Don Rubin* When asked about African theatre, most theatre critics and scholars would be hard-pressed to name more than one or two playwrights beyond the Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian dramatist Wole Soyinka or the anti-apartheid activist Athol Fugard. Both made their
Erika Fischer-Lichte* It is my pleasure and my honour to give the laudatory speech on the occasion of Femi Osofisan receiving the Thalia Prize. Let me begin on a personal note. I am all the more happy about his selection
Irène Sadowska Guillon* Le labyrinthe magique de Max Aub, adaptation José Ramón Fernández, mise en scène Ernesto Caballero. Distribution : Julián Templado et autres – Chema Adeva, Vicente Dalmases et autres – Javier Carramiñana, Santiago Peñafiel et autres – Paco Celdrán,
Maria Zărnescu* The “Csiky Gergely” Hungarian State Theatre of Timişoara, Romania. Koldusopera (Beggar’s Opera) by Kokan Mladenović and Kornélia Góli, after John Gay’s play. Music: Irena Popović, lyrics and directing: Kokan Mladenović, set design: Marija Kalabić, costumes: Tatjana Radišić, choreography:
Shakespeare’s Tempest in Italy. After the Tempest, directed by Armando Punzo with prisoners of La Fortezz in Volterra; Before Break, choreography by Michela Lucenti with Collettivo Balletto Civile in Vicenza; Prospero / WS, directed by Massimo Munaro at Teatro del
European Theatre Prize in Connection with the Shakespeare Festival in Craiova, Romania, April 2016. Barry Gaines* For two weeks, in April 2016, the European theatre spotlight focused on the city of Craiova in southern Romania. The 10th Craiova International Shakespeare
Lissa Tyler Renaud* Dream of the Red Chamber. Adapted from the novel by Cao Xueqin. Directed by Stan Lai. San Francisco War Memorial Opera House, California. Final dress rehearsal/press night, Sept. 7, 2016 (World Premiere, Sept. 9). If I had
Festival Divadlo in Pilsen, Czech Republic, September 2016 Matti Linnavuori* The annual showcase of best Czech theatre, Festival Divaldo, in Pilsen, faithfully incorporates one small-scale, low-key production in a nearly-experimental, or, at least, non-conventional style; the kind of production at
Selim Lander* 2666 d’après Robert Bolaño, adaptation et mise en scène de Julien Gosselin, collectif « Si vous pouviez lécher mon cœur », création du Festival d’Avignon 2016. Scénographie : Hubert Colas, musique : Guillaume Bachele et Rémi Alexandre, lumière : Nicolas Joubert, vidéo : Jérémie
Bitef festival, Belgrade, Serbia, October 2016 Martin Morrow* For this critic, the 50th-anniversary edition of the Belgrade International Theatre Festival began, not with a bang, nor a whimper, but with the unnerving whine of a wood-chipper. It accompanied a truly