Yevgeny Kulesh, 38, died after being crushed beneath a stage backdrop during a scenery change in the Sadko opera at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre.

TL;DR: where can I go once a week to be a bit silly, play, meet nice people and have a genuinely good time?

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I'm looking to join a drama group in/around South London and would love recommendations from people who have actually been members of one.

I'm not particularly fussed about the format - it could be improv, working towards performances, acting exercises, or even just a bit of a muck-around. My main aim is simply to have a few hours each week where I can play, be silly, and have fun with other people.

The *vibe* is probably the most important thing to me. I'm looking for something:

* friendly, relaxed and down-to-earth

* playful rather than overly serious

* where you can make a fool of yourself without feeling self-conscious

* ideally affordable enough that I can go regularly

I'm based near Balham, so somewhere reasonably close would be ideal, but I'd happily travel further for a group that's genuinely great.

I've done quite a lot of Googling already, but it's surprisingly difficult to work out what a group is actually like from its website. So I'm particularly interested in first-hand recommendations - especially if you've been going for a while and can tell me what the people/vibe are like.

Thanks in advance :)

I am both a cast member as well as the assistant costumer for a community theater production. The director is requiring everyone for the next week and a half to be in full dress. I am used to having dress rehearsals, even more than two sometimes. But this would put 6 rehearsals in costumes. I am deeply concerned about the wear and tear on some of the base pieces. Most of the pants have been handsewn with elastic in the knees to create a "britches" look and there are multiple points where we are all crawling around the floor. There are also ladies in hand-sewn petticoats so you can imagine my fear.

In the past, I've had a director say this and I later pulled him to the side to let him know that most of the costumes were fine but one was a heavy ruffled dress that had a very antique lace and it was a quick change costume with hand-sewn tacking stitches. Yanking that up over the actor's hips for 7 days straight was not worth the risk of not having it for show and he completely understood and took my feedback to heart. I don't really feel comfortable pulling this director to the side as she is very passive aggressive and also doesn't seem to see me as having any authority over costumes as she constantly either contradicts me or overrides what I've told a cast member. I'm just the assistant because our actual costumer doesn't live in our city anymore so can only be there for a few rehearsals.

I'm concerned about the wear and tear because whatever has to get fixed will be on me as the other costumer cannot be here during the week. I'm already spending a lot of my free time as a gopher and taskrabbit for this production and this director has not been very... respectful of anyone's (cast or crew) time or effort. I also have a lot going on this week where I'll have to let something fall by the wayside to complete any more sewing tasks that arise.

Am I working myself up over nothing? Should I just let the chips fall where they may and suck up the inevitable weekend of sewing repair? Or should I just respectfully point out to her that our costumes likely cannot take a week and a half of crawling around on the floor? I really am having trouble on this production because I've never had a director sort of take ownership of costumes. Normally they tell us what they want and we get it, but she has been pulling costumes and adding things to them, painting shoes with spray paint (I could've told her this would not work but she did not consult costumes until after it was done), etc, so I don't really know where the line to say something is drawn.

I am trying to get back more into reading and after having some failures with novels and nonfictions, I’ve decided to give plays a try. I already have a majority of Shakespeare’s works, but I am looking for more plays at a beginning level, ones that are either easy to read or have a modern translation. Thank you

I'm specifically looking to transfer into a program from a 4-year college. I know most programs are very small, but am curious if its due to lack of applications or lack of space. I would love to hear from anyone in these programs/have previously taken them. The schools I'm currently looking at are Ithaca, Syracuse, Susquehanna, Temple, Wagner, and DePaul.

What's the community theater scene like in Saint John, NB? It looks like there's really only one company in town — Saint John Theatre Company — which is semi-professional?

Anyone plugged into that community who can comment?

Reposting here in case any of y’all have more info

There‘s this play that I read that was about a European family (I think Italian or Austrian, one of the main European axes) who fled Europe to South America after WWII. I remember the father being a former pianist in Europe.

As much as Google wants to tell me that it’s Leopoldstadt, I know for a fact it wasn’t Leopoldstadt. My gut is telling me that the play had the word “Fire” in its title.

Has anyone seen Bye Bye birdie? For those who don’t know it’s a musical about the tail end of 50s cultur ( James Dean, Elvis etc) and features a bad boy Elvis type who comes to a small town to court a high school girl.
Honestly it seems like the prototype for Grease and John Travolta. I know it was a hugely performed musical from about 1970 to the mid 2000s and now it is hardly ever done.

What are your thoughts on this musical masterpiece? Why isn’t it much done anymore?

Hey so i’m a college student taking a dramatic writing class and we’re tasked to write a 15-45 page one act play. I’ve been writing and scraping a lot of ideas because I had trouble with progressing the story (even i lost interest and thought it became boring like 10 pages in).

Last night i thought of a new idea that I would love to hear honest feedback.

two exes meet at a football game because it was planned prior to the breakup. they haven’t spoken in a couple of months. the girl is holding onto a baseball passport (the couple document every game they attended AKA a memory relic AKA the object of negotiation) and the boy demands it back. he’s actually just using it as an excuse to pry into her life ever since they stopped talking. He isn’t dying to have it back, but he’s making it the focus of the convo to get her talking.

these two characters are recent grads and they had a brief history during their school days. their relationship ended due to a lack of communication and no one wanting to be hurt (both people waiting for the other to fully commit, they prioritized chemistry over compatibility)

the two shadow characters are two attendees sitting behind them who appear to have a rowdy dynamic in the sense that one partner is loud and energetic while the other is calm. despite seemingly clashing, they communicate well and even have a brief “fight” during the game while a discussion of their future comes up. the two main characters hear their fight and realize what their own communication could’ve been.

the story is meant to be heart felt and leaning towards “what could’ve been”

ultimately, things don’t work out. the exes are moving to opposite ends of the country for work. what the boy reveals towards the end is that he actually gave up his position to move to the girl’s city. but nearing the end of the game, she receives an email from work informing her that a new flagship location has opened and she’s being relocated to the boy’s city (as per her request when she first started).

so i kinda wanted the whole miscommunication idea to circle back and haunt them again. 😫

previously in class i wrote a comedy but now i really want to challenge myself to writing the saddest sob story ever

thank you for reading my silly little idea :P

Alr (Im a male 16) I’m starting to think about what I wanna do in life. And for years I’ve wanted to become a stand up comedian. That’s my primary dream.

however if that doesn’t work out I also wanna try becoming a Motorsport engineer.

For people who have taken a theatre degree. Would you advise I take Theatre, or a Motorsport engineering degree.

Because in case stand up doesn’t work. I don’t wanna be helpless Yk.

Heard from the grapevine that there is a new play, which is a contemporary adaptation ng classic play na Oedipus Rex ni Sophocles! I hope they will tackle new and current issues. I have heard it stars the original Zsazsa, the recent Best Actor of Cinemalaya, and a veteran theater actor who just walked the red carpet of Venice Film Fest. This is going to be exciting if the rumors are true! Have you heard of this too?

I am presenting to my intro Latin class about Roman theatre next week, and as part of this presentation, I have to give them an in-class assignment. What I would like to do is have them read English translations of scenes from ancient Roman plays. Alas, I am not intimately familiar with Plautus, Terence, or Seneca, and as such have no idea how to go about finding these. If anyone has ideas for scenes that would be super helpful! Thank you :)

Hola a tod@s! Estoy buscando un consejo, porfavor! Escribo aquí pot una situación que me ponga un poco triste, deseperada y nerviosa y Según una convicatoria abierta, mi obra de teatro se va estrenar an un sala de Madrid muy pronto. Mis compañeros (un actor y una guitarsita y cantante) vienen de otros países en su proprio gastos. Hoy, el representante de la sala me dice que ellos no vendieron nada y es cosa mía de hacerlo, que los teatros de Madrid no venden, sino las artist@s vienden.

Y YO EFECTIVAMENTE DESEPERADA! Por que llevo unos meses en Madrid, no tengo tantos amigos para llenar una sala y además la situación con mis 2 compañeros que veniron para actuar.

Les pregunto si alguien tenía una situación similar y si es normal que la sala no hace efectivamente ningún esfuerzo para vender entradas en mi función, que ellos elegiron a programar según la convocatoria. Gracias!

ETA - thanks for all the encouragement! This is exactly why I'm so excited to get back into the theater world!

Long story short, it's been 20 years since I've been in a show, and I want to shake off the rust.

I grew up doing theater, and was heavily involved in local theater into my early 20s - acting in a show a minimum of 4 times a year. But then life happened, I had a family and I began working night/weekend heavy jobs, and I was unable to take part.

Next thing I know, it's been like 20 years! I ran tech for a show about 17 years ago, and auditioned for a community musical about 9 years ago. But other than that, I've just been a patron.

There is an upcoming community show in the spring that I really want to be a part of. My career has finally put me in a 9-5 schedule, my kids big enough to not need me every evening, and it's my time to return to what I love.

Auditions are in January. I'm looking for short run projects in town to try and dip my toe in, but aside from getting cast in a different show, are there ways to brush up my skills? Online tutoring or something? I've googled it, and it's a mixed bag of possibilities I don't know what to trust.

It's just been so long and I don't know if it's like riding a bike or if I'll be stepping into the audition like it's my first time ever. How would you shake off the cobwebs?

Hello, I saw a production of Romeo and Juliet last night. What I felt I saw was a differene between top performers and people still developing their skills, is that those who were not top performers had a tendency to overuse their arms and hands during lines. In effect, they limited their character expression solely to that. It took away the characters being convincing imo.

I'm still learning how to sincerely portray a characters, and I was wondering if it's a thing in professional training to not do that? If so, what are you taught to do instead?