Two services push the theatre into online publishing

And then suddenly, the theatre entered the world of online publishing.

Until this year, scripts were largely absent from the booming field of ebooks, stranding readers who wanted to add their favorite dramas to their Kindle or Nook. In recent months, however, two services have emerged to fill the void.

In November, prominent play publisher Samuel French launched its eBook program. Customers can visit Apple’s iBookstore to download plays and musical by writers like Charles Busch and Israel Horovitz, with new titles being added regularly. Most scripts retail for $8.99, and soon, Samuel French will make them available at all digital retailers

[Read more →]

From revivals of old favorite to meetings with new artists, this year’s Fringe is already going strong

You’ve got to love the scrappiness of FringeNYC. As it presents over 200 theatre and dance productions, the festival always seems energetic and raw, like it’s running on excitement and artistic ambition.

However, it takes an enormous amount of work to create that bohemian vibe, and planning for this year’s festival began just weeks after last year’s ended.

[Read more →]

Belarus Free Theatre performs plays that would get them arrested back home

Command performances in London’s House of Parliament, 10-minute standing ovations in New York, adoring crowds in Hong Kong: The last few months have been one triumphant appearance after another for Belarus Free Theatre. However, the company’s intrepid, structurally bold works have not been hailed in its home country.

“Today we’re homeless,” says Natalia Koliada, a co-founder of the troupe, which is currently performing three of its original shows in rep at La MaMa (in a co-production with the Public Theater.) “We’re between continents.”

[Read more →]

How four current productions are putting war on stage

War is a reality in at least three dozen places around the world today, and that reality is echoed on many New York stages this season, from Broadway to Brooklyn.

“It’s interesting that all these plays are going on now,” says Matthew Lopez, author of The Whipping Man, which takes place in the aftermath of the American Civil War and is running at the Manhattan Theatre Club at City Center through April 10th. “I guess it’s taken a lot of time to process what it means to be a nation at war.”

[Read more →]

For the first time, a series for new plays goes completely international

When the hotINK reading series for new plays launched in 2002, it was a strictly American affair, and it eventually introduced new work by major Yanks like David Mamet, Itamar Moses, and Rinne Groff.

In its tenth season, however, which runs March 24-28 at the Lark Play Development Center, the focus has shifted. For the first time, every play in the series is by an international playwright.

[Read more →]