United Kingdom

Director and dramaturg Linda Lombardi discusses Lindsey Ferrentino’s Ugly Lies the Bone, and examines how changes to our political climate effect audience reaction.

UK contributor verity healey looks at how Doorstep Arts is bringing access to the theatre arts to Torbay.

Madeline Sayet reflects on her ancestor Sachem Mahomet Weyonomon, and advocates supporting Native stories and theatremakers.

Naomi Elster discusses gender imbalances in theatre programming in the UK and Ireland.

Hailey Bachrach reflects on Phyllida Lloyd’s The Tempest, the final installment of her Shakespeare trilogy featuring all-female casts, produced by the Donmar Warehouse at London’s King’s Cross Theatre.

verity healey considers the Battersea Arts Centre’s new Courtyard theatre space and inviting an audience to participate in the performance through interaction with the performance space.

Playwright Carolyn Kras discusses The Subject Project, in which her period play, The Subject, serves as a tool for addressing sexual assault in both past and contemporary society and culture.

Sound designer Victoria Deiorio reflects on her experience of Complicite’s The Encounter and its ingenious use of sound. 

Donald Sanborn talks with director John Doyle about the differences between musical theatre and opera, and the power of seeing actors play instruments on stage.

David Dudley interviews playwright Howard Barker about writing for live actors versus marionettes.

Artistic Director Gideon Lester discusses Emma Rice leaving Shakespeare’s Globe, and ruminates on the tension between artistic and administrative priorities.

Frequent overseas contributor verity healey reports on the Belarus Free Theatre workshop exploring the intersection of how a true story about mental illness is portrayed on stage.

In this final #IdentityWeek blog, Julie McGarvie writes about pioneering playwright Lorraine Hansberry.

An interview between Michael Lueger and MOLA archeologists Heather Knight and Julian Bowsher about the recent excavation of the Curtain Theatre in London.

Renaissance scholar Nora J. Williams discusses the #Shakespeare400 celebrations, and the myth that Shakespeare is the “greatest playwright” in the English language.

Manuel Betancourt on the Young Vic’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams at St. Ann’s Warehouse.

Ramesh Meyyappan and Gavin Glover discuss their wordless adaptation of Madame Butterfly, replete with kites and puppets, and their hopes for hyphenate theatremakers.

Patrick Gaughan explores audience engagement and the relative merit of the Q&A in conversation with Mark Ball, artistic director of the London International Festival of Theatre.

verity healey discusses Charlene James’ new play Cuttin’ It at the Young Vic in London, England.