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Best of This Week's Theatre Blogs - 5 Feb 2010

What does World Theatre Day mean to you? As this year’s event was launched the WTD Blog had lots of suggestions on how to celebrate, with a special emphasis on creating connections both for theatre makers and audience members.

Connections of a slightly different nature were the focus for Lyn Gardner on the Guardian Theatre Blog as she questioned the fact that a number of leading directors are Oxbridge educated. In America, meanwhile, 99 seats considered segregation in theatre by race rather than education.

There was inclusion in practice at the Stan’s Café blog as a group of Year Six children were introduced to a special type of performance whilst Forest Fringe set about throwing rules in the air and creating a whole new form of inclusion with the announcement of their Micro-Festivals.

Finally, there was a timely reminder on the Amnesty International Blog about theatre and freedom.

99 seats – On Casting and Inclusion and All The Rest
“What we have in this country is a segregated theatre system. There is a theatre that is almost exclusively by and for whites and a theatre that is almost exclusively by and for blacks (as well as one by and for Latinos, East Asians, and many other minority groups).”

Guardian Theatre Blog, Lyn Gardner – Why is British theatre still in thrall to Oxbridge?
“Theatre directing is a profession in which it is immensely hard to secure a foothold: connections and networking play a major part, as does the ability to be supported during the crucial early stages of a career”

Stan’s Café – The Young Commentators
 “You can get it right for 99% of the time but listeners will always remember the other 3% when you got it wrong”

Forest Fringe – Back once again…
“And so cue the coloured liquids and the smoke and the Petri dishes and the arguments and the experiments and finally we’ve just about figured out what it is we’re doing.”

Amnesty International UK Blog – The Play’s The Thing
“Film-makers, actors, photographers and playwrights don’t usually interest the authorities, except when politicians fancy schmoozing a few creatives. But as we tend to notice over here at Amnesty, in many places if you get on the wrong side of the system with your art you could end up in big trouble.”

- by Corinne Furness - Theatregoer Reporter

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