An Interview with -- Me! -- On Extra Criticum (Part 7 of 7)

I was very flattered when Rolando Teco, whose new blog Extra Criticum is pretty damn cool and has a lot of potential, asked me to participate in an experiment in which his various writers and contributors would ask a bunch of questions of me as a critic. Well, the seventh installment is up (only the bonus remains). And who knows who I'll alienate this time!

Well, actually, it would appear I've alienated Aaron Riccio, but I'll get to that.

Here's the tease:

Q: Have you ever written a review that you deeply regret and would take back (or completely rework) if you could? What would you like theatre artists to get out of your reviews of their work?

A: I did when I was younger—I started writing reviews for The Village Voice and other publications when I was 22, and oh, oh, oh did I say things I shouldn’t have said…I just pray that when I get to the Jewish equivalent of the Pearly Gates, there isn’t mold in my potato salad...

Now, I guess to my regret I have upset Aaron Riccio on this issue. I responded via Extra Criticum and now await the onslaught. Pesky semicolons. What awful creatures.

Sphere: Related Content

An Interview with -- Me! -- On Extra Criticum (Part 6 of 7)

I was very flattered when Rolando Teco, whose new blog Extra Criticum is pretty damn cool and has a lot of potential, asked me to participate in an experiment in which his various writers and contributors would ask a bunch of questions of me as a critic. Well, the sixth installment is up; there will be seven parts (and a bonus). And who knows who I'll alienate this time!

Here's the tease:

Q: I hear a lot of complaining from my peers about the current state of criticism in general and theatre criticism specifically. Namely, there are those who feel that critics have become "consumer advisers" rather than critics.... My question is: Does any of this ring true to you or do you think it's just a lot of hot air?

A: I’m not sure when critics were more highly regarded—or at least I’m not sure by whom….if you examine the 13-year tenure of Frank Rich at the New York Times, I’d wager that more Broadway shows closed within the first two weeks of performances than during the tenure of Ben Brantley, who has been the chief drama critic for almost as long (12 years). You can assert that there were more crappy shows during Rich’s tenure than Brantley’s, or you can assert that the power Brantley wields is less than that of Rich.…

Sphere: Related Content

An Interview with -- Me! -- on Extra Criticum (Part 5 of 7)

I was very flattered when Rolando Teco, whose new blog Extra Criticum is pretty damn cool and has a lot of potential, asked me to participate in an experiment in which his various writers and contributors would ask a bunch of questions of me as a critic. Well, the fifth installment is up; there will be seven parts (and a bonus). And who knows who I'll alienate this time!

Here's the tease:

Q: What do you think is more effective as a critic: to be the opinionated reporter ("this is what I saw and how I felt about it,") or, the reporter who shares a more global sense of the experience ("this is what I saw; this is how I felt; this is how the audience responded")?

A: ...If you’re seeing Hair at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park and Hair, for whatever reason, isn’t your thing, then it’s not your thing; that’s fine. But if you’re there seeing Hair and the audience is going absolutely balls-to-the-wall crazy and they’re running up on stage following the end of the show and singing and dancing their asses off, it seems a little dishonest not to at least acknowledge in print that while the critic’s ass was getting middle-age spread and not letting the sunshine in, there were 1,500 people who were pretty damn vocal about the age of Aquarius....

Sphere: Related Content

An Interview with -- Me! -- on Extra Criticum (Part 4 of 7)

I was very flattered when Rolando Teco, whose new blog Extra Criticum is pretty damn cool and has a lot of potential, asked me to participate in an experiment in which his various writers and contributors would ask a bunch of questions of me as a critic. Well, the fourth installment is up; there will be seven parts (and a bonus). And who knows who I'll alienate this time!

Here's the tease:

Q: Have you ever seen a play and felt like you had nothing to say about it, and if so, what did you do? Is it possible to identify which characteristics of a production tend to cause this reaction?

A: The easiest reviews to write are about the shows you feel passionately about. This is another way of saying that ambivalence can be absolutely deadly to a critic and the process of writing the review will feel like—and usually read like—drudge work....

Sphere: Related Content

An Interview with -- Me! -- on Extra Criticum (Part 3 of 7)

I was very flattered when Rolando Teco, whose new blog Extra Criticum is pretty damn cool and has a lot of potential, asked me to participate in an experiment in which his various writers and contributors would ask a bunch of questions of me as a critic. Well, the third installment is up; there will be seven parts (and a bonus). And who knows who I'll alienate this time!

Here's a tease:

Q: ....So my question is: Do you ever feel tempted to pull your punches in hopes of getting people to see a flawed but worthy show?....

A: ....The third part of your question is extremely interesting, so I hope you’ll allow me to address that first. In a world without commercial pressures, and with government subsidy of the arts, full houses, and grants for everyone, I think it would be great to have productions reviewed at the start of their runs and again at the end. But none of the above conditions are going to come into existence soon, and, in any event, this goes directly to the question of what function theatre criticism serves in our culture. For us—for better or for worse, and usually both—the function of theatre criticism is to tell potential audience members about the production and to offer some kind of pronouncement or opinion with regard to the production’s value—it’s value as art, it’s value as a transactional proposition. At the end of a show’s run, there aren’t any more tickets to sell, ads to take out, or quotes to pull, so the idea of a review at the end of a run just isn’t pragmatic: Why would a nonprofit or commercial producer provide a comp?

Sphere: Related Content

An Interview with -- Me! -- on Extra Criticum (Part 2 of 7)

I was very flattered when Rolando Teco, whose new blog Extra Criticum is pretty damn cool and has a lot of potential, asked me to participate in an experiment in which his various writers and contributors would ask a bunch of questions of me as a critic. Well, the second installment is up; there will be seven parts. And who knows who I'll alienate this time!

Sphere: Related Content

An Interview with -- Me! -- on Extra Criticum (Part 1 of 7)

I was very flattered when Rolando Teco, whose new blog Extra Criticum is pretty damn cool and has a lot of potential, asked me to participate in an experiment in which his various writers and contributors would ask a bunch of questions of me as a critic. Well, the first installment is up; there will be seven parts. And who knows who I'll alienate this time!

Sphere: Related Content