TONY AWARD NOMINATIONS POSTPONED BECAUSE OF CORONAVIRUS DELAYS by Robert Shuman

(Michael Paulson’s article appeared in The New York Times, 4/22/22; via Pam Green;   The Tony Awards ceremony will return to Radio City Music Hall on June 12, after being presented at th…

JAMIE LLOYD’S MINIMALIST HIP-HOP “CYRANO DE BERGERAC”   by Robert Shuman

(Alexandra Schwartz’s article appeared in the New Yorker, 4/28/ 22; The mania and melancholy of James McAvoy’s Cyrano disguise a desperate rage.Illustration by Matt Williams.) A new stag…

NEW EVIDENCE SUGGESTS SHAKESPEARE MAY HAVE STOLEN THE PLOT OF CYMBELINE by Robert Shuman

(Dalya Alberge’s article appeared in the Observer, 4/24; Photo:  Tom Hiddleston as Posthumus and Jodie McNee as Innogen in Cymbeline at the Barbican in 2007. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/…

***** HENRY VI: REBELLION / WARS OF THE ROSES REVIEW – THRILLING GAMES OF THRONES by Robert Shuman

(Mark Lawson’s article appeared in the Guardian, 4/21; Photo: Frail body, strong mind … Mark Quartley in Henry VI: Rebellion at the Royal Shakespeare theatre. Photograph: Ellie Kurttz/R…

LIZA MINNELLI:  STOP TRYING TO HUMILIATE HER AT THE OSCARS—FIRST, ELLEN–NOW, THE CHAIR by Robert Shuman

(Brian Marks’s article appeared in the Daily Mail, 4/19; via Pam Green.)  FRAIL LIZA MINNELLI, 76, FELT ‘SHAKEN’ AND ‘SABOTAGED’ AFTER BEING FORCED ON STAGE IN WHEELCHAIR AT OSCAR…

OVER THE BRIDGE, ONCE A BRIDGE TOO FAR FOR THE BELFAST ESTABLISHMENT, IS BACK by Robert Shuman

(Connal Parr’s article appeared in the Irish Times, 4/18; The cast of the new production of Over The Bridge; Photo:  The cast of the new production of Over The Bridge. ) Sam Thompson’s …

DAVID SERERO STARS AS MOSES IN THE U.S. PREMIERE OF ‘THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, THE MUSICAL’—MAY 5TH (3PM), 8TH (6PM – PREMIERE), 10TH AND 12TH (8P by Robert Shuman

(via The Culture News [email protected] ) LET’S GO! Under star and director David Serero, the French musical The Ten Commandments—finally in English–based on the biblical story …

A “HAMILTON” FOR THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT by Robert Shuman

(Alexandra Schwartz’s article appeared in The New Yorker, 4/11; Illustration: “Suffs” braids the tangled history of the American suffrage movement into drama. Illustration by Kati Szi…

AT A CONTEMPORARY DRAMA FESTIVAL, STAGING THE FRIGHTENINGLY REAL by Robert Shuman

(A.J. Goldmann’s article appeared in The New York Times, 4/7/22; via Pam Green;  Photo: The ensemble in “Oasis de la Impunidad” (“Oasis of Impunity”), directed by Marco Layera, at…

THE GREATEST, MOST BEAUTIFUL PLAY EVER, WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION OF SHAKESPEARE by Robert Shuman

(Rebecca Mead’s article appeared in the New Yorker, 4/11; Mike Bartlett Illustration by João Fazenda.) A few years ago, the British playwright Mike Bartlett offered an ingenious take on f…

OLIVIER AWARDS 2022: THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS by Robert Shuman

(Chris Wiegand’s article appeared in the Guardian, 4/10; Photo:  Tom Larkin and Hiran Abeysekera in Life of Pi. Photograph: Johan Persson.) Find out who won what at the Royal Albert Hall…

BROADWAY BETS BIG ON A SPRING REBOUND. WILL THE VIRUS COOPERATE? by Robert Shuman

(Michael Paulson’s article appeared in The New York Times, 4/10; via Pam Green; Photo: Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker celebrated the long-delayed opening of “Plaza Suite,” …

***** ‘THE MEANING OF ZONG’ REVIEW – A MASTERFUL MEDITATION ON THE LEGACY OF SLAVERY by Robert Shuman

(Gareth Llŷr Evans’s review appeared in the UK Guardian, 4/8; Photograph: Curtis Richard Photography.) Bristol Old Vic Giles Terera’s lyrical and inventive drama about a brutal episode …

RUSSIAN ARTIST STAGES PROTEST PERFORMANCE AGAINST BUCHA MASSACRE by Robert Shuman

(Sophia Kishkovsky’s article appeared in The Art Newspaper, 4/7/2022. Photo: Images of the performance about the Bucha massacre were distributed by the independent news site Holod© Telegr…

‘I COULDN’T KEEP IT INSIDE’: BALLET STAR OLGA SMIRNOVA ON QUITTING THE BOLSHOI AND FLEEING RUSSIA by Robert Shuman

(Lyndsey Winship’s article appeared in the Guardian, 4/5/22; via Pam Green; Photo:  After Putin invaded Ukraine, the Russian dancer denounced the war, left the Kremlin-allied company – …

CIARÁN O’REILLY REFLECTS ON IRISH REP, THE PANDEMIC AND STEPHEN SONDHEIM by Robert Shuman

(Joe Westerfield’s article appeared in Newsweek, 3/29; Photo: Irish Repertory’s Ciarán O’Relly talked to Newsweek about the how the company got through and came out of the pandemic sh…

WHAT DO SHAKESPEARE AND MAMET HAVE IN COMMON? by Robert Shuman

(Sarah Larson’s article appeared in the New Yorker, 4/4/22; Illustration: Sam Rockwell, Darren Criss, Laurence FishburneIllustration by João Fazenda.) “American Buffalo” ’s Laurence…

**** CULTURE WARS AND CONSERVATIVES: THE RIVETING PLAY SET AT A DRUNKEN HOUSE PARTY by Robert Shuman

(Cameron Woodhead’s article appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, 3/31/22; Photo: Old tensions surface in this rare drama. CREDIT:JODIE HUTCHINSON.)      Heroes of the Fourth Turning…

***** ‘DIARY OF A SOMEBODY’ REVIEW – STUNNING DRAMA FROM JOE ORTON’S JOURNAL by Robert Shuman

(Ryan Gilbey’s article appeared in the Guardian, 3/31; Photo:  Taut with tension … Toby Osmond and George Kemp in Diary of a Somebody. Photograph: Brittain Photography.) Seven Dials Pl…

BELARUS FREE THEATRE: NICOLAI KHALEZIN/ SVETLANA SUGAKO/ FRANK HENTSCHKER/ DANIELLA KALIADA–CASSANDRAS DURING WAR by Robert Shuman

(The following article was compiled and written after listening to an interview with artistic collaborators from Belarus Free Theatre, 3/22; by Bob Shuman, Stage Voices. ) An old saying: “…

REVIEW: IF YOU NEED ANOTHER VISION OF TEXAS STATE POLITICS, GO SEE HOLLAND TAYLOR’S ‘ANN’ by Robert Shuman

(Mary McNamara’s appeared in the Los Angeles Times, 3/29; Photo: Holland Taylor portrays former Texas Gov. Ann Richards in “Ann” at the Pasadena Playhouse. [Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles…

ROBERT MOSES AND JANE JACOBS GO TO LONDON by Robert Shuman

(Rebecca Mead’s article appeared in the New Yorker, 3/26; illustration: from The New Yorker.) How David Hare took a few Moses-esque liberties when writing “Straight Line Crazy,” which …

MARINA ABRAMOVIC AUCTIONS LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE FOR UKRAINE CHARITY by Robert Shuman

(Andrea Kasiske’s article appeared in DW, 3/27; Photo: A scene from “The Artist is Present.”) The Serbian artist is redesigning her legendary 2010 performance “The Artist is Present,…

OPEN THREAD by Robert Shuman

(Vanessa Friedman’s article appeared in The New York Times, 3/25; via Pam Green; Photo: Emma Stone in “Cruella.” The costume designer for the film was Jenny Beavan, who is nominated fo…

LIV ULLMANN ANSWERS QUESTIONS FROM STAGE VOICES IN THE UK GUARDIAN by Robert Shuman

(The legendary Liv Ullmann, recipient of an honorary Oscar in 2022, answered two questions, in the U.K. Guardian, from Bob Shuman of Stage Voices Web site (BobStageVoices). Read her response…

‘ANTIGONE’ (LISTEN NOW ON BBC RADIO 4 “IN OUR TIME”—DISCUSSION PODCAST) by Robert Shuman

Antigone Listen  In Our Time Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss what is reputedly the most performed of all Greek tragedies. Antigone, by Sophocles (c496-c406 BC), is powerfully ambiguous, inv…

BACK TO BACK THEATRE RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL IBSEN AWARD by Robert Shuman

(Michael Kaufmann’s article appeared 3/22/22 on Limelight; Photo: Back to Back Theatre’s The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes. Photo © Jeff Busby.) The pioneering group’s work wi…

A TINY ENGLISH-LANGUAGE KYIV THEATRE TURNED ‘ART SHELTER’ GOES TO WAR by Robert Shuman

(David Gormezano’s article appeared on France24, 3/21; Photo: Alex Borovensky, Tetiana Shelepko and their friends sit in front of the ProEnglish Theatre in Kyiv, on March 20.) The ProEngli…

BRIAN FRIEL’S PLAYS COME ALIVE AGAIN AFTER A STRANGE DECADE by Robert Shuman

(Chris McCormack’s article appeared in the Irish Times, 3/21; Photo: Niamh Cusack in Faith Healer at the Abbey theatre, Dublin. Photograph: Ros Kavanagh.) Having been sanitised in the 2010…

RUSSIAN TROOPS ‘EVERYWHERE’ IN MARIUPOL AS ART SCHOOL SHELTERING 400 IS BOMBED by Robert Shuman

(Loveday Morris’s and Annabelle Timsit’s article appeared in The Washingotn Post, 3/20; Photo: People dig a grave Sunday for victims of the fighting in the besieged port city of Mariupol…

ON WITOLD GOMBROWICZ, POLISH WRITER AND DRAMATIST: THE DRAMA OF FORM – A LECTURE BY JAROSLAW ANDERS (ONLINE, TUES., 3/22) by Robert Shuman