Paris in the spring is one thing. Paris at Christmas? Well, it could be the story of a dog with separation anxiety, a musical that examines, not the gay lifestyle, but stereotypes of said lifestyle that advance, then retreat, then, alas, go nowhere, and a story about death in which one funeral becomes all past, present and future funerals.
WHAT: "Chienne," by Alexandre Bonstein, directed by Alexandre Bonstein
WHERE: Vingtieme Theatre
WHEN: November 5, 2010 - February 6, 2011
HOW: http://www.vingtiemetheatre.com
"Chienne," Vingtieme Theatre
WHAT: "Encore un tour de pedalos" written and directed by Alain Marcel
WHERE: Theatre du Rond-Pointe
WHEN: November 22 - December 31, 2010
HOW: http://www.theatredurondpoint.fr/
"Encore un tour de pedalos" Theatre du Rond-Pointe
WHAT: "Autumn Dream," by Jon Fosse, directed by Patrice Chéreau
WHERE: Theatre de la Ville
WHEN: December 4, 2010 - January 25, 2011
HOW: http://www.theatredelaville-paris.com/
"Autumn Dream," Theatre de la Ville
All The World's a Stage, a regular feature exclusive for The Huffington Post, will span the globe, from San Diego to New Brunswick, from London to Tel Aviv and down to Sydney, covering everything from regional repertory to national theatre companies. In no way encyclopedic, it will function a voltage tester: what's going on here, what's up over there. In process more a soupcon, in content usually grouped thematically, it will remind those who already know -- and proselytize those who don't -- that live theatre is as much a source of higher truth as it is a font of entertainment. Even if you don't live near the particular productions cited, it is the aim of this monthly digital lintel planted over the HuffPost's Arts portal to pique your interest, to suggest, politely but adamantly, that, to quote John Lennon, while life might be what happens when you're making other plans, live theatre is what happens when you buy a ticket.
Whether your tastes run from Shakespearean tragedy to barroom melodrama, from Ibsen to Durang, from decked-out, strike up the band productions in lavish musical halls to the evisceration of the psyche in bare bones black box venues; whether you want to have your heart tugged, your spirits lifted, your prospect on the human condition darkened or at least twittered, you can find it in live theatre. There's a troop and a trope for every taste, for every wallet, for every age, for every cause.
James Scarborough is an art, theatre, and film critic. He's a former member of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. He studied art history at Berkeley and the Courtauld Institute at the University of London and has published essays and art criticism for such publications as Apollo, Frieze, Art in America, Flash Art, art+text, New Art Examiner, Art Monthly, and Art Press and has written numerous exhibition catalogue essays. His recent collected writings can be found at http://perhapsperhapsperhaps.typepad.com and at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-scarborough/.