News from the Four Corners of the Earth: Tuesday the 28th June 2010

John Willis the editor of american publication Theatre World has passed away aged 93. Theatre World was a magazine which chronicled and recorded the shows on Broadway and awarded performers for their work in the industry. A very respected critic and writer in America he edited four magazines during his career all to do with performing arts. His obituary can be read here.

Aberdeens Tivoli Theatre which has been acting as a bingo hall since the theatre closed in the late 90s is going to be revitalised to its previous glory since being purchased last year by a new owner. More info here.

Kneehigh theatre are bringing their new show to the West End this coming February following a preview in Leicester also in February. Based on a French film, the Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a love story in the classic vein. Catherine Deneuve starred in the 1964 film version. More info available here.

Designing for the Theatre by Francis Reid: Review

Designing for the Theatre by Francis Reid (second edition 1996) is a Routledge book on how to design for the theatre. Francis Reid taught Lighting design at RADA for nearly 20 years and has toured the world giving lectures on Theatre design. He is one of the best teachers of his subject in the world. An educational book which aims at the post A Level student and amateur enthusiast who wish to design either at college/university or for their local society or group; this book goes through the various stages of design. Starting on chapter one with the role of design through the history of the theatre space onto the various whys and how to design up to how to critically evaluate a design. This book has everything for the budding student to help them along with their studies or, as I said before, everything for someone just interested in what designing for theatre entails. The book is full of diagrams of theatres, design schematics and concepts as well as photos from several notable productions where the design featured heavily in the show which gives clear examples of how design works and adds to the theatrical experience. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the design aspects of the theatre. I found it a very easy read because of the writing which covers every aspect in a descriptive but not too technical way so you don’t have to have knowledge of theatre design or the technologies to read it. My favourite chapters are chapter 2 which are The Theatrical Building and chapter 5 Some Practicalities. The Theatrical Building covers all the different types of theatre space or theatre you are likely to come across and how that can influence the design and help inform the work produced. Some Practicalities is for me a breath of fresh air as you sometimes read textbooks and it just says how to do something, this book whilst telling you what to do in this chapter lays out some of the things you have to remember when putting together a theatre design, from budget to sightlines. Overall this is one of my favourite books in my collection and an excellent resource to reference to and re-read when I need it. You can still buy this on Amazon.co.uk despite being printed in 1996, in fact you can get it for a fairly low price before postage costs, and you can find it here.

Xtofer

News from the Four Corners of the Earth: Tuesday the 22nd June 2010

'Anything Goes' that firm favourite of amateur companies and societies the whole world over is getting another Broadway revival next year. It is being put on by the Roundabout Theatre Company at a theatre to be announced soon, previews begin in February. For more information please follow this link.

A Michael Jackson Plaque will be unveiled at the Lyric Theatre in London, the venue that currently houses 'Thriller Live', it will be put up in memory of the late Michael Jackson and will feature a special show with former cast members and special guests. For more info please click here.

La Cage Aux Folles success story continues on Broadway by breaking yet another record. Click here for more.

Review: Hazlitt on Theatre a Brilliant Resource and History Book

William Hazlitt, born in 1778, was the son of a devout Unitarian Minister and as such Hazlitt was sent to study all the classic texts and mathematics whilst also training to follow in his fathers footsteps to one day become a Minister as well. Sadly William lost his faith and never became a Minister instead because of his background education in classics, maths and philosophy he pursued a career in the latter. Studying throughout the late 1700s the various attempts he made to write his essay on the human mind he had to eventually earn a living, as such he became a painter doing several commissioned copies of the masters in Paris and original pieces by him hung in the Royal Academy. In 1805 he finally printed his essay ‘An Essay on the Principles of Human Action: Being an Argument in favour of the Natural Disinterestedness of the Human Mind’ and moved on to lecturing on Politics and wrote a book on English Grammar. Then in 1812 he got his first job as a journalist, he became a parliamentary reporter for the Morning Chronicle. In 1813 he started writing literature criticism and drama criticism for the Chronicle. That is the source for many of the essays within Hazlitt on Theatre.

Essays include: Mr Kean's Othello

                            The Tempest

                            The School For Scandal

                            Mrs Siddon's

                            Mr Kembles Retirement

                            Conversation on Drama with Coleridge

                            On Actors and Acting

                            Minor Theatres - Strolling Players

Hazlitt on Theatre is a collection of dramatic criticisms from the early 19th century. These are perhaps the first real reviews in popular print and as such are different from the type of work we see today. The essays are generally reports on how well the performance went down whilst also discussing some of the techniques he observed. Hazlitt also compares a lot of different performances of plays, when watching a Shakespeare he will compare different actors portrayals of the same characters. His knowledge of the Shakespearean text is also incredibly fascinating; he gives a very clear insight into the reading and interpretation of Shakespeare in the early 1800s. Whilst this is a good thing it also shows how drastically different the ideas on theatre at the beginning of the 19th century were than at the end. Coming from the Romantic era of Theatre Hazlitt will not have seen a true naturalistic performance of a play as the style was not yet prominent and was definitely not seen on London stages, in fact the closest he gets is perhaps the revolutionary work of Edmund Kean. However it becomes obvious throughout reading Hazlitt’s work that he is hinting at a more naturalistic performance and is urging the theatre to move towards it in his opinions, he just did not know how what he said in the 1813 would become the norm in 1913. The only problem I find with the work of Hazlitt is that his literary knowledge can occasionally colour his opinion of the dramatic work on the stage, in this he is in many ways no different from the other critics of the time who for example were shocked an appalled that Edmund Kean would go against the convention of what a Jew looked like in Measure for Measure, except with Hazlitt as I have said he would go to the text for evidence to rubbish a performance. I read his review of Kean’s Iago and was really excited to read in very good detail how Kean went about portraying one of my favorite characters but Hazlitt moved into what we would probably call today a rant, although it is well backed up with evidence, on how the play calls for Iago to be played. The irony of this complaint is that later on in the book he goes on to lambast Kean for listening to the Theatre Managers directions on how a character should be played, it seems for Hazlitt the words and intentions of Shakespeare are basically written in stone and that there should be no movement for artistic interpretation.

I initially picked up Hazlitt on Theatre mainly to read about the Regency superstar Edmund Kean but found myself drawn in by the way he wrote about the theatre, I could see in many ways the way the play was performed like a little video from 1813. It is amazing that Hazlitt is so widely forgotten today, for a man who dipped his toes in so many of the arts it is a shame he isn’t more lauded for his excellent work. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to read about the Regency theatre, to anyone interested in Edmund Kean and to anyone who wants to read critical examinations of the work of Shakespeare. A truly wonderful book that kept me fascinated throughout and one that is vital for any Theatre Historian.

Xtofer