Three days ago, without developing it, I mentioned in passing an odd statement about drama that happened to get stuck in my craw. As it turns out, I find some of the most absurd assertions made by playwrights—even successful playwrights—themselves. Such as:
"The whole point of good theater is to give voice to those who don't have a voice and to articulate whatever is in the air in that society at the time."
This is wrong on several counts; but again my purpose is not to elaborate a rebuttal, merely to note and register in passing the phenomenon. The statement was made by José Rivera whose play Another Word for Beauty is now receiving a dismal production at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.
There is no way to properly evaluate a script after director Robert Falls gets his hands on it; he is renowned for a production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure in which a wholly captivating hydraulic stage transposed the setting to 1970's New York, with the play ending on a high musical note and the abrupt stabbing of Isabelle, one of the main characters, sans foreshadowing, reason, or justification.
In the city where King Lear is presented as a comedy, expectations should be kept low. Que sais-je?
"The whole point of good theater is to give voice to those who don't have a voice and to articulate whatever is in the air in that society at the time."
This is wrong on several counts; but again my purpose is not to elaborate a rebuttal, merely to note and register in passing the phenomenon. The statement was made by José Rivera whose play Another Word for Beauty is now receiving a dismal production at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.
There is no way to properly evaluate a script after director Robert Falls gets his hands on it; he is renowned for a production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure in which a wholly captivating hydraulic stage transposed the setting to 1970's New York, with the play ending on a high musical note and the abrupt stabbing of Isabelle, one of the main characters, sans foreshadowing, reason, or justification.
In the city where King Lear is presented as a comedy, expectations should be kept low. Que sais-je?
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