Protesters Storm London's National

A group of protesters interrupted a talk back by playwright Richard Bean over objections to his new play, England People Very Nice. Two men with placards, claiming the play was racist, picketed the stage for 10 minutes before being removed by security. It is the first on stage protest in the theatre's history. Hussain Ismail, a playwright himself, led the protest on Friday claiming the play was offensive to various ethnic groups. Nicholas Hytner, the theatre's artistic director, claims the comedy "lampoons all forms of stereotyping". Read more about it here.

Iraqi Theatre Reappears

This is an article from 'Variety' by Bryan Pearson published January 7, 2009

BAGHDAD -- With security improving throughout Iraq, once-ubiquitous theater groups are starting to reappear. The National Theater led the way in October when it staged a series of evening performances for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. The National Theater led the way in October when it staged a series of evening performances for the first time since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

Playwright Ali Hussein's biting satire "Bring the King, Bring Him," marked the Eid al-Fitr holiday -- one of the most important on the Muslim calendar. Because violence is still a real and present danger in the Iraqi capital, theatergoers were forced to make their way to the perfs on foot, and police closed off roads near the venue.

Security was as tight for a series of performances of yet another satire (Dec. 21-23) in the western city of Kut, capital of Wasit province, which was handed back to Iraqi security control by U.S. forces in late October.

But as a measure of the improvement in security in Kut, which until March was under the control of Shiite militiamen, some 500 people turned out for each of the three performances of the play, dubbed "Mud House" because the actors are from an Iraqi sitcom of the same name.
With local elections set for the end of January, the importance of voting was as much a focus of the play as the effects of administrative corruption -- always a favorite theme with Iraqi audiences.

"Using a play as a way to educate people helps to get important messages out to the audience through comedy, and the popularity of 'Mud House' definitely gets people out to see the show," said U.S. military official Staff Sgt. Melissa Powell, who helped organize the event.

Fire at Egypt's National Theatre

The Associated Press
Saturday, September 27, 2008

CAIRO, Egypt: A fire destroyed the main hall of Egypt's National Theater in the heart of the downtown Cairo Saturday, wounding three firefighters, a civil defense officer said.Billowing white smoke filled the busy Ataba Square just after sunset as 22 engines responded to the alarms. Dozens of riot police also deployed to keep back onlookers. A major general with the civil defense on the scene described the fire as "almost contained," after high winds briefly drove flames into neighboring shops and buildings. Three firefighters were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. The official smoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Brig. Gen. Nasr Zakaria of the civil defense operations room told the state MENA news agency that the fire began with an electrical short that caused an explosion in the theater's air conditioning system. The fire started just before the sunset evening meal during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan while workers were performing maintenance on theater's electrical systems. "There was a big blast, then smoke started rising from the roof," said Mahmoud Osman, the owner of a shop across the square. "Then flames engulfed the whole roof area and damaged parts of the wall."

The theater was original built in 1935, but had been recently renovated.The building would have been practically deserted due to the evening meal, but was scheduled to perform popular poetry recitations later on that evening. In August, Egypt's upper house of parliament was devastated by massive fire, also in the downtown area. That fire provoked popular outrage at the incompetence of firefighters and it was described as the latest failing of a government unable to stem rising prices of basic staples. Press reports at the time focused on poor training of firefighters and the absence of sprinklers or a fire management plan for the building — features which are rare throughout Egypt, where safety rules are nonexistent or lax. Few buildings in Cairo even have smoke alarms.

Is British Theatre the Envy of the World?

Nicholas Hytner, the artistic director of London’s National Theatre, writing in the ‘Sunday Times’, explains why British theatre is the envy of the world. Which, if you ask me, is a pretty bold statement. Agree? Disagree? Also, can one be an Anglophile if one is already from England or, as he runs the National Theatre, is Hytner contractually required to be a nationalist? Read more here.

Namibia's Youth Theatre Festival

An out-of-school youth theatre group from the Omaheke Region on Saturday evening swept the boards of the NTN Youth Theatre Festival by winning four of the six categories in the five-day event. With their winning play, Mponenang (Child abuse) the group, Metsweding, will be going to Germany next year to represent Namibia in a festival. The group won: Best Overall Play, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director. A group from Oshakati won the Best Actor Award and the Most Promising Actor Award was won by a group from Tsumeb.

"I see theatre as a mirror through which a community and/or the society looks critically at itself as a very powerful medium of reflection and expression during these hard economic times and challenges. During the festival we have had the unique opportunity to witness different life experiences of our people across the country," said the general manager of the National Theatre of Namibia, Werner Thaniseb, when announcing the winners of the festival on Saturday evening at Shifidi Secondary School. More than 70 out-of-school youths in 10 groups took part in the festival with self-written plays.

Japan's National Theatre Crisis

The Japanese theater world is currently in crisis over the question of to whom public theaters belong, since the decision by the New National Theatre Tokyo (NNTT) to appoint new artistic directors for each of its three divisions. The disquiet has been caused by revelations following a June 30 announcement by NNTT that was signed off by its president, former culture ministry official Atsuko Toyama, that appoints as replacement artistic directors from 2010 Tadaaki Otaka (opera), David Bintley (dance) and Keiko Miyata (theater).

The appointment of British-based Bintley to replace Asami Maki, the current artistic director of dance, is less controversial, considering Maki has already been in the job for nine years. More questionable are the circumstances of the other two artistic directors' appointments.

The Asahi Shimbun reported on July 9 that Tadaaki Otaka, the new artistic director of opera, who is slated to succeed Hiroshi Wakasugi, first learned of his appointment when he read about it in a newspaper. Otaka himself had never officially accepted the job.

More perplexing is the replacement of Hitoshi Uyama, the current artistic director of theater, who was appointed only last autumn. Uyama's productions of "Yakiniku Dragon" and "A Japanese Named Otto" (which he also directed), were both well received by critics and the public.

"According to Ai Nagai, an NNTT director who attended the selection meeting, the meeting was first told by an NNTT official that Uyama didn't want to continue in his post," Yoji Sakate, president of the Japan Playwrights Association (JPA), recently explained to The Japan Times. "However, as some directors were anxious for him to stay, Nagai sought confirmation (that Uyama didn't want to continue) from NNTT officials present at the meeting. She only received an ambiguous answer."

Though some NNTT directors at the selection meeting apparently tried to have it adjourned, it was eventually decided to leave the decision to NNTT President Toyama. According to theater Web sites and blogs, at a news conference on July 28, Uyama insisted he'd never been asked whether or not he wanted to continue as the NNTT's artistic director. He also suggested that a smooth and peaceful exit — with a public statement saying he had wanted to leave after all — would be likely to encourage the NNTT to help him in his work as a director afterward.

Speaking to The Japan Times on the phone, JPA's Sakate protested, saying: "I am not afraid to say quite clearly that this situation is wrong — and I would like to win back our public theater from bureaucrats and hand it back to artists."

Sakate is far from being alone in expressing such views. Three national theatrical associations and 14 leading figures in the Japanese theater world — including Sakate and Nagai, Hisashi Inoue and Yukio Ninagawa — have sent a letter of protest to the NNTT demanding clear reasons for its decisions concerning the selections of artistic directors.

by Nobuko Tanaka of The Japan Times

National Theatre Wales: Coming or Already Here?

Other than the U.S., most nations have a national theatre, and Wales is well on its way to becoming the next. John E McGrath, currently the director and chief executive of Contact in Manchester, will become the artistic Director of the new NTW starting in January 2009. Of course, all of this may come as a shock to some Welsh who already think they have one, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, which was founded in 2003. Read more from Alfred Hickling’s post here.

An End to "Never on Sunday"?

Starting in September, the National Theatre in London will offer Sunday matinees at 3 o'clock. This breaks the long standing tradition of not producing plays on the ‘Lord’s Day’. Looks like, in addition to films, concerts and exhibitions, theatre will be yet another activity that the Brits can participate on the 'day of rest’. As Michael Billington predicts, within a year or so, all London theatres will follow suit. Check out the Guardian blog for the whole scoop.

Scottish Renaissance

Informative article in ‘The New Statesman’ about the emergence of new Scottish theatre. The author, R.D. Scott, talks about the recent production, Black Watch (here in Brooklyn last year at St. Ann's) and the recent offerings of ‘Brits Off-Broadway’. He also discusses what is currently happening up in the land of William Wallace.