Hookers are the Best Roles in Town, a song by Ellen Fox.
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"The Goodman Theatre's decision to cancel its planned fall production of "Joan D'Arc" has sparked an international flap.
Cutting the show from the Goodman's schedule has provoked a furious response from Airan Berg, the artistic director of the performing arts component of the Linz09 cultural festival, held in the Austrian city of Linz.
The Linz festival was the Goodman's partner on the project. As written and directed by Aida Karic, "Joan D'Arc" premiered in Linz, following several weeks of workshops at the Goodman Theatre. A Goodman spokesman had told the Tribune that the show was deemed "not ready" for Chicago audiences.
"We are appalled by the Goodman Theatre’s actions and wording as it represents an insult to the artistic integrity of the project and the work of all involved artists," Berg wrote in an e-mailed response. "We also see the statement made by the Goodman Theatre [as] damaging to our reputation and to the reputation of all the artists involved."
Berg, who cited some positive statements in European papers to support his argument, further charged that the decision to cancel the Chicago leg of the run was made "without any consultation with us and comes as a complete surprise."
"We do not believe that the cancellation has anything to do with the production being ready or not," Berg went on, "as 'Joan Dark' [a previous title of the project] proved itself to be successful to a highly diverse international theater audience in a competitive theatrical environment. We can only speculate about the true reasons of this unbearable form of censorship of a highly political theatrical performance that deals with the topics of power, religion, and race."
In a phone interview, Goodman executive director Roche Schulfer rejected Berg's charges and said that the cancellation was a result of "ongoing problems with the development of the script, of which Mr. Berg had been made aware during the workshops at the Goodman."
Berg said that only one Goodman staffer had seen the show in Austria. Schulfer said that, in fact, several Goodman people had seen the show, including Steve Scott from the artistic office.
"We have a responsibility to our audiences in Chicago," Schulfer said. "At the Goodman, that comes first."""The Goodman Theatre's decision to cancel its planned fall production of "Joan D'Arc"... more
