EMILY WILSON ON AESCHYLUS' ORESTEIA by Robert Shuman

(Wilson's article appeared in the London Review of Books, 10/8; via Norm Silverman.) Aeschylus'​ Oresteia begins with the story of a grieving, righteously angry woman seeking ju…

BLACK LIVES MATTER IN "TITUS ANDRONICUS" (INTERVIEW WITH DAVID STERLING BROWN) by Robert Shuman

Shakespeare Unlimited: Episode 155 (Folger Shakespeare Library) In his classes at Binghamton University, David Sterling Brown and his students examine Shakespeare's plays through the lens of…

LET'S PLAY 'BEAT THE BARD' (18) by Robert Shuman

PLAY WITH THE FORMAT: HOW THEATRE SHOWS ARE DISPENSING WITH THE STAGE by Robert Shuman

(Natasha Tripney's article appeared in the Guardian, 11/7.) Undeterred by Covid, theatre-makers are beaming innovative plays into people's homes via Zoom, WhatsApp and Minecraft Since mid-Ma…

10 SOVIET ACTRESSES YOU SHOULD KNOW (PHOTOS+VIDEOS) by Robert Shuman

Vasily Malyshev/Sputnik; Sputnik (Valeria Paikova's article appeared on Russia Beyond, 11/6.)   These committed movie stars became symbols of their era, setting silver screens alight with…

PATTI LUPONE WAS A CONSTANT. THE OTHER INGREDIENTS NEVER COOKED. by Robert Shuman

(Laura Collins-Hughes's article appeared in The New York Times, 11/4;  Photo: Patti LuPone, left, as the title character and Chaim Topol as her husband in the pre-Broadway tour of the mus…

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (99) by Robert Shuman

The first attempts at something new remain almost always misunderstood and misevaluated. There appear other people who borrow the new and show it to the general public in popular form, reapi…

THIS BRAZILIAN PIANIST USES 'BIONIC GLOVES' TO PLAY by Robert Shuman

(from Reuters, 11/6. Photo: Brazilian conductor and pianist Joao Carlos Martins, 80, who after many years lost the ability to play due to health complications from focal dystonia, smiles as …

LET'S PLAY 'BEAT THE BARD' (17) by Robert Shuman

Can you beat the Bard? Questions by Joyce E. Henry, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

BRENDAN A. BRADLEY: HOW TO CUSTOMIZE #FUTURESTAGES VR THEATER FOR YOUR SHOW by Robert Shuman

Welcome to the future"#FutureStages. Above creator/guru, Brendan A. Bradley.  Watch his introductory video below. On 10/30, he spoke to Bob Ost, executive director of Theater Resources…

VSEVOLOD MEYERHOLD: THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST DIRECTOR EXECUTED BY STALIN by Robert Shuman

(Valeria Paikova's article appeared in Russia Beyond the Headlines, 10/28; Photo: Russia Beyond the Headlines.) Vsevolod Meyerhold was a personality of great contradictions, and one of the m…

LET'S PLAY 'BEAT THE BARD' (16) by Robert Shuman

Can you beat the Bard? Questions by Joyce E. Henry, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

IN AVIGNON, SNATCHING THEATER FROM THE JAWS OF NEW LOCKDOWNS by Robert Shuman

(Laura Cappelle's article appeared in The New York Times, 10/30; Photograph:  Kaori Ito in "The Damask Drum" during the abbreviated "A Week of Art in Avignon." Credit…Christophe Rayn…

JAMES BOND ACTOR SIR SEAN CONNERY DIES IN HIS SLEEP AGED 90 by Robert Shuman

James Bond actor Sir Sean Connery dies in his sleep aged 90: Oscar-winning 007 legend passes away in the Bahamas after being 'unwell for some time' (Ryan Fahey's and Jack Elsom's article app…

REVIEW: 'TOUCH OF THE POET' IS A POWERFUL STUDY IN TOXIC PRIDE (CRITIC'S PICK) by Robert Shuman

(Maya Phillips's article appeared in The New York Times, 10/30; Photo: Robert Cuccioli as a Massachusetts pub owner who fancies himself more in Eugene O'Neill's "A Touch of the Poet."Credit�…

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (98) by Robert Shuman

One must be a great connoisseur and specialist in our art to differentiate the work of every co-creator of a performance and to judge it at its real value. But the crowd meets the actor face…

LET'S PLAY 'BEAT THE BARD' (15) by Robert Shuman

Can you beat the Bard? Questions by Joyce E. Henry, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

ELLIE COVAN & JIM TURNER ARE HAVING A NIGHT! (DIXON PLACE) by Robert Shuman

Don't miss Jim Turner & Ellie Covan's Unbirthday! A Very Merry Unbirthday To Us The Raising Cain Campaign Wrap Party Field Marshalled by the Birthday Kids Jim Turner & Ellie Co…

WALLACE SHAWN: DEVELOPMENTS SINCE MY BIRTH by Robert Shuman

(Shawn's article appeared in the New York Review of Books, October 27, 2020; Photo:kcrw.com. ) I wonder if anyone but me remembers that during the years after the end of World War II, there …

LOST LETTERS REVEAL JM BARRIE AND ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON'S MUTUAL AFFECTION by Robert Shuman

(Donna Ferguson's article appeared in the Guardian, 10/25; Photo: JM Barrie, who shared a deep friendship with Robert Louis Stevenson. Photograph: Hulton Deutsch/Corbis via Getty Images; via…

LET'S PLAY 'BEAT THE BARD' (14) by Robert Shuman

Can you beat the Bard? Questions by Joyce E. Henry, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

THE FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT, PART 3 by Robert Shuman

(Andrew Kleidon's article appeared in the Door County Pulse,  10/23; Photo of Hallie Flanagan, Door County Post. ) A Quick and Decisive Blow to Progressive Theater In fewer than three yea…

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (97) by Robert Shuman

How many productions in the theatres of all time can be mentioned where giftless actors hid behind an artistic stage director. How many times the background overcame the most important thing…

NOT WAITING FOR GODOT: NEW SHOW TACKLES BECKETT'S BAN ON WOMEN   by Robert Shuman

(Kate Wyver's article appeared in the Guardian, 10/18; Photo: Clown theatre company Silent Faces would legally have to wait until 2059 (70 years after Samuel Beckett's death) to perform Wait…

LET'S PLAY 'BEAT THE BARD' (12) by Robert Shuman

  Can you beat the Bard? Questions by Joyce E. Henry, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

THEATER RESOURCES UNLIMITED ANNOUNCES WRITER-PRODUCER VIRTUAL SPEED DATE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2020 AT 2:30PM by Robert Shuman

(via Michelle Tabnick, Michelle Tabnick Public Relations) Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) is offering their popular  Writer-Producer Virtual Speed Date event on Sunday, November 8…

BEN BRANTLEY ON SHUTTING THE STAGE DOOR BEHIND HIM by Robert Shuman

(Jesse Green's and Ben Brantley's article appeared in The New York Times, 10/13; Photo of Karen Finley: Credit…Dona Ann McAdams;  via Pam Green.) After 27 years and more than 2,500 revi…

LET'S PLAY 'BEAT THE BARD' (11) by Robert Shuman

Can you beat the Bard? Questions by Joyce E. Henry, Ph.D. All rights reserved.  

7 FACTS ABOUT THE MARIINSKY THEATER IN ST. PETERSBURG by Robert Shuman

(Alexandra Guzeva's article appeared in Russia Beyond the Headlines, 10/15.) Long before the Bolshoi was founded in Moscow, this leading Russian theater was a favorite with emperors and empr…

SONIA FRIEDMAN: I'VE CLOSED 18 SHOWS AND PAUSED 10. HERE'S MY CURE FOR THEATRE by Robert Shuman

(Friedman's article appeared in the Guardian, 10/15; Photo: Chaotic and farcical … The Pin " Ben Ashenden, left, and Alex Owen " are coming to the West End. Photograph: Oliver Rosser/Feast…

TONY AWARDS 2020: FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS by Robert Shuman

(Brent Lang's article appeared in Variety, 10/15.) Tony Awards "Jagged Little Pill," a ferocious reimagining of Alanis Morissette's album of the same name, captured a leading 15 Tony Award n…