United Kingdom

Following the controversy around the Public’s Shakespeare in the Park Julius Caesar production, Nora Williams provides a parallel story about a play that was censored and caused the Globe to be shut down in 1624 because it depicted living monarchs unfavorably.

The World Theatre Map beta project has engaged its first cohort of twenty-eight World Theatre Map Ambassadors from twenty-four countries to direct community organizing, outreach, and feedback gathering.

World Fringe Day is July 11, 2017.

Kaite O’Reilly addresses how reimagining disability can open up creative possibilities on stage in content, aesthetics, and form.

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.