The News That Didn’t Make It: Episode 15

Each week, our #StageDoorLive News Writer / Researcher Hillary Dziminski chronicles her interaction with the news of the week. Some of it that made it to the show, and other bits that didn’t… but they matter damn it. Watch the news that did make it in #StageDoorLive Episode Fifteen.

Hello, fair reader(s)! Remember that time I tried to propagate roses by planting cuttings in sprouting potatoes? Well, good news! I have several very healthy potato plants! Now, on to the news.

Sabina Higgins leads charge for arts centre at Sean O’Casey house

I am, like so many, completely enamored with Ireland’s president Michael D. Higgins. But I am equally enamored with his gorgeous wife, Sabina. I keep trying to get them to come to my shows. (Sabina, if you’re reading this, please stop ghosting me, I just wanna be friends.) At the moment, she’s rallying support to preserve the last home of playwright Sean O’Casey, the house where The Shadow of a Gunman, Juno and the Paycock, and The Plough and the Stars were written. At the moment, the plan is to renovate the building for homeless accommodation, but Mrs. Higgins argues that the house should be  ‘safeguarded for development as a cultural hub’. What do you think?

‘Sinister act of vandalism’ hinders Burnley Empire restoration

In other building-related news, the 1200-seater Burnley Empire Theatre has been subject to a ‘sinister act of vandalism’. The space has been disused for 20 years but the Burnley Empire Trust has been working to restore the theatre; their efforts include a  £10,000 fundraising appeal which was launched just days before the incident occurred. A representative from the group says that the act was a ‘deliberate and coordinated attempt to cause as much criminal damage as possible to the interior’. This poor theatre! Over the years it’s been subject to break ins and even a suspected arson attempt. Maybe it’s cursed?

A Brief History Of The Delacorte Theater Raccoons

2015, Cymbeline: “One of the characters is killed and beheaded and we had this very expensive dummy that had been produced for the show. And they ate his hands.”

No, you did not read that wrong. It says raccoons. This article is so delightful, if you only read one article in this week’s round-up…please read this one. Because we all need some joy right now. Long story short, the Delacorte Theater in New York City presents free Shakespeare in the park performances every summer; that’s not happening this summer (thanks, Covid) but Delacorte’s stage manager Buzz Cohen AKA The Raccoon Whisperer (seriously) has shared some excellent stories about their long history of raccoon cameos.

What’s the future of theatre? A Scottish seaside town may have all the answers

And what would a discussion of theatre venues be without mention of the Coronavirus! We’re all trying to innovate right now, and much of that out-of-the-box thinking has been centred on how we can reimagine our performance spaces to allow for safe audience gatherings. This article is full of interesting ideas, including wraparound transparent acrylic screens, a touring outdoor pop-up deckchair theatre, displacement ventilation, and antiviral fogging machines at stage doors. (Sounds very dystopian.) But honestly, after getting to be back in a theatre last week, I would do literally almost anything to be able to work in theatres again regularly.

My latest role: how theatre-makers recast themselves as key workers – in pictures

Further proof that theatremakers are endlessly resourceful, useful, and wonderful. This photo series by Ali Wright documents how some practitioners have transferred their skills during the Coronavirus pandemic. Dev Danzig, for example, is a designer, stage manager and prop maker now working as a ventilator technician. Check out these beautiful, resilient folks! Do you know anyone here in Ireland with a similar story? Let me know, I’d love to hear it!

Offstage alliance formed to amplify workers’ voices in Covid recovery

Obviously recovery from the pandemic is about public health, but it’s also about societal and economic recovery. In the U.K., stories are circulating that furloughed arts workers may be asked to repay their companies furlough contributions when shows start to return. The Alliance of Associations and Professionals for Theatre and Live Events has been formed to be a collective voice for off stage arts workers.

“While our immediate concerns must be for effective and safe Covid-19 responses, we intend for this to build to a ‘new normal’ of professional practice in the 21st century.”

Organisations that have joined the alliance include the Association of British Theatre Technicians, Parents and Carers in Performing Arts, Stage Sight and representatives from the Freelancer Task Force among others. The alliance is expected to release a statement of aims in the coming weeks; I’ll keep you posted.

Suggested supplementary reading: I’m one of the freelancers who makes British theatre happen. Who will secure our future?

Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre announces intention to end use of ‘BAME’

As we discuss building out Better Normal (thanks, Tom Creed, this is my new go-to catchphrase), conversations about race, discrimination, and equity in the arts sector. And the language and terminology we use is complex and important. The Belgrade Theatre, in a direct response to a call to action from the West Midlands group Black Creative Network, will no longer be using the terms BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic), BAMER (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Refugee), or POC (Person / People of Color). A statement on the theatre’s website says:

“We believe that people have a right to define their cultural identities on their own terms, and that the industry should respond to this, instead of imposing its own jargon on marginalised groups. As an industry that is centred on listening to people and telling their stories, theatre and the arts should lead the way in reshaping the conversation around diversity.”

Now to wrap up this week’s post with two stories about MUSICALS (shout out to this week’s episode on Irish Born Musical Theatre, associate producer Janice de Broithe)! Sad news first, the London premiere of ‘Frozen’ has been delayed until April 2021. For my own sake, I hope that it does survive the pandemic so I can make a trip to London to see it. Yes, I love Frozen. Yes, I love musicals. Don’t @ me.

But the bettermusicals news is that Disney is now working on a musical stage adaptation ofHidden Figures,which tells the story of three incredible African American women who worked at NASA and were integral to one of the space agency’s most significant missions: launching John Glenn into orbit. The film version of this story premiered in 2016 and was a huge hit. It’s on my Disney+ watchlist because SPACE.