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1100 Playwright Interviews

1100 Playwright Interviews A Sean Abley Rob Ackerman E.E. Adams Johnna Adams Liz Duffy Adams Tony Adams David Adjmi Keith Josef Adkins Nicc...

Nov 13, 2007

insight from Marisa

But writers today may see no benefit in continuing to fail toward success as playwrights when an easy living as a writer on a television series seems within reach. Young writers who win some acclaim for a first or second play will probably continue to head west before they have had time to develop, which means the theater is potentially losing important voices before they mature. -Charles Isherwood I read a fair number of NY Times reviews, and it's no secret to the theatre blogging community that Charles Isherwood isn't, exactly, the most supportive of critical voices in the realm of new plays and new/young playwrights. I can't defend the validity of his criticism first hand (I'm not seeing those productions), but you have to acknowledge the culpability of the NY Times of driving talented young writers into the warm and moneyed embrace of acceptance and a fat paycheck on the other coast.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Adam,

This is absolutely right--Isherwood's article is one of the most self-congratulatorily hypocritical things I've read in a long time. It's the spider singing a love song to the fly. It's ridiculous. And impossible to take seriously, coming from him. Who does he think he is?

That man consistently infuriates me.

-Mark

Adam Szymkowicz said...

I know. It's insane, isn't it? And I'm sure most Times readers have no idea how absurd it is. And I bet he has no idea either.