"Angry young men" homophobic, claims Ravenhill
Mark Ravenhill, author of Shopping and Fucking and Some Explicit Paolaroids has accused the "angry young men" of the fifties (John Osborne, John Arden, Arnold Wesker etc.) of being homophobic.
Writing in the New York Times, he says that the claims of the "angry young men" to be reviving a moribund British theatre was, in fact, an attack on gay theatre, exemplified by Coward the Rattigan. "The straight boys arrived to sort everything out," he says. As a result, he claims, important works (such as Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea), which had a gay sub-text, were overlooked.
Best year for RSC for a decade
Last week the RSC announced its best attendance figures for since the eighties, as well as a reduction in its operating deficit, which now stands at £100,000, down from half a million. Its total expenditure for the year was £29m. The company had also, chairman Geoffrey Cass said, repaid 96% of its grant from ACE (£8.4m) in taxes.
Tristan Bates Theatre under threat
The Tristan Bates Theatre, in the Actors Centre, has come under threat of "punitive action" from Camden Council if it fails to carry out essential safety work. In January 1998 the Council refused to give the theatre a full licence until the work is carried out. The licence expired last month and the theatre took the step of becoming a members' club to try to avoid the problem. The venue aims to start major fundrasing in the near future to correct the problems.
The dispute between the Equity Council and the variety wing of the union moved onto the Web last week with a Website on which members can post their views.
The BBC is to broadcast a number of programmes from the Royal Opera House. The opening on 1st December will be broadcast on both TV and radio. Later in the month, the first new production - Verdi's Falstaff with Bryn Terfel - will be broadcast, and then BBC2 will run five programmes, called Covent Garden Tales, on the rebuilding. The digital channel, BBC Choice, will do a Backstage programme, and there are plans for televised masterclasses. Even
The Scottish Executive (formerly the Scottish Office in pre-devolution days) has given Scottish Opera £2.1m to save it from almost certain insolvency, which was said to be just 48 hours away. It is said that the company's debts would have reached £3.3m by next April. Some of the company's problems are said to have been caused by the award-winning production of Verdi's Macbeth, which, it is thought, could have cost up to £750,000, and which, according to sources quoted in The Stage had not been given the board's full approval.
Apollo wants Sunderland Empire
Sunderland's Empire Theatre, currently owned and managed by the City Council through the Sunderland Theatre Trust, may become part of the SFX/Apollo empire after a spokeswoman said that the Council would give serious consideration to entering into a private management deal, with the Council providing part of the funding.
MD Symon Easton left last week to join the Derngate and Theatre Royal in Northampton, and there will be no moves to appoint a successor until the Council has decided upon the private managemetn proposals.