The Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), the performance space tucked into the Walt Disney Concert Hall, is known for staging exciting, avant-garde productions that often garner a lot of reviews and press. But in a recent development, the New York-based publishing house Samuel French Inc. is placing serious restrictions on an upcoming show.
Prior to the Wooster Group's new production of Harold Pinter's The Room, a much anticipated show set to premiere at REDCAT next month, the publisher announced that it will prohibit critics from reviewing performances, and, as of now, they are withholding permission for future performances planned in New York City and Paris to move forward. Long story short: you'll mostly likely have about a ten-day window to see this production.
Samuel French's licensing manager David Kimple did not give a reason for the restrictions—only citing "outside circumstances." REDCAT's executive director Mark Murphy responded by calling the decision “highly unusual and puzzling.”
"This attempt to restrict critical discussion of such an important production in print and online is deeply troubling, with the potential for severe financial impact," he said in an official release. "It seems strange to me that anyone would think critical discourse about this seminal play could be somehow harmful. And, it would be a shame if these ten performances in Los Angeles were the only chance for people to experience the production."
Time Out Los Angeles reported last month that REDCAT received a substantial grant from the NEA to promote adventurous programming.
The Room is scheduled to run in Los Angeles on February 4-6 at 8:30pm; February 7 at 3 pm; February 9-13 at 8:30pm and February 14 at 3pm.