Change of will Essay Example For Students

Change of will Essay She had planned to spend the early summer in Central Park rehearsing Henry VIII, a play about, among other things, the inheritance of a mans powerful position by a woman. But when the 26-member board of directors of the New York Shakespeare Festival summarily dismissed JoAnne Akalaitis from her job as the festivals artistic director on March 15, any number of plans changed. Over the next few days Akalaitis packed away 20 months worth of notabilia, issued a polite but unequivocal statement to the press, talked with characteristic frankness to friends and colleagues about how and why she was fired, then flew to Spain on April 5 for a visit with her daughter. Upon her return, she was scheduled to go into rehearsal for a play that might be viewed as the antithesis of a Shakespeare history: Jane Bowless poetic 1953 psychological study In the Summer House, which Andre Bishop has hired her to direct at Lincoln Center Theater Company. The gap in the Central Park season will be filled by Measure for Measure, a play about, among other things, the uses and abuses of power, and the gap at the Festivals helm was filled by director and playwright George C. Wolfe. Connected with the Festival since 1986 his Colored Museum and Spunk premiered there Wolfe has been curator of the theatres Festival of New Voices performances series for the past two seasons under Akalaitis. In accepting the appointment, Wolfe assumed the title by which the Festivals founder and driving force Joseph Papp had been known for some 37 years: producer. A secondary leadership role was taken on by another Festival regular, actor Kevin Kline, who will shoulder his title of artistic associate by playing the Duke in Measure for Measure. Akalaitiss ouster and Wolfes appointment stirred passions throughout the national theatre community and quarrelsome commentary in the press. Akalaitis, 55, had been hand-picked by Papp as his successor just three months before his death, and the boards decision to allow her barely a season-and-a-half in which to put her mark on the company was widely criticized. The board presented the change as a correction of bifurcated leadership (Akalaitiss coequal producing director Jason Steven Cohen will remain but will report to Wolfe in the new structure), but it is generally acknowledged that Akalaitiss taste for dark, audience-challenging work and her reported disinterest in courting funders and donors were looked upon with disfavor by board members. Demurrals by the board notwithstanding, the 38-year-old Wolfes in-demand status on Broadway as well as in the nonprofit theatrehe is the author and director of Jellys Last Jam and director of Angels in America was part of his appeal as her rep lacement. The New York Times, no fan of Akalaitiss work before or after her ascension to the Festival post, covered the transition in a series of articles almost celebratory in tone. In a March 21 piece, chief critic Frank Rich hailed the appointment of Wolfe as a close escape from calamity and went on to decry Akalaitiss narrow, academic vision and her virtually nonexistent producing record, referring to a dearth of new work originating at the Festival during her tenure. (An attachment to Akalaitiss press statement counters the criticism with a seven-page list of artistic activity.) In her own viewand that of several editorial commentators on the affair the Times reductive and unrelentingly assaultive coverage of Akalaitiss Festival leadership played a major role in her dismissal. The center of this story, Akalaitis believes, is an agenda on the part of the New York Times. Boards of directors have to have opinionsthey need to have their antennae out into the world, Akalaitis said in an interview the night before she boarded the plane for Spain. But if you have a board who doesnt know who the artistic director is, and that hasnt had the chance to use its muscle, it may be casting about for clues about how to think and behave and these come from the media. These signs from the media tell them something different from what may be actually happening at the theatre. In this case, its not that the board has a strong opinion it has no opinion. Its waiting to be told what to think by the newspapers. .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f , .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f .postImageUrl , .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f , .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f:hover , .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f:visited , .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f:active { border:0!important; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f:active , .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u113c889312a3b5f2ef19766b49df522f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: A theatre Critic commented EssayShe has little patience for those who see her as a transition figure. There is no transition what happens in theatre is that artists just come in and do their work. Im not a transitional person Im the person Joe Papp picked as his successor.