Jane Howard
@janeannehoward.bsky.social
850 followers 210 following 180 posts
Arts and culture editor, The Conversation Au+NZ
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Reposted by Jane Howard
luxalptraum.com
TFW you paid $1400 to see Beckett’s most famous work without knowing anything about it
One Star Review of Waiting for Godot on Broadway
I recently attended Waiting for Godot on Broadway and spent over $1,400 for two Row C seats (103 and 104). I'm a longtime admirer of Broadway productions and even hold a season pass for Shea's Performing Arts Theatre, so I came in with genuine enthusiasm and high expectations. Unfortunately, this show was unlike anything ! have ever experienced —and not in a good way.
What I encountered was not the artistry, music, or emotional storytelling I usually associate with Broadway, but instead what felt like an endless cycle of nonsensical conversation between characters who seemed trapped in their own madness. I tried-truly tried-to find meaning, symbolism, or even a thread of emotional resonance. I stayed through the first half hoping the second would offer clarity. But by intermission, it was clear: this was a waste of both time and money.
Keanu Reeves is an actor I respect greatly, but I cannot fathom why he would agree to participate in such a disjointed, inaccessible production. His talent was lost in a performance that defied reason rather than provoked insight.
To anyone considering attending: unless you are drawn to highly abstract, nearly incomprehensible theater, I strongly caution you against this show. For the average, educated, thoughtful theatergoer, it is far more frustrating than fulfilling. In my opinion, this was the single most disappointing Broadway experience I've ever had - an unfortunate waste of money and, more importantly, of time.
Reposted by Jane Howard
francesryan.bsky.social
This is devastating but hard to think of more important journalism. 18,457 children have been killed in Gaza (many more not accounted for). Here, The Guardian prints their names and beautiful faces and tells us what they were like before Israel stole their lives. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead
Every name on a list compiled by health authorities in Gaza of the child victims of Israel’s offensive
www.theguardian.com
janeannehoward.bsky.social
Went on a spring run and saw a pair of rainbow lorikeets feeding a chick!
janeannehoward.bsky.social
Nothing like having a big ol cry on your cycle home from a gallery opening bcs you saw the first editor who took a chance on you when you were 21 with a science degree and a theatre review blog and now you've made something of yourself and all it took was a whole community of people believing in you
janeannehoward.bsky.social
I'm here commissioning the news you need right now.
aunz.theconversation.com
From scandal to staple: how the fork travelled from Byzantium to Lithuania, helped by Queen Bona Sforza and centuries of changing table manners. 👉 theconversation.com/the-tho...
janeannehoward.bsky.social
There is an artisanal bakery in my suburb that only does bread and is only open Fridays and Saturdays until sold out and the moral of this story is Friday and Saturday is bread day and all I eat is bread and they are great days.
janeannehoward.bsky.social
I actually don't understand how ai is so bad?
Screenshot of a google search for 'Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs sundance'. AI Overview reads: 'Quentin Tarantino did not premiere Reservoir Dogs at the Sundance Film Festival; the film had its actual premiere at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival'
Reposted by Jane Howard
nickfeik.bsky.social
New:
A deep dive with some alarming new revelations on the silencing of one of the few remaining independent progressive voices in Australian media. Who killed Meanjin?
Who killed Meanjin?
And why won’t Melbourne University Publishing engage with efforts to save it?
www.crikey.com.au
Reposted by Jane Howard
keithgow.bsky.social
This week's episodes of Lamestream is packed with great media analysis, as always, but bravo to @osmanfaruqi.bsky.social discussing the state of arts journalism in this country - and outlining why blogs and substacks aren't necessarily the answer to fill the gap. open.spotify.com/episode/003u...
The Murdoch Succession Saga, Why Race Reporting is Broken, and the TikToker vs. 'News Influencer' Controversy
open.spotify.com
janeannehoward.bsky.social
could do a whole phd in how meredith grey has ptsd (and keeps experiencing traumas that cause her to have ptsd) and the show just never talks about it
janeannehoward.bsky.social
Always weird when artistic directors describe something they're "working on" and what they're working on is ... their one job.
While this season does not contain a premiere of an original Australian play, Flack stresses Belvoir is "not walking away from playwriting".

"Australian playwriting is absolutely essential to the future of the art form," he says.

"A lot needs to be done at the moment to create a revival for playwrights and playwriting in Australia, and that's something we're working on."
janeannehoward.bsky.social
If Runt doesn't have an actual dog on stage then there is no point to live theatre. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
Neither Craig Silvey nor Eamon Flack know how they are going to bring the dog, Runt, to the stage.

"It might be puppetry," Silvey suggests.

"There might be a stage dog out there that's waiting for its time to shine. It might be someone in a suit. Who knows?"
janeannehoward.bsky.social
Gmail suggesting AI emails to reply to my therapist checking in after a particularly intense session 💀💀💀
Three google AI responses: 'Yes, everything is fine.'; 'So far so good'; 'Not really.'
janeannehoward.bsky.social
In the last few months I started going to a weights class and today I did a 90kg hip thrust and being strong is fun.
janeannehoward.bsky.social
Then, a decade later, I was commissioned to take this long look at the history, present, and future of arts criticism in Australia [paywall but just ask if you want to read]. I ended that essay on a hopeful note. That hope is much diminished today. meanjin.com.au/essays/on-cr...
On criticism
‘The great weakness of criticism in Australia is that it is not in itself a profession. Journalism is a profession. But to be a critic is to write a column in one’s spare time.’ That was theatre cr…
meanjin.com.au