Making a Memory: The Fleeting Magic of Theatre
Plus, your bi-weekly round-up of theatre news you may have missed!
Welcome to The Scene, your bi-weekly round-up of theatre news you may have missed.
In this issue’s Big Idea, we look back on the school year and celebrate the fleeting magic of theatre, acknowledging the unique and wondrous joy of this ephemeral art form. In The Spotlight, we offer some plays and musicals inspired by Jane Austen, and in “Shows You Should Know,” we commemorate Memorial Day with Meredith Dayna Levy’s Decision Height, an all-female play honoring the sacrifice of US women pilots in WWII.
So, raise the curtain and shine the spotlight as we dive into another thrilling week in the theatre world.
Welcome to The Scene.
Fallen Angels Will Stream Upcoming Performance Live on BroadwayHD by Stephi Wild, BroadwayWorld | The show, starring Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne, will stream live during the 7pm performance on Friday, June 5, 2026. Read…
Amber Gray Has Wanted to Play Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show Since She Was a Teenager by Diep Tran, Playbill | The musical theatre favorite is not afraid to get ugly. Plus, what to expect from the Hadestown live stage film. Read…
How the Stars of 6 Tony-Nominated Shows Get Into Character by Michael Paulson, The New York Times | For Nathan Lane, Taraji P. Henson, Daniel Radcliffe and other actors, it can take wigs, group hugs or banishing ghosts to make the transformation. Read…
Liberation Wins the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama by Margaret Hall, Playbill | The 2026 Pulitzer Prizes were revealed May 4, with the Drama category going to Bess Wohl’s Liberation. Read…
Watch a scene from the 2026 Pulitzer Prize winner, Liberation:
Winners Named for 2026 Educational Theatre Association Awards by Logan Culwell-Block, Playbill | The annual honors recognize educators, administrators, researchers, advocates, alumni and schools for work in theatre education. Read…
Freddie Hendricks Will Receive the 2026 Excellence in Theatre Education Tony Award by Linda Buchwald, TheaterMania | Hendricks is a middle school theater teacher at Utopian Academy for the Arts. Read…
How Is God Is Set Aleshea Harris Free by Soraya Nadia McDonald, American Theatre | Playwright and writer-director Aleshea Harris chats as her acclaimed play about twin sisters bent on revenge reaches the screen. Read…
How Kirk Lynn Discovered, Completed, and Made Sense of Thornton Wilder’s Lost Play by David Gordon, TheaterMania | The Emporium has its New York debut at Classic Stage Company. Read…
The Big Idea
Making a Memory: The Fleeting Magic of Theatre
by The Scene
It’s mid-May. Memorial Day, an American holiday honoring the memory of lost heroes, approaches. The school year is winding down. In some parts of the U.S., school is out and summer has already begun. In others, teachers lead their final lessons, students cram for final exams, upperclassmen flock to their proms, and graduation ceremonies loom around the corner.
It’s a time to reflect. To take stock. To look back on the memories we’ve created.
And of all the memories you and your students have built this year, the most enduring – the ones that will live the deepest and last the longest – were likely forged in the rehearsal room or on the stage.
We often hear that theatre, unlike other art forms, is ephemeral – it exists only for those present in the room, and then it becomes a memory. Unlike film, literature or the visual arts, theatre happens in a moment and then disappears.
“I like the ephemeral thing about theatre. Every performance is like a ghost – it’s there and then it’s gone.” – Maggie Smith, The Guardian, 2004
But that is the wonderful paradox of the performing arts: This intangible, wondrous thing – this shared, lived experience – binds and inspires a group of people for one glorious instant, only to pass into the cavernous halls of memory.
Sure, you can record an archival video of your performance (provided you have secured the proper permissions from your licensing company!), but a video snapshot will never fully capture the energy, excitement and mystery of that live experience.
Because in that moment when strangers gathered in the dark to take a journey together, no one present was fully sure of what would happen next. No one knew if that physical gag would land with a flourish or a thud, whether that tricky bit of choreography would thrill or bemuse, whether that final monologue would bring tears or provoke laughter. And no one knew what the cast and crew would do if they suddenly encountered a missing prop, a ripped costume, a blown Fresnel or a glitchy mic.
Anything could have happened. And indeed, something did. Maybe it wasn’t what you planned. Maybe it was even better than you’d imagined. But it happened, and everyone in the room experienced it together.
And now it is gone.
“Theatre is always a self-destructive art, and it is always written on the wind.” – Peter Brook, The Empty Space, 1968
Some people who were there have already forgotten the experience. Some are hazy on the details but remember the way it made them feel. Others will carry vivid, distinct, detailed memories with them for the rest of their lives. But all of them – the theatre makers and the audience – will remember (or forget) without the benefit of a tangible, permanent commodity they can revisit to capture the entire event.
And that very impermanence is the magic of theatre. It is the reason we go back, again and again and again, to create another memory, to find a new experience, to tell an old tale in a fresh way. We do it because we cannot find that magic anywhere else.
“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more.” – William Shakespeare, Macbeth, 1606
So let’s celebrate the memories you’ve created this year. Take pride in the friendships created, the goals achieved, the hearts inspired and the obstacles overcome. Relish your accomplishments. Savor the recollection of a job well done, an objective attained, a memory shared.
Because you – and your cast, and your crew, and your audience – somehow managed to make the impossible happen. You created something that was at once fleeting and everlasting… something that, for some, passed in an instant and, for others, will live forever in memory… something that vanishes yet remains eternal.
You made theatre happen.
And that, theatre makers, is magic.
Decision Height by Meredith Dayna Levy (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 9w)
In honor of Memorial Day, we’re featuring this powerful story about friendship and the essential role of women in wartime. Meredith Dayna Levy’s all-women drama honors the 38 WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) who gave their lives in service to their country during the Second World War.
Virginia Hascall has left her home and fiancé to become a WASP, doing her part to help defeat the Axis powers in WWII. Through triumph and tragedy, Virginia and her sisters in flight suits learn as much about themselves as they do about airplanes. With a cast of nine vibrant female characters, Decision Height offers a compelling look into an under-recognized subset of American heroes.
Stream Irving Berlin’s Top Hat on PBS’ Great Performances on YouTube | Inspired by the iconic 1935 movie musical starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, this acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre revival was recorded from the West End in January 2026. Watch now…
Ride the Cyclone announces cast for London return by Alex Wood, WhatsOnStage | Back for another ride! Ride the Cyclone will return to Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 19 June to 22 August 2026. Read…
Complete Casting Revealed for Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9 at London’s National by Meg Masseron, Playbill | Dominic Cook will direct Churchill’s landmark play, running this fall and winter. Read…
High Society – In rehearsals with Helen George, Julian Ovenden, Felicity Kendal, Freddie Fox and Carly Mercedes Dyer by Tom Millward, WhatsOnStage | A star-studded cast is preparing a brand new version of the Cole Porter classic! Read and watch…
The Spotlight
More than 250 years after her birth, author Jane Austen remains as popular as ever. The English writer’s novels have been adapted into a wide variety of stage plays and musicals, from charming traditional comedies to convention-breaking experimental works. Here’s a small sampling:
Pride and Prejudice (Davies) by Andrew Davies and Jane Austen (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 13w , 5m)
Adapted from Andrew Davies’ hit 1995 BBC TV series, this delightful comedy of manners revolves around the tumultuous relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the lively and mischievous daughter of a gentleman from the country, and Darcy, a wealthy and proud lord.
Emma! A Pop Musical by Eric Price, from the novel by Jane Austen (US)
(Full-Length Musical, Comedy / 9w, 5m + ensemble)
Emma, a senior at Highbury Prep, is certain she knows what’s best for her classmates’ love lives. But will Emma’s relentless matchmaking get in the way of finding her own happiness? Based on Jane Austen’s classic novel, this sparkling new musical features the hit songs of legendary girl groups and iconic female singers from The Supremes to Katy Perry. Also available in a shortened, one-act version.
Sense and Sensibility (Hamill) by Kate Hamill and Jane Austen (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 9w, 6m)
Kate Hamill’s playful adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters after their father’s death leaves them financially destitute and socially vulnerable.
For dozens of additional ideas, check out All About Austen: Stage Adaptations of Jane Austen Classics on Breaking Character.
Stream Mario Correa’s N/A on YouTube | Filmed from Lincoln Center’s off-Broadway theater in August 2024, N/A is part of Theater Close-Up, a collaboration between THIRTEEN and New York City-area off-Broadway and regional theaters. Watch…
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play Liberation Will Be Part of Studio Theatre’s 2026-27 Season by Linda Buchwald, WhatsOnStage | The season also includes plays by Sanaz Toossi, Joshua Harmon, Alice Childress, and more. Read...
Review: Octet is an astonishing first musical for Raven Theatre by Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune | Much surely can be said for first seeing and hearing this “Octet” in an intimate room, with Chicago actors going for broke in near-perfect harmony. Read…
Will Burton Will Lead Crazy For You at Goodspeed Musicals by Meg Masseron, Playbill | The Gershwin musical will play the Connecticut theatre this summer. Read…
