Best of This Week’s Theatre Blogs – 24 Jul 2009
Every week our theatregoer reporter Corinne Furness trawls the web to find some of the best gems from the myriad theatre-related blogs and condense them into one easy-to-read “Best of the Blogs” round-up each Friday.
There was a rush for wellies, waterproofs and wet wipes this week as theatre makers (and bloggers) descended upon a field in Suffolk for Latitude. Both Hoipolloi and the Bush Theatre recorded their experiences of performing while Whatsonstage.com’s Theo Bosanquet and Jo Caird donned wellies to capture the festival from the other side of the footlights for the site’s Latitude – Special Event blog.
The Skinny Blog reflected on the breaking of traditions by younger performers at Latitude, and the Guardian’s Lyn Gardner went further still, questioning the success of the more established theatre companies over the course of the weekend. Nabokov Theatre, who had tweeted their way through the festival, promptly disputed Gardner’s allegations.
Elsewhere, it was metaphorical waterproofs that were needed as the blogging storm caused by the decision to drop critics from the judging panel of the Tony Awards in New York continued. Adam Felman tackled the subject in his Time Out Blog – and he joined several other critics to fuel the debate further on the First Night’s Fight Club podcast.
The mood was lighter on Parabasis, where the focus was on one woman’s attempts to see theatre for free…
Itsy Bitsy Theatre
“Having spent four days immersed in ‘research’ at the Latitude Festival, it has become clear to me that a younger generation of artists are breaking away from the ossified restrictions of traditional drama. Even the Royal Shakespeare Company presented a work based around the discovery of a burial site at Latitude, using the festival as a foundation for thoughts on history, witchcraft and guilt.”
Latitude Festival theatre tent needs a new pitch
“Theatre is in the throes of a revolution in which text is combining with superb visual, physical, devised, participatory and installation work to considerable effect. But this year it felt as if the model of the Latitude tent was more like a slice of West End theatre than BAC or the Arches or Forest Fringe.”
“Nice mention for us on the Guardian blog but disagree with the rest of it. The theatre tent rocked. Fact. #latitude”
A Rainy Arrival Eased by Ken
“Arrived at 10pm, just at the point the heavens opened and lighting started flashing across the sky. Heard distant screams from the festival area so went over to investigate (thank god I stopped at B&Q to buy wellies on the drive up). Found swarms of teenagers partying in the woods, dancing to the tunes of a stoic DJ and treating each bolt of lightning like the arrival of a new band on stage … Meanwhile in the theatre tent, a small but loyal contingent were enjoying the tail end of Ken Campbell’s School of Night. The sight of the band of five educating their audience in the history of iambic pentameter and improvising in a Chaucerian style was truly heart-warming, particularly when they paid special tribute to their fallen leader.”
Peas in a podcast: journalists dis/cuss the Tonys
“As an individual writer, I hope that the widespread, nearly universal criticism that has greeted the Tony decision—in the press, predictably, but also in chatrooms and in the community at large—will encourage the Tony committee to revisit its decision and reinstate at least some of the first-nighters now excluded.”
Seen at Les Ephemeres
“The NC is an elderly woman (and mother of a semi-famous TV and film actor) who sneaks into plays. She sees just about everything – she’s even seen one of my plays! – and she uses a variety of tactics to sneak into shows.”
