Link.

If there were something carved on it or some secret, 400-year-old parchment compartment buried deep in side it that contained a document stating who actually wrote his works–or better yet–the missing 60 other plays that he wrote–I might be a bit more excited about this find.

Still, it is a bit of theatre news, and since I am an avid fan of the Bard, I’m obliged to make mention…

MattJ over at theatre conversation and political frustration has a great article on the state of theatre in education today.

Having been a high school theatre teacher, I must admit that he has some valid points. That having been said, I don’t think the answer is eliminating the programs in high schools, but changing the focus of these programs from production (which is the easy trap to fall into for theatre teachers with limited experience) to…stay with me…education! These young actors (and even some in the early years of the undergraduate programs) need to have their focus shifted from production to truly learning how to evaluate their own process and experiences on stage and learn from them. The problem is that most high school theatre teachers and undergraduate professors don’t want to take the time to do this because it’s easier to work with students who already have “talent” and will therefore make their productions look better.

Got a comment? Post it here or throw it to us over in the Green Room!

Wendy Wasserstein Dies at 55; Her Plays Spoke to a Generation - New York Times

RIP.  She will be sorely missed.

Association for Psychological Science: ‘To be or, or … um … line!’

This is a fantastic article on the process of memorizing for the actor. Apparently, this couple has been doing research for a long time about this and have come up with the same principles that I discovered for myself in just 3 years of grad school! Anyway, for any actor, this article is a must.

This link was provided to me from Widgett over at Needcoffee, who discovered it over at Boing Boing. Enjoy.

The New York Times has a great article on the state of acting today. I would suggest that, if you are an actor or are considering pursuing acting as a career, it’s a bad idea to stop reading this article before you are finished; you’ll just get depressed. The article is an honest look at the life of the “non-celebrity” actor.

Stage Acting: It’s Nice Work if You Can Afford It. - New York Times