Archinect - News

'Grenfell: in the words of survivors' play comes to New York this spring

2024-03-21T13:36:00-04:00

A new dramatization of the deadly 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy is being staged next month at the St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, after traveling from the National Theatre in London, where it premiered last summer.

Playwright Gillian Slovo’s interviews with survivors are the basis for the play’s verbatim dialog. Directors Phyllida Lloyd and Anthony Simpson-Pike will reprise their roles for the four-week run, beginning an opening night performance on April 13th.

A July review of the first adaptation from The Guardian called it “a masterpiece of forensic fury.” The New York Times’ Alex Marshall wrote about the play's proselytizing effects, framing it as a democratic and justice-driven “call for change.”

The aftermath of the blaze that claimed the lives of 72 people has indeed led to several proactive reforms, including a recent mandate concerning cladding remediation and the appointment of a new building safety regulator. Potential criminal charges stemming from the London Me...

Metro Blue Line is the route for `traveling circus' plays

2011-07-06T20:23:20-04:00

William Shakespeare wrote plays in five acts; now comes Watts Village Theater Company, organizing a theater piece in five light-rail stops. Dubbed "Meet Me @Metro II," it'll be performed along the Metro Blue Line between Watts and downtown Long Beach over the coming two weekends.

Roger Scruton: red rag to an architectural bull

2011-04-14T14:34:01-04:00

While Scruton maybe "pleased as punch" with himself, his column in the Times have a few in Britain "cream crackered." Both the Guardian and BdOnline have prepared their own commentary to Scruton's salacious, if not shallow, reading of contemporary architecture. As reported in this Bdonline.co.uk article "Philosopher mauls 'starchitects'," Scruton's column can be summed up by a few quotes:

"'New architecture… is designed to stand out as the work of some inspired artist who does not build for people but sculpts space for his own expressive ends.'

He claimed the resulting designs resembled 'vegetables, vehicles, hairdryers, washing machines or backyard junk' and added: 'The typical starchitect building is without a facade or an orientation that it shares with its neighbours.'

'It is designed as waste: throwaway architecture, involving vast quantities of energy-intensive materials, which will be demolished within 20 years.'"

Of course, a cage rattle of this severity usually does not ...