NOBEL PRIZE LAUREATE: THE WORLD HAS FALLEN OUT OF LOVE FOR DEMOCRACY AND TURNED TO DICTATORSHIP by Robert Shuman

(from JAMnews, 12/14; Photo: Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta. Photo: "Novaya Gazeta") Russian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dmitry Muradov Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:03pm on December 14, 2021☆⚑

THE FOREMOST CHALLENGE FACING WESTERN DEMOCRACIES by Robert Shuman

(Chilton Williamson Jr.'s article appeared in the Spectator, 12/1; Photo: Sobran's.) A few philosophers since ancient Greece have been wise, scarcely any humble. None at all, to my knowledge…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:26pm on December 11, 2021☆⚑

LINA WERTMÃœLLER: A THRILLING LIVE-WIRE WHO DISPLAYED A COLOSSAL BLACK-COMIC DARING   by Robert Shuman

(Peter Bradshaw's article appeared in the Guardian, 12/9; Photo: Mordant and subversive … Lina Wertmüller. Photograph: Camilla Morandi/AGF/REX/Shutterstock.) Lina Wertmüller dies aged 93…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 4:44pm on December 9, 2021☆⚑

'IN OUR TIME'(BBC RADIO 4): 'THE DECADENT MOVEMENT' (LISTEN NOW) by Robert Shuman

'THE DECADENT MOVEMENT' Listen  In Our Time Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the British phase of a movement that spread across Europe in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. Influenced …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 5:29pm on December 8, 2021☆⚑

PERFECT HOLIDAY BOOKS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY by Robert Shuman

  Great reads for Christmas and the holidays 2021, represented by Marit Literary Agency: REAGAN'S COWBOYS: INSIDE THE 1984 REELECTION CAMPAIGN'S SECRET OPERATION AGAINST GERALDINE FERRARO…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 8:43pm on December 7, 2021☆⚑

BELARUS FREE THEATRE:  'WE ARE IN LIMBO': BANNED BELARUS THEATRE TROUPE FORCED INTO EXILE by Robert Shuman

(Harriet Sherwood and Andrew Roth in Moscow"their article appeared in the Guardian, 12/6; Photo: Some of the 16 Belarus Free Theatre members currently in London rehearsing for a pro…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 3:50pm on December 6, 2021☆⚑

BEST THEATER OF 2021 (NY) by Robert Shuman

(Jesse Green's, Maya Phillips's, Laura Collins-Hughes's, Scott Heller's, Alexis Soloski's, and Elisabeth Vincentelli's article appeared 12/3 in The New York Times; via Pam Green; Photo: From…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:27am on December 6, 2021☆⚑

MARÍA IRENE FORNÉS: THE PUBLIC THEATER'S UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL MABOU MINES & WEATHERVANE PRODUCTIONS "'MUD'/'DROWNING'(JAN 12-30) by Robert Shuman

FORNÉS  RETURNS TO MABOU MINES FOR UNDER THE RADAR   THE PUBLIC THEATER'S UNDER THE RADAR FESTIVAL MABOU MINES & WEATHERVANE PRODUCTIONS  PRESENT MUD/DROWNING WRITTEN BY …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 12:50pm on December 3, 2021☆⚑

FOR RUSSIAN COMEDIANS, POLITICAL SATIRE IS NO JOKE. IT CAN NOW LAND THEM IN JAIL. by Robert Shuman

(Robyn Dixon's and Mary Ilyushina's article appeared in The Washington Post, 12/2; via the Deudge Report.) MOSCOW " A Russian video comedy troupe in a small provincial city was doing just fi…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 2:11pm on December 2, 2021☆⚑

ANGELA LANSBURY REMEMBERS STEPHEN SONDHEIM by Robert Shuman

(Andrew Gans's article appeared on Playbill.com, 11/28; via Pam Green; Photo:  Angela Lansbury and George Hearn in Sweeney Todd Martha Swope.) The five-time Tony winner spoke exc…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 10:20am on December 1, 2021☆⚑

'WEST SIDE STORY' FIRST REACTIONS: 'TOP-TIER SPIELBERG,' RACHEL ZEGLER'S STAR SHINES BRIGHT by Robert Shuman

(Ryan Lattanzio's and Chris Lindahl's article appeareded on IndieWire, 11/29; via Drudge Report; photo 20th Century Studios.) Steven Spielberg's musical has finally screened, and ecstatic…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 10:22am on November 30, 2021☆⚑

WHAT STEPHEN SONDHEIM KNEW ABOUT ENDINGS by Robert Shuman

(Amy Weiss-Meyer's article appeared in The Atlantic 11/27; via Pam Green; photo:  Douglas Elbinger / Getty.) His work was strongest when it lingered in the pain of knowing that no ever…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:52am on November 28, 2021☆⚑

STEPHEN SONDHEIM, TITAN OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL, IS DEAD AT 91 by Robert Shuman

(Bruce Weber's article appeared in The New York Times, 11/26; via Marit Shuman; photo: Stephen Sondheim, one of Broadway history's songwriting titans, whose music and lyrics raised and reset…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:12pm on November 26, 2021☆⚑

'PEOPLE WHO KNEW HIM … DIDN'T REALLY KNOW HIM': WHO WAS THE REAL CHARLIE CHAPLIN? by Robert Shuman

(Charles Bramesco's article appeared in the Guardian, 11/18; via Pam Green; Photo:  Charlie Chaplin was 'chameleonic in the way he reflected back to people what they wanted'. Photograp…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 6:16pm on November 20, 2021☆⚑

CUBA HARASSES, DETAINS ACTIVISTS ON EVE OF PLANNED PROTEST by Robert Shuman

(Mary Beth Sheridan's article appeared in the Washington Post, 11/15; via the Drudge Report.) Security forces surrounded the homes of Cuban activists on Sunday, the day before a planned marc…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 10:54am on November 15, 2021☆⚑

ZADIE SMITH'S FIRST PLAY BRINGS CHAUCER TO HER BELOVED NORTHWEST LONDON by Robert Shuman

(Desiree Ibekwe's article appeared in The New York Times, 11/12; via Pam Green. Photo: From left, the actress Clare Perkins, who plays the lead in "The Wife of Willesden"; the writer Zadie S…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 8:37am on November 15, 2021☆⚑

JAPAN: 'THE DOCTOR' DIAGNOSES SOCIETY'S AFFLICTIONS by Robert Shuman

(Nobuko Tanaka's article appeared in the Japan Times, 11/11.)  For "The Doctor," playwright Robert Icke adapted the 1912 play "Professor Bernhardi," changing the setting to the modern age…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 5:39pm on November 13, 2021☆⚑

5 NEW RUSSIAN THEATER PERFORMANCES TO WATCH ONLINE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES by Robert Shuman

(From Russia Beyond, 11/11/21; Photo: Ksenia Ugolnikova / Stage Russia.) The most exciting Russian stage productions presented both in cinemas and online.    Visiting Russia is still a…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 4:07pm on November 11, 2021☆⚑

MAY B: NO QUESTION ABOUT IT " THIS IS A DANCE CLASSIC (SV REVIEW PICK, IRELAND) by Robert Shuman

(Michael Seaver's article appeared in the Irish Times, 11/8; Photo: contemporary choreography creates a visceral connection between performers, work and audience. Photograph: Hervé Deroo.) …

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:57am on November 10, 2021☆⚑

'WE'RE TAKING THE MAN OUT OF THE MYTH': THE MUSICAL RECLAIMING RUMI FROM INSTAGRAM by Robert Shuman

(Sarfraz Manzoor's article appeared in the Guardian, 11/9; 'You are the entire ocean in a drop' … Rumi. Photograph: CPA Media Pte Ltd/Alamy.) A new stage production aims to tell the Suf…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:08am on November 9, 2021☆⚑

CONSTANT STANISLAVSKI (129) by Robert Shuman

The words and wisdom of Constantin Stanislavski: The only . . . ruler of the stage is the talented actor. (MLIA)  

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:22am on November 8, 2021☆⚑

***** 'LIFE IS A DREAM' REVIEW " THIS ROARING TALE OF REVENGE IS EXTRAORDINARY (SV PICK, SCOTLAND) by Robert Shuman

(Mark Fisher's article appared in the Guardian, 11/3; Photo: Fierce and ferocious … Anna Russell-Martin as Rosaura in Life Is a Dream at Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh. Photograph: Ryan Buchanan.…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:11am on November 3, 2021☆⚑

ANNE CARSON'S OBSESSION WITH HERAKLES by Robert Shuman

  (Casey Cep's article appeared in the New Yorker,11/1; Illustration by Lilli Carré'.) In "H of H Playbook," the poet considers war, guilt, and the mythological strongman. "H of H Playbo…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 7:26pm on November 2, 2021☆⚑

DAME JUDI DENCH'S CONNECTION TO SHAKESPEARE " BBC by Robert Shuman

(from the BBC; Youtube, 10/23; via Pam Green.) Dame Judi Dench's first part she played was Ophelia in Hamlet but her connection to Shakespeare runs centuries deeper.

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 11:35am on November 1, 2021☆⚑

'GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH' CIRCUS MAY RETURN WITHOUT ANIMALS by Robert Shuman

(from Newmax, 10/27; Photo: Philadelphia School of Circus Arts.) Four years after the "Greatest Show On Earth" shut down, officials are planning to bring back the Ringling Bros. and Barnum &…

SOURCE: stagevoices.com at 9:30pm on October 27, 2021☆⚑