Features

Best of This Week’s Theatre Blogs – 3 Jul 2009

| London's West End |

3 July 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.

In a week that was notable for the loss of several cultural icons, German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch’s unexpected death garnered a range of tributes. In the US, Dance Theater Workshop called for readers to contribute their favourite moments from Bausch pieces, while back in Britain, Birmingham’s Stan’s Café wrote movingly of the inspiration Bausch had been for them.

There was reflection of a different nature as dramatist Fin Kennedy, in light of his latest play for Mulberry Theatre Company, looked back on his three years spent at Mulberry School, and in doing so, considered what the role of the artist-in-residence might be. It was theatre blogging itself that was up for discussion elsewhere. The New York Times held a conference on blogging and theatre while the topic also featured in Pilot Theatre’s Shift Happens 2.0 gathering – with Unlimited Theatre fittingly tweeting their way through the event. In Australia, Alison Croggon responded with spirit to criticism of theatre bloggers by the Chairman of News Ltd.

Micro-blogging became a source of celebration on Wednesday. In honour of Canada Day, Netsruck on Theatre encouraged people to tweet their favourite Canadian plays, creating a diverse list for anyone wanting a Canadian adventure.

Stan’s Café –
Pina Bausch
“Pina Bausch has always been star by which Stan’s Cafe has charted its course across the seas. Though the death of such a star is a just cause for mourning, the joy of stars is that they shine so brightly and from so far away that their light continues to reach us long after they are gone.”

Fin Kennedy –
Good grief, has it really been six weeks?
“I’ve since come to realise that one of the responsibilities of a professional artist-in-residence (in a school anyway) is to encourage students to go beyond the obvious choices, beyond simply being versions of themselves onstage, or parroting back cheap TV storylines. It’s about helping them to develop an aesthetic that allows them to be ‘actors’ in the fullest sense.”

Alison Croggon –
Amateur Journalism
“As always in these debates, he’s comparing the worst of blogging with the best of journalism. If you reverse the comparison, and compare the worst of journalism with the best of blogging, you can come up with a completely different picture.”

Unlimited Theatre –
Conference tweets
“Gosh, about to speak at shifthappens – hope this will be interesting and a conversation starter for delegates. Breathe…”