Theater

Theater Commentary: Dating Dürrenmatt

August 21, 2007
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When should a play be labeled dated and consigned to the junk heap of time? No playwright is safe from the charge of being called passé: one reviewer’s breath of fresh air from the past is another’s antiquated wheeze.

Response: Critical Justification

August 18, 2007
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A certain number of people (not huge) want to read critics who take the arts seriously, who do more than tell readers what is worth spending their money on.

Theater Commentary: Yeasayers Beware

August 13, 2007
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The caricature of the theater critic as spoilsport still pops up, pushed by rescuers of the “injured” who enjoy delivering self-congratulatory whippings. No naysayers are allowed –- it hurts business. For once, how about looking at the ways that yeasayers do a disservice to theater and the craft of criticism? By Bill Marx Are theater…

Arts Commentary: The Virtual Arts Center

August 10, 2007
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By 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…

Arts Commentary: Ducking Blowback

August 6, 2007
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Yesterday, a Boston Globe editorial asked that Josiah Spaulding, Jr., president of the Citi Performing Arts Center (CPAC) be replaced. Of course he should go, but that will not solve the CPAC’s problems. Yesterday, a Boston Globe editorial asked that Josiah Spaulding, Jr., president of the Citi Performing Arts Center (CPAC) be replaced. The suggestion…

Arts Commentary: Arts Critics — Lining Their Coffins with Puff

August 3, 2007
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A growing number of sites and e-zines are bringing wit, intelligence, high standards, and editorial independence to critical coverage of the arts online.

At the Trough

August 2, 2007
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Let me get this straight. President and CEO of the Citi Performing Arts Center (CPAC), Josiah Spaulding Jr., presides over five straight years of budget deficits and arts programming cuts, including slashing the budget of this summer’s Shakespeare on the Common production, and he earns a $1.265 million bonus. This is shameful, especially given that…

Suzan-Lori Parks — A Play a Day Keeps the TV Away

April 18, 2007
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Bill Marx speaks with award-winning American playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. Also, dancing away at the video arcade. Download Part I and Part II of this interview with Suzan-Lori Parks.

Theater Review: Stuck on “The Coast of Utopia”

March 24, 2007
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Not every critic is inspired by British playwright Tom Stoppard’s epic, Tony award-winning trilogy about the trials and tribulations of the 19th century Russian radical Alexander Herzen. Download the podcast By Bill Marx I had high expectations for Tom Stoppard’s labor of love, but walked away from his bloated homage to the great Russian journalist…

Standing in “Orson’s Shadow”

March 3, 2007
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A real life collision of legends of stage and screen that took place almost 50 years ago is a seductive, but dangerous, idea for a play.

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