the week of august 1-5, 2022
the viscount who sued me
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icymi: bills, bills, bills
The third installment of Bills, Bills, Bills dropped on Wednesday. This month’s money diary is from a PhD Theatre Studies student in the Midwest making $24,000 a year:
On a related note: massive congratulations to Bills, Bills, Bills editor Jenna Clark Embrey on her new job as the Literary Manager/Dramaturg of Lincoln Center Theater. (Please know that Jenna informed me of this news by texting me a GIF from The Nanny, which demonstrates her extensive mastery of the American dramatic canon and a precise understanding of audience. LCT is so lucky to have her!)
in-person theatre
The Edinburgh International Festival is now running through August 28th. Theatre highlights include the UK premiere of International Theatre Amsterdam’s adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life, Alan Cumming and Steven Hoggett’s Burn, mandla rae’s as british as a watermelon, Liz Lochhead’s adaptation of Medea, Sri Lankan-Australian writer S. Shakthidharan’s Counting and Cracking, Eline Arbo’s adaptation of The End of Eddy, and James Thierrée’s ROOM.
New York Stage and Film’s second and final play readings weekend runs through August 7th. The projects include Keelay Gipson’s demons (directed by Steph Paul), Preston Max Allen’s Modern Gentleman (directed by Trip Cullman), and Anna Deavere Smith’s Love All (directed by Marc Bruni).
The Ojai Playwrights Conference runs August 7-14. This year’s readings and workshops include Vivian Barnes’ The Sensational Sea Mink-Ettes (directed by Logan Vaughn), Bill Cain’s God's Spies (directed by Hal Brooks), Jahna Ferron-Smith’s Running While Black (directed by Taylor Reynolds), Peter Kim George’s To Red Tendons (directed by May Adrales), Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Dog Day Afternoon (directed by Robert Egan), Matthew Paul Olmos’ a home what howls (or the house what was ravine) (directed by Rebecca Wear), Michael Shayan’s Avaaz (directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel), Zakiya Young’s Suburban Black Girl (directed by Khanisha Foster), and Anna Ziegler’s The Janeiad (directed by Casey Stangl).
The Sol Festival runs in-person and online August 7-10. The festival dedicated to amplifying Latiné voices will include digital panels, VR experiences and readings of Vanessa Garcia’s 1000 Miles (directed by Victoria Collado), Iraisa Ann Reilly’s The Jersey Devil Is A Papi Chulo (directed by Jean Carlo Yunén A.), Oscar A. L. Cabrera’s Bonnet Blues (co-directed by Daniela Thome and Adriana Gaviria), Jorge B. Merced’s Aloha Boricua, Nancy García Loza’s Ascent (or the eighth wonder), and Franky D. Gonzalez’s That Must Be the Entrance to Heaven.
The Atlantic’s First Gen MixFest runs August 8-17. The free readings series includes Alex Riad’s Quality Cellular (directed by Padraic Lillis), Keiko Green’s Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play (directed by Jess McLeod), Katie Đỗ’s love you long time (already) (directed by Cara Hinh), Ngozi Anyanwu’s My Name is Beatrice (directed by Candis C. Jones), and readings of four commissioned short plays by Bleu Beckford–Burrell, Shayan Lotfi, Roger Q. Mason, and juliany taveras.
Stephanie Swirsky’s Don’t Do This To Us starts performances August 12th at The Tank. Tasha Gordon-Solmon directs the world premiere about a Jewish woman who decides to combat growing anti-Semitism by time-traveling to “hook up with a teenage Jared Kushner and break his penis, preventing him from marrying Ivanka — saving the lives and reputation of Jews around the world.”
digital theatre
Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s Last Words of Uncle Dirt drops August 9th from Playwrights Horizons’ Soundstage. The audio play is directed and composed by Michael Roth.
Edinburgh Fringe has over 40 online, on-demand offerings. I went to the 2018 Fringe and saw 22 shows in four days. Edinburgh Fringe is like Mardi Gras and the Olympics: equal parts free-wheeling artistry, debauchery, and endurance test — mixed the unpredictability and amateur weirdness of every street festival, experimental undergrad thesis production, and subway performer you've ever seen — while also simmering with valid concerns about its environmental impact and sustainability. There are over 3,000 productions happening this year and The Guardian highlighted a few you can watch at home: theatre about an accidental astronaut, the lives of Paul Robeson and environmentalist Rachel Carson, the French revolution and Shakespeare performed by migrant actors. (The full list of online theatre shows is here.)
yours truly, lady whistledown’s legal team
Netflix sued the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical creators for copyright infringement. Songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear developed the musical adaptation on TikTok and won the 2022 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. On July 26th, they staged a sold-out, live concert of the album at the Kennedy Center. Netflix initially supported the work as a free, online fan tribute — but filed the lawsuit after “Barlow & Bear [sought] to create multiple revenue streams for themselves without formal permission to utilize the Bridgerton IP.”
The New York Times notes that the duo’s legal team had previously communicated with Netflix about the album recording and the intellectual property concerns around live stagings:
In an interview with The Times after winning the Grammy, [Barlow and Bear] said that Netflix had given their lawyers the green light for them to turn their songs into an album. But when asked at the time if the musical was likely to be staged in the future, Bear said, “It’s a bit out of our court because we don’t own the I.P. We feel like it would fit perfectly onstage. We see it so clearly. Netflix, you know where to find us.”
Netflix did find them: the lawsuit stated that “Netflix had been willing to negotiate a license which would permit live performances and album distribution, but the pair refused.” Barlow and Bear have yet to publicly comment.
Unlike half of Twitter, I’m not going to masquerade as a copyright law expert. In the funniest part of the full filing, Netflix doesn’t think Barlow & Bear’s attorneys are experts either:
“Barlow & Bear have admitted this publicly—that [they] “don’t own the I.P.” Yet in attempting to defend their clients’ blatant infringement, Barlow & Bear’s attorneys have now taken the position that they somehow do not need a license because Netflix did not file this lawsuit sooner. That is not how copyright law works.”
I’m so curious about the communication breakdown and the brazen decision to announce the concert knowing — and not really caring! — that Barlow & Bear didn’t have permission from Netflix. What’s the point of having representation if they’re not protecting your financial and legal interests?
the regional theatre game of thrones
Alan Paul is the new artistic director of Barrington Stage Company. Paul is the current associate artistic director of Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he’s worked since 2007. He succeeds co-founder Julianne Boyd, who is retiring after 27 years.
things I read this week when i wasn’t watching the love island finale
Nicole Hertvik on the Adventure Theatre MTC staff’s open letter detailing pay inequity and unsafe working conditions, along with the leaders’ response to the allegations. (DC Theater Arts)
Mark Caro covered the ongoing mess at Victory Gardens for The New York Times. The way the VG board is doubling down on their clownery is the antithesis of stewardship.
I refuse to let the devil steal my joy so I am not writing about Scott Rudin but you can read about him quashing the Broadway reopening of To Kill A Mockingbird on Deadline.
