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06/01/02 - Goodbye 2001! (Part 2)
The final part of our two-part look back at UK theatre in 2001 -
the plays and musicals, actors, actresses and directors.
13/01/02 - The Artsmark
This week we take a look at the Artsmark, a benchmark for arts provision
in schools, organised by the Arts Council of England.
15/01/02 - 2001: A Theatrical Odyssey
Our reviewer looks back over the theatre year 2001 in London and Edinburgh.
20/01/02 - Shakespeare: Management Guru
Jason Cattrell, director of the New Route Theatre Company, takes a slightly
off-the-wall look at Shakespeare.
27/01/02 - Copyright Problems
Copyright is undoubtedly a good thing, but it can pose some problems
when a play goes into production.
03/02/02 - John McGrath (1935
- 2002)
An obituary.
10/02/02 - What's a National Theate For?
In which we look at the reasons for setting up a Scottish and Welsh
national theatre and wonder whether national theatres are expensive
luxuries.
17/02/02 - Karaoke Theatre
The news of a sing-along version of Joseph excites some interesting
thoughts!
24/02/02 - New Developments
Some new developments on the British Theatre Guide, and why they're
happening.
03/03/02 - Spike Milligan: 1919 - 2002
An obituary for one of Britain's great comic genii.
10/03/02 - What a Site!
Some "please don't" requests for theatre webmasters and mistresses,
based on years of visiting some awful and some brilliant Web sites.
16/03/02 - The New Improved Shakespeare
Tinkering with Shakespeare: some reviews of New York productions, by
New York reviewer Catherine Lamm
24/03/02 - The Best TV in the World
Britain has the best television in the world, it is often claimed. True
or false?
31/03/02 - The BTG: an Interim Report
The British Theatre Guide opened on 17th November, 2001. We look at
what's happened since and ask your help in deciding the future.
07/04/02 - Now It's Just ACE
Monday 1st April was a day of immense significance for the arts in England
- on that day the Arts Council of England merged with the Regional Arts
Boards - but it has passed almost unnoticed in the theatre press. We
look at the implications.
14/04/02 - A TiE Revival
For much of the eighties and nineties Theatre in Education had a bit
of a tough time. Now it's back on the education agenda.
21/04/02 - What a Circus! What a Show!
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's car might be pretty impressive, but
spectacle is as old as theatre.
28/04/02 - Drama Education: Too Academic?
According to "The Stage", the vocational aspect of Drama training
is being sacrificed to the academic in courses which are accredited
by universities. We think the problem goes deeper than that.
05/05/02 - Dic Edwards, Pip Utton and Jean
Anouilh
The differences between real political theatre and propaganda.
12/05/02 - The RSC Saga Continues
"In the red corner: Adrian Noble, Lord Alexander, the Culture select
committee. In the blue corner: members of the company (including, we
are told, Gregory Doran), many long-standing RSC supporters." We
take a look at where the RSC goes from here.
10/05/02 - Racism in English Theatre
The Arts Council of England believes there is institutional racism in
English theatre. We look at its recommendations to combat this.
26/05/02 - Matt 'n' Madge 'n' Gwyn 'n' Gill
Go West
Hollywood stars in the West End: a good thing or a bad thing? We look
at the current crop of imported stars and their plays and conclude that
everyone wins.
02/06/02 - Dumbing Down?
In which the writer has a bit of a rant at the arrogance of those who
would bring great art down to their own level.
09/06/02 - Pro and Am
There have been a number of letters in "The Stage" recently
in which amateurs and professionals have been taking a swipe at each
other. It's a perennial argument and a singularly pointless one, but,
for what it's worth, I feel impelled to chuck in my two-penn'orth!
16/06/02 - Theatre: More Popular Than Pop
Concerts
A MORI poll for the RSC has revealed that more young people go to the
theatre than attend pop concerts. We ponder this and rejoice.
23/06/02 - The Next Big Thing
Musical Theatre is in a parlous state. There's nothing new: it's all
recycled material or revivals. So says Andrew Lloyd Webber. He believes
that India and Bombay Dreams is the next big thing in musicals.
We examine his claims and look at the critics' verdict on the show.
30/06/02 - Kids and the Arts
Thoughts inspired by the Prince of Wales' new Arts & Kids Foundation
and an offensive newspaper article.
07/07/02 - The Best Theatre Websites
Every year since 1997 I have written articles about theatre websites:
the good and the bad, the useful and useless, the well designed and
those which look to have been thrown together by a spider on LSD. Now
we begin a search for the best theatre website.
14/07/02 - The CSR and the Arts
On Monday the Chancellor of the Exchequer will unveil the government's
Comprehensive Spending Review, its priorities and plans for spending
over the next few years. We look at what chance the arts have.
21/07/02 - In Edinburgh for the Fringe
Are you a Fringe virgin? Will you be going to the Fringe this year for
the first time? If so, you need our First-timers' Guide to the Fringe!
28/07/02 - The Way Ahead for Boyd and the
RSC
No one knows better than Michael Boyd what problems he's going to have
to face to get the Royal Shakespeare Company functioning as it should.
We take a look at them.
04/08/02 - The Critic's Dilemma
If I were to give this article a sub-title, it would be "The problems
facing theatre critics", which might well bring a disbelieving
laugh from actors, directors and playwrights who have been on the receiving
end of critics' barbs.
09/08/02 - Walking Out
Thoughts inspired by the people who walked out of Anthony Neilson's
Stitched at the Traverse this week.
01/09/02 - The Edinburgh Fringe: What's
the Point?
In the last couple of weeks there have been voices raised questioning
whether the Edinburgh Fringe is, as it were, past its sell-by date.
We consider - and reject - the suggestion.
01/09/02 - Edinburgh 2002: the Good, the
Bad and the Ugly
Philip Fisher sums up his experience of this year's Edinburgh Fringe.
08/09/02 - Mamma Mia! It's a Hit!
Or, popular successes and critical failures.
15/09/02 - Mamma Mia! They're All Hits!
One of the actors said, "You know, it's soon going to be impossible
to put on a West End musical if it's not based on the back catalogue
of some crappy pop band." That set me thinking, and I thought the
time was ripe for another look at the state of musicals in the West
End.
22/09/02 - £55 a Ticket?
In no time at all a theatre night out for two in the West End (tickets,
interval drinks, travel, a meal) is going to cost well in excess of
£200, far more than someone on the minimum wage earns in a week
and a goodly percentage of the income of those on the national average
income.
22/09/02 - The Future of Theatre Lies
in the Cheap Seats
Isn't it better to have a full house at half price than a half house
at full price?
29/09/02 - The End of an Era?
The death of Joan Littlewood, coming, as it does, so soon after that
of John McGrath, would seem to signal the end of an era, the era of
political theatre.
06/10/02 - Sponsoring the YSP
Why is the British Theatre Guide sponsoring the York Shakespeare Project?
How could we not?
13/10/02 - Amateur Theatre Websites
Our annual survey of the quality of UK amateur theatre websites.
20/10/02 - Are We Willing to Pay for It?
Theatre workers' wages and the theatre goer.
27/10/02 - What Are Youth Theatres For?
Occasionally things happen which force you to challenge assumptions
which are part and parcel of your life. It's a painful process but a
necessary one: we all need to take a fresh look at what we're doing
from time to time.
03/11/02 - Shame on You, Guildford!
Come on, Guildford: think again! You have a highly thought of resource
in the Yvonne Arnaud, valued not just in the town but across the country.
Do you really want to get a national reputation for being miserly? Comment
on this week's news.
10/11/02 - The End of Music Theatre As
We Know It?
"If we don't develop new work, writers, audiences and performers,"
said Sheila Benjamin from the International Festival of Musical Theatre
in Cardiff, "we won't have mainstream musical theatre or the West
End as we know it." Would that be such a bad thing?
17/11/02 - Now We Are One
A look back to the British Theatre Guide's first year.
17/11/02 - The Trials and Tribulations
(Not to Mention Joys) of a Theatre Reviewer
Philip Fisher looks back at his work with the BTG in its first year.
24/11/02 - Playing Shakespeare
If we don't equate Shakespeare with excitement, then I don't hold out
much hope for his survival as a playwright, except as an item for academic
study, a museum piece.
24/11/02 - Shakespeare for the 21st century
(or The Bard is Really Cool)
Philip Fisher replies!
01/12/02 - ACE Now
ACE in 2002-2002, according to the evidence of its annual report and
as compared to ACE five years and more ago, is a much improved organisation.
Whether the new organisation, which came into being on 1st April, will
be effective in its avowed aims is something we must wait to see at
this time next year.
08/12/02 - The Biggest Theatrical Disaster
of the Year!
What would get your vote for this dubious accolade?
15/12/02 - A Tribute to Joan Littlewood
Jackie Fletcher pays her tribute to Joan Littlewood, one of our truly
great theatre visionaries and an unsung hero.
29/12/02 - Goodbye 2002!
A look at some of the theatrical events of the past year.
Articles from 2008
Articles from 2007
Articles from 2006
Articles from 2005
Articles from 2004
Articles from 2004
Articles from 2003
Articles from 2002
Articles from 2001
Articles from 2000
Articles from 1999
Articles from 1998
Articles from 1997
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