Act I: The Producers
Curtain up April 19, 2001, New York
Mel Brooks adapted his 1968 film to the stage, sparking the return of musical comedy and helping Broadway bounce back after 9/11. Winning a record 12 Tony Awards, the show ran for 2,502 performances and inspired the dubious decade-long trend of turning cult films ( Hairspray, Legally Blonde, Xanadu ) into musicals.
Act II: Stuff Happens
Curtain up Sept. 12, 2004, London
David Hare's "history play" about the build-up to the Iraq War exemplified two theatre trends of the decade. Using the words of its real-life subjects as dialogue (the title is from the mouth of Donald Rumsfeld), it was part of both a revitalized documentary movement in Britain and an eagerness everywhere to tackle current events head on.
Act III: Le Sang des promesses (The Blood of Promises)
Curtain up July 18, 2009, Avignon
Lebanese-Canadian Wajdi Mouawad has emerged as Canada's most important playwright. He began this tetralogy in the 1990s, but premiered the final chapter, Ciels (Skies) , this summer at the prestigious Festival d'Avignon, along with the first three parts in a marathon 11-hour run that went all night.
J. Kelly Nestruck