Commentary
The weakness of the play is so shockingly transparent –- the love birds spend most of the play orating their (occasionally) steamy letters to the audience –- that the explanation must be that Brand Shakespeare has struck again: companies figure that anything about the Bard will draw a crowd. by Bill Marx I wanted to…
Read MoreWho cares how the chairs are arranged or even who sits on them on the deck of the Titanic-“Globe”? As the popularity of online publications and blogs grows, the “Globe”’s tepid cultural coverage has become increasingly superfluous.
Read MoreRevving up marketing machinery raises some uncomfortable questions: Why should donors give funds to a theater if their money is going to pay for focus groups and demographic studies rather than to support the work of artists?
Read More“Criticism will always have the force of the child in the story about the emperor’s new clothes, because there will always be naked emperors who everybody says are wearing today’s Crown Jewels.” — Eric Bentley
Read MoreBy Bill Marx On June 21, the Boston Foundation announced that the Citi Performing Arts Center (CPAC, formerly the Wang Center for the Performing Arts) would be receiving $225,000. This is not only the largest single grant given to any institution for the quarter; it is the most money (by a long shot) the Wang/CPAC…
Read MoreBy Bill Marx Criticism of the fine arts is dying in regional newspapers, but don’t waste too much time mourning the loss. Arts blogger and Wall Street Journal theater critic Terry Teachout’s recent article on how arts criticism is vanishing in regional newspapers hits the nail on the head, though he is either too considerate…
Read MoreBy Bill Marx Al Alvarez’s new book of essays provides an opportunity to also strongly recommend his first collection of literary commentary and reviews, 1969’s Beyond All This Fiddle, one of the most invigorating collections of cultural commentary from that period. The latest issue of the TLS features an irritatingly short review of Risky Business,…
Read MoreCrime memoirs about Irish mobster Whitey Bulger have become a corrupt and pathetic cottage industry. By Jay Atkinson A large, jowly, humorless man of 49, Kevin Weeks, the one-time go-fer and strong arm for the notorious Boston crime boss, James Whitey Bulger, hurt and maimed people for a living. While his boss ran most of…
Read MoreYears of bitter and expensive litigation as well as the challenging nature of her work have put the artistic legacy of dance giant Martha Graham in crisis. By Debra Cash Imagine, for a moment, that the only people who could experience Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings were those who had lived during his lifetime. Future generations…
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Theater Commentary: Does Playwriting Have a Future?
To mark the dedication of the New College Theatre at Harvard on October 17, a panel of four playwrights gathered to address the question “Does Playwriting Have a Future?” To allay suspense, the answer is yes (whew, that’s a relief).
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