastated. Our movement company, 10C, had been developing our third science-based piece throughout the fall and winter of 2019 and the quarantine felt like we drove 50 mph into a wall. … Continue reading
Resources for Theatre Women
ARTISTS and THOSE WHO WANT TO SUPPORT ARTISTS: If you are struggling to make ends meet in these unsettled times, here are some useful resources. If you have means, here are some ideas about where your dollars will directly help your community. https://actorsfund.org/am-i-eligible-help https://dgf.org/donate/donate/ https://www.theatreartlife.com/management/coronavirus-gig-cancellations/ Add additional resources in the comment section. Stay safe. Spring … Continue reading
Translating the Bard: What Does a Modern Shakespeare Look Like? By Loren Noveck
Lue Morgan Douthit, longtime director of literary development at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), commissioned a translation of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens into contemporary modern English in the fall of 2015, beginning OSF’s Play On! project. With the Bard still continuously the most-produced playwright in America, one purpose of the project was to ask why … Continue reading
The Legendary Angela Lansbury inspires an SRO House at Lincoln Center
Photo Essay “From the time I was about twelve, I never stopped acting. Acting is my business.” “If you’re going to play a character other than yourself, it’s better that you bring that character to the first rehearsal…You have to leave yourself at home… When I’m immersed in a scene, I leave Angela at home.” … Continue reading
Models and Mentors: A History of the Wry Crips Disabled Women’s Theatre Group by Michaela Goldhaber as told by the Company’s Founders
This article is part of an ongoing partnership between HowlRound Theatre Commons and WIT Journal online. Michaela Goldhaber, current artistic director of Wry Crips, talks to the founding and early members of the disabled women’s theatre group about their history. For thirty-four years, Wry Crips Disabled Women’s Theatre Group in Berkeley, California, has been helping women … Continue reading