Performing Arts

Russia's Bolshoi Ballet was rocked following the 2013 acid attack on the company's artistic director. A new documentary airing Monday on HBO, Bolshoi Babylon, looks at the culture of the company and how things got to that point. NPR explores how the paranoia and distrust of management within the ranks of the company is both very Russian and a symbol of the Bolshoi Ballet.

Cynthia Erivo stars on Broadway as Celie in The Color Purple. She talks with NPR's Scott Simon about the production, and revisits one of the first songs she sang for an audience: Silent Night.

Through powerful monologues, Anna Deavere Smith has tackled race riots, integration and health care. In Notes from the Field, she's using her characters to explore the school-to-prison pipeline.

Forget the Merry Wives of Windsor, NPR's Scott Simon recalls a time when Shakespeare spent the night with a groupie.