Dear Theater Fans, There’s some titanic New York theater news this week: Oskar Eustis, the Public Theater’s longtime artistic director, announced that he will be leaving his post on July 31, 2028 — which also happens to be his 70th birthday. Michael Paulson has the scoop in the form of this searching and quite startling interview, in which Eustis does not mince words about either his experience or the challenges facing the field. Eustis has been at the helm of the Public through some of its most successful days — most famously the advent of “Hamilton” — but also, he tells Michael, some of the toughest. Eustis prompts us to think about issues facing the U.S. theater at large; his words also recall Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rather despairing social media post last week about the state of Broadway. (The day before, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” had posted its closing notice for Aug. 8.) The theater is always at an inflection point, but these two giants, at least, sense apocalypse in the air. Is it just the wildfire smoke? Crisis has struck the French theater, too. Laura Cappelle tells us about the protests at the Avignon Festival against the state’s deep cuts in artistic investment. One director addressed the audience, and, by extension, the government: “Is this the landscape of ruins you want to leave behind?” (Laura also wrote about the festival’s spotlight on Korean work, including two shows based on Han Kang’s novel “We Do Not Part.”) This month, New Yorkers have their own chances to see theater made from a sense of emergency: Elisabeth Vincentelli explores the recent spate of “Les Misérables” productions, including a primer on the 19th-century revolutionary politics of Victor Hugo’s original novel; and Lindsay Gellman profiles the comedian Cat Cohen, who had a terrifying stroke … and then turned it into material. (Her one-woman show, “Broad Strokes,” is now at the Lucille Lortel.) If feelings of impending theatrical apocalypse are giving you anxiety, then I prescribe a diet of two or three shows, to be taken weekly. Even in the hazy days of summer, there are several tip top productions to see. Salamishah Tillet talked to the director Whitney White and the star Kerry Washington about the inspiration for their fantastic Lincoln Center revival, “The Whoopi Monologues,” a restaging (and reappraisal) of Whoopi Goldberg’s gifts as a playwright. I have been buttonholing people about the gorgeous Hudson Valley Shakespeare “King Lear” for weeks, and now I get the chance to buttonhole you. And Elisabeth and I saw a whole bouquet of excellent Off Off Broadway shows, which we throw flowers at here. Thank you for reading us each week! Tell us if you’ve seen something great. Please reach out to us at theaterfeedback@nytimes.com with suggestions for articles or to offer your thoughts about our coverage. And urge your friends to subscribe to this newsletter. Have a wonderful week, Helen Shaw
Like this email?Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up here.
|
