Olivier Awards - Lesley Manville and John Lithgow were among the big winners at the Sunday's Olivier Awards. Lithgow won best actor for his portrayal of Roald Dahl in Giant. Manville was named best actress for her performance in the Greek tragedy Oedipus. Three shows were tied with the most wins at the ceremony – with Fiddler on the Roof, Giant and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button each winning three prizes.
The award for best lighting design went to Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs for Oliver! Nick Lidster won the best sound design award for Fiddler On The Roof.
Artistic Own Goal - Cameron Mackintosh, Lee Hall and Sam Grabiner were among stars condemning government proposals to allow tech giants to train on artists’ work by default at the Olivier Awards.
Grabiner labelled AI "the devil", while Hall called the government’s plans to enable AI to train on content unless its creators forbade it an "unthinkable" intervention that would "decimate" the arts. Accepting a special award honouring 40 years of Les Misérables, Mackintosh said Labour’s plans amounted to a "massive artistic and economic own goal" that put the existence of the Olivier Awards in danger.
"I’ve had the privilege over the past six decades to work with some of the greatest writers and creators of modern times," he said. "They did not need the aid of AI to write these timeless classics. It is wrong of the government to be proposing that anyone’s work in the arts should be automatically mined for free. This would be a massive artistic and economic own goal, which would deeply damage the soul of the nation and run the risk that in the future occasions like this may no longer exist, as AI will be presenting awards to itself without any need of us."
On The Wilde Side - A theatre company has been given permission to perform inside an empty jail that once held Oscar Wilde. Rabble Theatre's event in the summer will be the first time Reading Prison's doors open to the public since it was bought from the Ministry of Justice by Chinese businessman Channing Bi for £7m. Mr Bi, who founded the Ziran Education Foundation, said in October he hoped to turn the site into a hotel, museum and art gallery.
Rabble's artistic director Toby Davies, who has campaigned for the jail to be saved for artistic purposes, said: "It's a nice nudge in the right direction." During the Rabble event on 28 June, the audience inside the prison will be treated to a "rare deep dive" into the creative process behind Rabble's new play, William the Conqueror, said the theatre company.
Tourist Tax - Pressure is growing on the government to allow London to impose a tourist tax on overnight visitors. Think tank the Centre for London said the tax could help "revitalise" arts and culture in the capital, as its new report warned the city's creative industries were in "peril". Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan previously voiced support for such a charge, saying most tourists in Europe "don't really mind paying an extra few euros". The government has reiterated there were "currently no plans to introduce a tourism tax in England".
The report Arts for All urged ministers to restore arts funding for local government to 2010 levels, as well as a number of other measures. They include a national Arts Pass for under-25s, and to allow the Greater London Authority (GLA) to "explore the implementation of a tourist tax". The government said that places can already choose to introduce a levy on overnight stays through the Accommodation Business Improvement District model.
Liberation Day - Jersey’s Opera House is set to reopen in May after five years to host two Liberation Day concerts as part of celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the German occupation. The opening concert at the Grade II listed building featuring the Philharmonia Orchestra will include World War Two songs performed by Jersey singer Georgie Mae-Bishop.
Farewell - Clem Burke, drummer for Blondie, has died aged 70. Named one of the greatest drummers of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, his drumming elevated UK number one hits like Call Me, The Tide Is High, Atomic and Heart Of Glass – with Burke deftly switching between punk, reggae, disco and hip-hop grooves. In a long and varied career, he also played with Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan, The Ramones, Eurythmics and Take That's Mark Owen. "Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie," his bandmates said in a tribute posted on Facebook. RIP.
(Jim Evans)
