News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK
The British Theatre Guide Newsletter
No 1136: 3 December 2023
Editorial
I mentioned in last week’s newsletter about the reported disruption during a performance of Hamilton in Manchester. However, according to an article in The Mill—the excellent Manchester-based e-mail newspaper available in both free and subscription versions—reports of the incident from people who were in the audience vary widely: “one said that the performance was 'smooth' and they had hardly noticed anything untowards. But others said of the two apparent combatants ‘staff were desperately trying to keep them apart.’”
However, there is no doubt that something happened, and that it is one of a number of worrying incidents that are causing problems for audiences and front-of-house staff recently. One theatre, the Mayflower in Southampton, has decided to try to tackle the issue with a campaign to encourage audiences to be more respectful to theatre staff, using posters, digital screens and messages on the theatre’s web site and in pre-show e-mails.
As the situation in Gaza once more descends into violence, Maddy Costa’s feature reports on Ashtar Theatre’s revival of The Gaza Monologues from 2010 for last Wednesday’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, initiated in 1977 by the UN. The monologues were written by teenagers in Gaza, long before the current conflict, and feature “accounts of near-death experiences, food and fuel shortages and a grinding, inescapable anxiety.”
In contrast, Philip Fisher’s feature this week considers a debate over who has the lead vision of a production: the writer or the director. This is based on an article by Michael Billington in The Guardian about a talk by director Katie Mitchell, who has worked extensively in both the UK and Germany, which have very different traditions in this respect.
Over here, the writer is still generally respected in the theatre and a director who imposes his or her concept on a play is often considered arrogant unless it somehow ‘serves’ the writer’s original intentions. In Germany, however, the director is king, and his or her interpretation is of primary importance; I remember one British playwright saying he’d been to a production of one of his plays in Germany and he hardly recognised it at all.
Of course, things are even worse for the writer in movies, where the idea from Hollywood’s golden era of them being ‘glorified typists’ still persists to some extent and the controversial “a film by…” caption with the director’s name is still frequently used. While pay, conditions and accreditation have improved considerably, mainly due to strong writers’ unions in the US, most people could probably name the directors of their favourite movies, but how many could name the writers?
As we consume the third chocolate in the Advent calendar, pantos and other Christmas shows are now getting underway. Keep up-to-date with our panto coverage on our dedicated panto page, where we already have six reviews from the current festive season with many more to come very soon.
Ashtar Theatre has called on theatre-makers around the world to perform The Gaza Monologues on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester will feature a Bruntwood Prize winner, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and two classic plays in its spring and summer season.
Factory International's 2024 programme at Aviva Studios will bring back to Manchester Robert Wilson, Maxine Peake with Sarah Frankcom and Imogen Knight and Laurie Anderson.
Newcastle-under-Lyme “hero” Eric has been entertaining audiences at New Vic Theatre for a quarter of a century with his “unique” blend of comedy and live music.
