Exit, Pursued By A Bear

Among drama students, “Milking the Giant Cow” is a term that refers to the practice of holding your hands skyward (or merely gesticulating wildly) to show emotion. May be accompanied by a Skyward Scream.

If they fall to their knees while doing so, they are contractually obligated to raise their hands to the heavens, grasp the invisible teats tightly, and pull down a few times, as if milking an oversized bovine.

Let an astrophysicist teach you a little something about learning Shakespeare. Yes, Neil deGrasse Tyson has helped me on my journey toward good memorization. 

Doran himself will direct Richard II, following on from their Hamlet in 2008–09 – a production that the Guardian’s Michael Billington described as “one of the most richly textured, best-acted versions of the play we have seen in years”. 

nissanissas:

“Millions and millions of people have seen Lord of the Rings. Of course I’m more famous for that than Waiting for Godot. Just because a piece of work has been seen by so many more people doesn’t mean it’s less in value.”

yes and the problem is definitely the actors refusing to do theater and not that the theater industry is imploding from the inside trying simultaneously to become the movie industry and to remain staunch and aloof and above any hint of mass market populism

(via belinsky)

or-even-cured:

renkris:

Olivier award-winning playwright Bruce Norris has removed the rights for his play Clybourne Park from a Berlin theatre, claiming the theatre intended to ‘black up’ a white actress to play one of the lead roles.

…why in the bloody hell are you people even polling this?

…oh hello there, noticeably caucasian people!  How are you today?

Does anyone want to bet on how many of those 56 aren’t black?

Relevant story:

There was an extremely awkward moment in my last class last week, as we watched a 2005 staging of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” from the Bavarian State Opera. When the slaves and Monostatos (the Moor) make their entrance, the stage was suddenly filled with actors in full-on black face (body paint and all). Every single actor was white, and every single one had exaggerated black paint covering them. There was palpable discomfort in the room—none of us could believe that it was happening, or anywhere near ok. 

I’m still a little uneasy about going back to watch the second half this week.