TheatreVoice

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Type Audio-based Theatre Discussions
Format Audio
Owner N/A
Editor Dominic Cavendish & Aleks Sierz
Founded September, 2003
Language English
Headquarters N/A
Website: www.theatrevoice.com

TheatreVoice is a free online theatre forum launched by Dominic Cavendish and others in September 2003.[1] It offers over 480 audio recordings of discussions about British theatre featuring a wide range of critics, journalists, academics and theatre professionals.[2]

The first British website dedicated to making recorded discussions of theatre publicly available,[3] since its founding in 2003 it has built a substantial archive of in-depth interviews and roundtable discussions about, among other related topics, Shakespeare, new writing, black British theatre, Asian theatre in Britain, regional theatre in the UK and musicals — with a particular focus on contemporary productions,[2] featuring transcripts[4] and podcasts[5] of many of its programs.

Contents

[edit] History

After three years in development by its founding editor, Dominic Cavendish, theatre critic for The Daily Telegraph, freelance critic David Benedict, critic of The Evening Standard Rachel Halliburton, and its web designer, Ben Neale, co-founder of the Marvellous Media Company, TheatreVoice was launched in September 2003.[1][3]

[edit] Mission

According to Cavendish, as quoted by Fisher in the British Theatre Guide:

“ The purpose of the venture is to ensure that theatre in this country gets talked about — by critics, practitioners, and the public — in a new way. In addition to the existing forms of media coverage, there's now a mechanism, thanks to Theatrevoice, for a whole range of different voices to be heard in the same place: critics can be more expansive than the usual space constraints of the print media allow, debating in detail the latest shows, and also a variety of issues that interest them; actors, writers, directors and designers can be heard as they actually sound in real-life, and at length; plus, for the first time, members of the public will be able to give their feedback directly to those who so often can make or break a show.[3] ”

[edit] Sponsors and Partners: The Theatre Museum and Rose Bruford College

At the time of its launch, in September 2003, the Theatre Museum (renamed the V&A Theatre Collections in 2007), provided further assistance and support, with particular encouragement from its director, Geoffrey Marsh, enabling the content of TheatreVoice to be incorporated as part of the V&A Theatre Collections Online. Since April 2008, TheatreVoice has been co-funded and supported by a partnership between the V&A Theatre Collections and Theatre Futures at Rose Bruford College, in Sidcup, Kent, which are listed as sponsors on its website.[1]

[edit] Content

During its first month, September 2003, TheatreVoice presented interviews with Royal Shakespeare Company actors Emma Fielding, Daniel Evans and Henry Goodman, discussions about Michael Frayn’s Democracy, Antony Sher’s ID, John Osborne’s A Hotel in Amsterdam and a debate about contemporary political theatre. Subsequently, similarly diverse content has featured additional supporting facilities, such as transcripts, podcasts,[5] and the TheatreVoice "Blog". The directory of external links provides related resources.[6]

According to the site's copyright notice, "With the exception of the contributions of individual interviewees, interviewers, panel members and editors, all the content on this website is copyright the Board of Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum."

[edit] Reception

TheatreVoice has been recognized in other online publications as a valuable resource.[3][7]

[edit] The blog

In April 2008, following the publication of "Theatre Voices in the Blogosphere", by its co-editor Aleks Sierz,[8] TheatreVoice launched its own blog.[9]

[edit] Electronic subscription newsletter

TheatreVoice also offers a free electronic subscription newsletter.[10]

[edit] Current staff

Editors and principal contributors[1]
Other principal contributors[1]

[edit] See also

  • American Theatre Wing – Free audio and video archive of theatrical seminars and discussions accessible on its official website (www.americantheatrewing.org) from 1980 to the present.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e About Us. theatrevoice.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  2. ^ a b The Archive. theatrevoice.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-04. “Among the other 480 plus recordings, free to access: Will Adamsdale, Jimmy Akingbola, Howard Barker, Alistair Beaton, Jean Benedetti, Steven Berkoff, Matthew Bourne, Michael Boyd, Mike Bradwell, Howard Brenton, Peter Brook, Nica Burns, Ken Campbell, Romeo Castellucci, Alison Chitty, Paule Constable, Dominic Cooke, Martin Crimp, Tim Crouch, Oliver Ford Davies, Janie Dee, Declan Donnellan, Dominic Dromgoole, David Edgar, David Eldridge, Marianne Elliott, Tim Etchells, Sir Richard Eyre, David Farr, Vicky Featherstone, Emma Fielding, Deborah Findlay, Michael Frayn, Sonia Friedman, Bill Gaskill, Pam Gems, David Glass, John Godber, Lisa Goldman, Chris Goode, Henry Goodman, Rupert Gould, Michael Grandage, David Greig, Trevor Griffiths, Lee Hall, Sir Peter Hall, David Harrower, Dominic Hill, Patricia Hodge, Nicholas Hytner, Paterson Joseph, Dennis Kelly, John Kani, Nicolas Kent, Ralph Koltai, Kwame Kwei-Armah, David Lan, Stewart Lee, Doug Lucie, Mustapha Matura, Simon McBurney, Owen McCafferty, Frank McGuinness, Nancy Meckler, Tom Murphy, Anthony Neilson, Bill Nighy, Joe Penhall, Alan Plater, Mark Ravenhill, Emma Rice, Ian Rickson, Philip Ridley, Josie Rourke, Willy Russell, Simon Russell Beale, Mark Rylance, Peter Sellars, Thea Sharrock, Michael Simkins, Sir Donald Sinden, Robin Soans, Max Stafford-Clark, Simon Stephens, David Storey, Tim Supple, Richard Thomas, Stephen Unwin, Jatinder Verma, Laura Wade, Harriet Walter, Sam Walters, Sacha Wares, Arnold Wesker, Roy Williams.”
  3. ^ a b c d Philip Fisher. "A New Concept for the World Wide Web", British Theatre Guide, 2003-10-26. Retrieved on 2008-05-04. 
  4. ^ Transcripts. theatrevoice.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  5. ^ a b Podcasting. theatrevoice.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  6. ^ The Links. theatrevoice.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  7. ^ Maxie Szalwinska. "Waking Up from Radio’s Afternoon Snooze", Radio & TV Blog, guardian.co.uk, 2006-11-21. Retrieved on 2003-05-04. 
  8. ^ Aleks Sierz. "Miscellany: Backpages: Theatre Voices in the Blogosphere". Contemporary Theatre Review 17.2 (May 2007): 266-68. 
  9. ^ TheatreVoice: The Blog (April 2008–present). Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
  10. ^ TheatreVoice: Subscribe Free. theatrevoice.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.

[edit] External links