Friday, January 29, 2016
The Oscars are nonsense. They’re Hollywood’s Homecoming Queen elections, as insular, as clique-ish, and as disconnected from any actual merit as any Homecoming election in any …
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 01:34PMSaturday, January 9, 2016
The news has dropped that this, our 20th season, will be my company’s last as a producing organization. It’s been overwhelming and emotional to say the least. I’ve …
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 01:55PMSunday, November 15, 2015
I don’t have any insider information. But I’ve been both teaching theatre in the university system and producing professional theatre for over 20 years, and I’m sick of the…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 12:15PMThursday, October 22, 2015
There’s been an interesting development in the small theatre/AEA controversy in LA. Actors have banded together to sue their own union. Part of the complaint is that the union ignore…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 02:51PMTuesday, October 13, 2015
There has been some fiery controversy around Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s announcement that they’re commissioning “translations” of all 39 Shakespeare plays into …
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 12:54PMWednesday, October 7, 2015
I know, I know: I write about overused tropes often. (Who said irony is dead?) Maybe one day I’ll compile them all into a self-published e-screed entitled “Melissa Reads Too Man…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 07:32AMWednesday, September 16, 2015
With last year’s massive national controversy about The Mikado in Seattle, it’s difficult to believe that anyone, anywhere, would be doing The Mikado in yellowface, right? I mean…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 02:47PMSaturday, September 12, 2015
I just had an interesting conversation with someone whose white teens are using the slang words “finna,” “aight,” “brah,” etc. She characterized it as …
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:29PMFriday, August 28, 2015
Sometimes it seems like our whole entire culture is one huge celebration of thin white women. Ogling them, collecting them, advertising products to help other women become more like them, …
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 01:56PMWednesday, August 5, 2015
Unless your show is called “Seven BJs for Seven Brothers,” (someone get on that), or unless you’re specifically doing TYA, people will contact your theatre and ask question…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 10:40AMSaturday, July 18, 2015
There’s almost constant talk online about what’s “offensive,” or who’s “offended,” and it’s high time we retired this word. “Offend̶…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:55PMWednesday, July 1, 2015
While everyone’s in a great mood about the SCOTUS ruling, I figured now is a good time to post something controversial, right? It’s always a good idea to bring up the fact tha…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:33PMTuesday, June 23, 2015
I was asked by the wonderful Jacqueline E. Lawton to participate in the latest TCG blog salon, “Artistic Leadership: How Do We Change the Game?” She sent me a series of question…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 12:34PMThursday, June 11, 2015
Theatre has a certain . . . reputation, no? That professional theatremakers are an iconoclastic, irreverent community that ignores or even outright disrespects religion? The reality is, as…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 04:24PMFriday, May 29, 2015
About a month ago, I tweeted a little snark at Cameron Crowe about the poster for his upcoming film, Aloha. I was shocked to get a response. I wasn’t shocked, however, when the film tu…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 09:22PMWednesday, May 13, 2015
I have two kids, one I made myself and one I got free in a marital acquisition merger. So of course the title of this article is a joke, but the kind of joke that feels like the comedy equ…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 05:31PMThursday, May 7, 2015
America has been exploding with issues surrounding the concept of “freedom of expression.” Like many freedoms, “freedom of expression” sounds great in the abstract. I…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:01AMSaturday, April 11, 2015
If there’s one thing that grinds my gears, it’s the disingenuous concern trolling over the rising generation’s “addiction” to technology, and how it has impacte…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 12:57AMSunday, April 5, 2015
I understand that there are something like 47,000 books on this topic, but I’m going to give you some succinct, usable advice right now for free. In addition to running Impact Theatre,…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 07:23PMFriday, March 20, 2015
TCG is holding a multiyear inquiry about audiences called “Audience (R)evolution.” The piece I wrote for it is called “The Lies We Tell About Audience Engagement.” It…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:16AMI had an interesting conversation with a theatremaker recently about casting. The discussion centered around multiethnic casting, particularly whether casting actors of different races as m…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:01AMSunday, March 15, 2015
So you want to start a theatre company. My first bit of advice: don’t. It’s insanely difficult. Undeterred? OK. Here are some things you need to know. 1. Vision and Mission. I kn…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 06:38PMWednesday, March 4, 2015
Dear Mr. Clarke: I read the Stranger article about your play at ACT in Seattle. As a millionaire (billionaire?) CEO, it’s honestly touching that you wrote a play about your life-ch…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:56AMFriday, January 30, 2015
I’m a fifth-generation East Bay resident. My family came here in 1900. My son makes six generations of my family in the beautiful East Bay. This is my home. But lately, I’ve been…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 02:34PMTuesday, January 13, 2015
So I’m in heavy season planning right now, and reading many many many plays a day. Yesterday I cracked open four plays in a row that were all two-person plays with people in some kind…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 01:50PMWednesday, December 3, 2014
There’s a massive disconnect between theatre intelligentsia– bloggers like me– and what’s actually happening on the ground. Theatre writers have been doing an excelle…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 03:02PMSaturday, November 29, 2014
Once upon a time I met an actor with mental health issues. Just . . . save that joke for later; I’m serious times right now. He told me that the Korean government was trying to kill hi…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 04:24PMWednesday, October 15, 2014
Theatre is storytelling. A large part of that job is understanding how various aspects of your story, visual, aural, linguistic, etc– will affect your audience. You’ll never be 1…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 04:44PMTuesday, October 7, 2014
Yes, I am still talking about this, despite some truly delightful comments and emails requesting that I stop draining all the fun out of life. (One woman, who said, and I quote, that she wou…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 01:44PMWednesday, September 10, 2014
Like everyone, I’ve been thinking a lot about Ferguson, and about the epidemic of white men gunning down unarmed young African American men. What is racism made out of? What makes so…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 11:15AMThursday, August 21, 2014
Hello, you magnificent bastards. I love you all, and I’m prepping a new blog post for you while I’m also prepping a bunch of classes and a new season at my theatre, so it’s…
SOURCE: bittergertrude.com at 12:09PM