Links-agogo

Naked Masks: Sir Ian McKellen, Clothed

A Weekly Compendium of the Articles What I Read and Enjoyed, or The Guardian, I Love You:

Lyn Gardner laments the 33% cut in arts funding, designed to divert more money to the Olympics, pondering the chilling effect it will have on the development of new work and the ability of companies to tour.

Maxie Szalwinska surveys the brouhaha over an instance of onstage nudity, not the display of Daniel Radcliffe’s pubescent loins, but the perhaps more shocking if less salacious deployment of Sir Ian McKellen’s sexagenarian nether regions. In King Lear, to be seen at BAM in the fall, McKellen strips off during the storm scene. Apparently, audiences have complained that they weren’t forewarned.

In the L.A. Times, Zachary Pincus-Roth debates the merits and demerits of having a Hollywood star (Kevin Spacey, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, etc.) run your theater company.

In the New York Times, Joy Goodwin takes a shine to sexy baldy actor Michael Cerveris. She follows him as he rehearses LoveMusik during the day and performs in King Lear in the evenings. Pull quote: “The tricky thing,” he said, “is going to be making sure that Kent doesn’t wind up with a German accent.”

Feminist Spectator Jill Dolan offers a thorough and personal analysis of her Humana Festival theater-going. Included: Batch: An American Bachelor/ette Party Spectacle conceived by Alice Tuan, Whit MacLaughlin, and New Paradise Labs (I would love to see that!), When Something Wonderful Ends: A History, A One Woman, One Barbie Play by Sherry Kramer, The Open Road Anthology, The As If Body Loop, and Strike-Slip.