CMU School of Drama


Monday, September 22, 2008

Nicholas Hytner: British theatre is the envy of the world

Times Online: "As The Sunday Times sponsors the National’s new Sunday openings, Nicholas Hytner, its director, explains why British theatre is the envy of the world"

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed the discussion about "theater for use" rather then "theater for the sake of theater." I've always felt that theater should at base value be there for the entertainment of the people there, and that some shows seem to forget this idea. My favorite play I've seen so far was a play called "Just So" which was nothing but a joy to watch. There was no underlying message, no abstract thought to inspire the masses, it was just a really entertaining play to sit and watch.
While I know this doesn't have much to do with the actual article, I want to mention the awesome wooden horse thing in the first picture next to the article. Beautifully amazing in my book. If that something stereotypical of British theater, may the powers that be let me work there some day.

Anonymous said...

What an article! "Who Cares If You Listen? Babbitt dreamt of a world where “the composer would be free to pursue a private life of professional achievement as opposed to a public life of unprofessional compromise and exhibitionism”. I throughly appreciate these comments becasue they make you think and not only do the make you think in general they make you think of what you can do. The article was interesting, playing with the idea of usage of a theatre and what the audience believes. British theatre, in my opinion, is in the same league as Broadway it is just a different atmosphere. AND they dont let the large companies take over the shows as a pramotional vehicle.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoy how the fringe and the main stage's work together to cultivate audiences. It feel like more and more in today's world, like Paige said, there is more commercial driven theater. The nice thing in Britain is they play nice with audience sharing.