From the Deep Archives: “The Regrouping of American Theater”

donshewey.substack.com: Oskar Eustis has been artistic director of the Public Theater for 21 years and recently announced that he will be stepping down from his position as of July 31, 2028. In an interview with the New York Times, asked about the state of American theater, he said, “I think the American nonprofit theater movement is over,” citing the financial challenges that plague a business model conceived decades ago that hasn’t kept up with the current economy.

Synchronicity Theatre to Seek New Home

AMERICAN THEATRE: Synchronicity Theatre has announced it will transition away from its current venue at Peachtree Pointe, a mixed-use office space in Midtown Atlanta. Synchronicity’s landlord has chosen not to renew the lease, prompting the organization to embark on a search for a new permanent home that reflects its artistic vision and its deep roots in the Atlanta community.

In Uptown, TimeLine Theatre moves into its new home, nearly a decade in the making

Chicago Sun-Times: Mica Cole stood on the stage, with tears in her eyes. The occasion was TimeLine Theatre’s first public showing of its brand-new building — the culmination of years of near-constant fundraising, nomadic productions, unexpected delays and stress-inducing construction woes.

Between Pandemic and Democracy: What Antigone Can Teach Us

antigonejournal.com: Over the past four years since the pandemic started, different countries have implemented distinct strategies to curb the spread of the Covid-19, often restricting freedom of movement as well as implementing a variety of draconian surveillance methods and compulsory measures, including cellphone and face-recognition contact tracing, quarantines, border closings, and vaccine and testing mandates. Most of these measures have not been accepted in democracies, where privacy laws and civil freedoms are considered the bedrock of a social contract.

Fox West Theatre – Trinidad, Colorado

After the Final Curtain: The Fox West Theatre opened as the West Theatre on March 16, 1908, with a performance of The Bondman. It was built by Ed West, a Trinidad businessman, and designed by local architects I.H. and W.M. Rapp, who were related to the founders of Rapp & Rapp—the firm behind major theaters like the Uptown in Chicago and Kings in Brooklyn.

Santiago’s Teatro a Mil 2026: theatre, democracy and artistic responsibility

The Theatre Times: There were two key themes running through this year’s Teatro a Mil, the Chilean capital’s long-running theatre and performing arts festival. “Yes, Theatre Matters” may have been the festival’s tag line but the role and responsibilities of the artist, most notably at a time of economic precarity, proved a key theme.

The Columbia Theatre – Sharon, PA

After the Final Curtain: The Columbia Theatre opened on November 29, 1922, with 1,732 seats and a construction cost of $350,000 (about $6 million today). It was built by the Columbia Amusement Company, which also operated theaters in Warren, Erie, and Salamanca. Architect Arland W. Johnson of New York City designed it as a true vaudeville palace—complete with a marble staircase, full stage, orchestra pit, seven dressing rooms, and elaborate plasterwork throughout the auditorium.

Why Did Teatro ZinZanni in Chicago Just Close?

www.timeout.com/chicago: Teatro ZinZanni will wrap its current Chicago run this Saturday, effectively going dark through the spring and summer, with hopes of returning in the fall. The immersive dinner-theater staple has been a Loop fixture since 2019, serving multi-course meals alongside circus acts, cabaret, comedy and live music inside a custom Spiegeltent perched on the 14th floor of the Cambria Hotel on West Randolph Street.

Lake District theatre to be renamed after Victoria Wood and unveil new musical of her songs

Theatre | The Guardian: A theatre in the Lake District is to be renamed for the comedian and playwright Victoria Wood and will stage a new musical using her songs to mark the 10th anniversary of her death.

DKGR to lead design of historic Crump Theatre renovation

www.archpaper.com: The Crump Theatre sits in a state of suspended animation. Its weathered jade green and cream facade gleams over 3rd Street, in downtown Columbus, Indiana, where “CRUMP” blazes vertically in bright yellow letters. The marquee, trimmed in bulbs, evokes a bygone era of vaudeville and golden-age cinema.

Student theater gives Broadway flops a second life

NPR: Just three days from opening night, the task at hand is to figure out how to break a glass slipper onstage, or at least make it look like it's broken, since having a bunch of shards on the floor for a student theater production is probably a little too dangerous.

New books on the theater, its history, and artists

DC Theater Arts: Theater-lovers everywhere can keep up with their reading with a selection of four publications offering a range of topics for all ages and interests, from a child’s introduction to a Shakespeare classic and a little-known endeavor of a musical theater legend to the collected works of a Black playwright and the long saga of blackface minstrelsy in America.

Custom Aerial Rigging for Stage and Theatre

www.entertainmentengineeringmagazine.com: Aero Motion Australia designs and produces custom rigging systems for aerial performance across stage, theatre, circus, and screen. With deep roots in aviation and an unrelenting pursuit of visual wonder and technical mastery, the company continues to redefine what’s possible in the air—creating elegant, mechanical solutions for complex motion.

Lincoln Center Reveals 25/26 Season Featuring Jeanine Tesori as Visionary Artist

www.broadwayworld.com: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts has revealed its 25/26 season of programming, running September 2025 through May 2026. The slate for summer 2026 will be announced next spring. The season complements the artistry of the ten organizations with which LCPA shares the Lincoln Center campus, reflects the global communities of New York City, and invests in the next generation of artists pushing the boundaries of their forms.

“Fences” and “Two Trains Running” at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company

The Pittsburgh Tatler: In the lobby of the August Wilson house you can read a letter that Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s founder and artistic director Mark Clayton Southers wrote to August Wilson in 2002, describing his intent to establish a theater in Pittsburgh that would offer Black audiences stories that spoke to their history and lived experience.

“Hangmen” at Kinetic Theatre Company

The Pittsburgh Tatler: We live in cynical times, Dear Reader. And there is perhaps no playwright whose work captures, with dark wit, the many dimensions through which contemporary cynicism expresses itself than Irish-British writer Martin McDonagh – author of, among others, the plays The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Pillowman and the films In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri.

A Tough Little Miracle of A Play: Gracie Gardner on Sophie McIntosh’s ROAD KILLS

Culturebot: A fawn is a defensive reflex, a posture of affection that can only be taken in the imbalance of power. It’s also a word for an unweaned deer, the first victim in Sophie McIntosh’s tough little miracle of a play Road Kills. Owen runs the family business disposing of animal carcasses on county highways and Jaki assists him as court-mandated community service.

The Immersive 5 with The Ministry of Peculiarities | by Noah J Nelson

by Noah J Nelson | Aug, 2022 | No Proscenium: East of Los Angeles, in an unassuming strip mall just off of Route 66 one can find a portal to the strange: The Ministry of Peculiarities. In the brief time that the Ministry has been revealed to the public, the Ministry’s Hope End experience has developed the reputation for being one of the best escape games in Southern California.

& Juliet, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, More Receive 2022 Dora Award Nominations

Playbill: Nominations for the 42nd Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards, recognizing the best of Toronto theatre, were revealed August 29, with the Broadway-bound & Juliet among the most-nominated productions. The West End transfer earned eight nods, including Outstanding Production. The top spot went to Talk is Free Theatre's Sweeney Todd, which earned nominations in 13 categories.

‘Dragon Mama’ adds to Seattle theater artist Sara Porkalob’s star-making trajectory

The Seattle Times: Back in March 2020, Seattle’s Sara Porkalob was ready to take the next step in her career. With a Broadway run with the revival of “1776” on the horizon, all of her hard work was on the verge of paying off. “When I was about to leave for the East Coast right before COVID[-19] hit, I was so ready,” said Porkalob. “This is what I’ve been working towards, literally my 10-year plan manifesting.”