All the World's a Stage

Serials Review

2009-09-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Dear School of Drama Faculty, Staff, and Students,

During the Spring Quarter, I advised you that an anticipated cut to the University Libraries materials budget would require a review of our journal, database, and other subscriptions with the aim of reducing our continuing obligations by up to $2 million annually. We are now nearing the end of this review and have linked a list of proposed cancellations to the Libraries Serials and Electronic Resources Review website at: http://www.lib.washington.edu/cms/serialsreview2009. The list, which is accessible to the UW community via NetId login, includes all the titles being considered for cancellation by the UW Seattle campus libraries, excluding Health Sciences. There is also a link to proposed Health Sciences cancellations.

The list can be sorted in title or broad disciplinary order, and it is searchable by title. There is a feedback mechanism where you may comment on titles you feel are essential or desirable to keep. The deadline for feedback is October 10.

Thank you for your help in this important task. If you have any questions about the 2009 Serials and Electronic Resources Review, feel free to contact me directly.

Angela Weaver
5-3693
aw6@u.washington.edu

Arts Programs in Academia Are Forced to Nip Here, Adjust There

2009-08-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

Arts Programs in Academia Are Forced to Nip Here, Adjust There
By PATRICIA COHEN
Published: August 10, 2009
New York Times

Students at public and private colleges and universities around the country will find arts programs, courses and teachers missing when they descend on campuses this fall.

Rethinking Gender Bias in Theater

2009-06-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

Rethinking Gender Bias in Theater

By PATRICIA COHEN
Published: June 24, 2009
New York Times

A yearlong research project, conducted by a Princeton economics student, both confirms and upends assumptions about bias in the playwriting business.

Not Excited About the Tonys

2009-05-06T13:13:00.001-07:00

The Tony Award nominations were announced today with a few surprises (mostly of the "Why weren't they nominated" variety) and very little excitement on my part.

Lynn Nottage Wins 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

2009-04-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

Lynn Nottage was awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for her play, Ruined, which was inspired by Mother Courage. Ruined is currently playing an extended engagement at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Stage I at City Center. The play opened on February 10, and MTC is currently offering tickets through May 10. Read more about the play and the Pulitzer Prize at Broadway.com

New Portrait of Shakespeare Emerges

2009-03-09T08:06:00.000-07:00

In a Time Magazine article, Stanley Wells, professor emeritus of Shakespeare Studies at Birmingham University and one of the world's most distinguished Shakespeare scholars, says he has identified a new portrait of the Bard.

Desktop Article Delivery

2009-03-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

Desktop article delivery from the UW Libraries and beyond... at no cost for current UW students, faculty and staff

I want to let you know about a special pilot project the Libraries is conducting this spring that faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, and staff will find useful.

From March through June, the UW Libraries will be piloting a service thatwill provide desktop delivery of journal articles. Libraries staff will pull and scan journal articles from print volumes held by the UW Libraries and deliver them electronically to your desktop free of charge. The purpose of the pilot is to gather data about the actual demand and costs for such a service. At the end of the academic year the results will be evaluated and we'll determine if a permanent pull and scan service is feasible. Of course, our budget situation for the coming year is uncertain at this point, but we think it's important to gather the data now so that we'll be in a position to make a decision in the future.

More information about the pilot project is available at http://www.lib.washington.edu/ill/pilot.html

Intiman Artistic Director Wins Tony

2008-06-16T09:19:00.001-07:00

Bartlett Sher, Artistic Director of Seattle's Intiman Theatre, won the Tony Award for Best Director for his revival of South Pacific. Read more about his win and the other award winners in the New York Times.

Artists in the Workforce

2008-06-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

The NEA has released a 250-page report, Artists in the Workforce" that tracks the number of professional artists across disciplines over a fifteen year period from 1990-2005. Not surprisingly, California had the highest number of actors per capita. There's an article in today's New York Times about the report with a breakdown of some of the statistics and a graph of artists by the numbers.

Tony Nominations

2008-05-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

From the New York Times: In the Heights Leads Tony Nominations Intiman Artistic Director Bartlett Sher was nominated for a “Best Direction of a Musical” Tony for the first-ever Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific. This marks Bart's third Tony nomination in four years.

I'll be off to the East Coast next week, maybe I'll get the chance to see some of the Tony nominated shows that are still running. Wish me luck!

Tracy Letts Wins 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

2008-04-08T11:09:00.000-07:00

Letts won for his play, August: Osage County. You can read a review of the play in The New York Times. There's also a Times Topics page on Letts.

The Drama Library has Bug, Killer Joe, and Man from Nebraska.

New Due Dates for Plays

2008-02-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

Effective January 31, 2008, all acting editions, plays, collections of plays, and monologues will have the same loan periods as other books in the Drama Library collection. Undergraduates will be able to check out plays for four weeks and graduate and faculty will be able to check out plays for twelve weeks.

Drama Library Renovation

2007-12-28T10:19:00.000-08:00

Although we've still got some cleaning up to do and decorative items to add like more poster cases, the bulk of the Drama Library renovation is complete. We won't be rivaling Seattle Public any time soon for style and flash but the renovated space is a far cry from what the library used to look like. The space was painted, we added a Periodicals/Open Reserves/Monologue section with seating, had end panels put on our book shelves, created a new open Acting Editions section, added a couple of lounge chairs and a table, purchased a new circulation desk, and had security gates installed. Take a look at some of the after pictures.

Uncle Vanya

2007-06-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

A friend and I caught a matinee showing of Uncle Vanya at Intiman this past weekend. If you've never seen a Chekhov play, this production will be an entertaining and thoughtful introduction to an oft produced/seldom produced well dramatist. With direction by Bartlett Sher of a Craig Lucas adaptation, the production manages to walk the fine line between comedy and pathos necessary to navigate the triumphs and pitfalls of life as portrayed by Chekhov in his plays.

When Vanya is first introduced to us he seems buffoonish, idle, and unecessarily bitter towards and jealous of his brother-in-law, Professor Serebriakov, a scholar of literature and the arts. However, by the end of the play, the audience comes to understand Vanya's despair and his sometimes outrageous desires and hopes. Indeed, his actions begin to seem not only justified but appropriate in response to his provocations.

Featuring an amazingly fluid set by John McDermott, a haunting score by Adam Guettel (of The Light in the Piazza fame), and uniformly engaging performances (particularly by Mark Nelson as Vanya), this is a Vanya not to be missed.

Welcome!

2007-06-26T10:32:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the new Drama Library blog, All the World's a Stage. I will be posting interesting bits of library news and play reviews as well as soliciting information from you, the Drama Library user. Check back later in the summer for pics of our library refurbishment. Take care and have a great summer!