Off Stage Conversations

Hello, this is Andie Arthur, Executive Director of the South Florida Theatre League, and I'm here with Off Stage Conversations, where I take a look at what's of interest in the national and international theatre community.

Shutdown

Americans for the Arts has a roundup on how the government shutdown is effecting the arts.

Trans Casting

MJ Kaufman has a really insightful piece on casting trans actors -- taking a look at why directors only cast cisgender actors in cisgender roles, but also cast cisgender actors in trans roles.

Academics as Critics

The Dallas Morning News has recently hired local professors as arts critics. This way the Morning News can provide more comprehensive arts coverage without paying for a full time staff position. It'll be interesting to see if this becomes a trend as arts coverage diminishes nationwide.

Data and the Dying Theatre

Howard Sherman takes a look at the data showing that theatre attendance is going down in the United States, despite some of the seemingly conflicting statements on the reports.

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, young adults (16-19) reported that they are more likely to attend theatre than any other age group.

Non-Traditional Spaces

Lyn Gardner writes for the Guardian on how traditional spaces can be intimidating to non-traditional audiences.