More from Chuckie

And so it goes... I've spent a great number of bits and bytes on this site railing against the NYTimes' Charles Isherwood, for his hateful, often inappropriately mean-spirited reviews of plays, particularly ones by new writers.

But today, he really hits the nail on the head with this piece about how bored he is by the interchangeable output at MTC, Roundabout and Lincoln Center Theater. Good for him. It's a well written, reasonable argument.

Awhile ago, Jason wrote in my comments section that the Times has a problem of coddling the powerful and kicking the weak down a flight of steps because it can. And certainly, this article, while criticle of The Big Three, fits into that argument... you can actually feel the punches being pulled. This article is almost reasonable to a fault.... one wishes he had been this respectful of Itemar Moses or Rinne Groff, regardless of what he thought of their plays. After all, they are much more vulnerable than the Big Three, and could've used his respect and consideration.

Check it out. Lemme know what you think.

Comments

[Jonathan Warman]

A very telling Freudian slip: Chuckie mentions the new Shanley, calling it "Denial" when in fact the name is "Defiance." Hmmmmm....

[Joshua]

I read this article yesterday and really enjoyed it, I'm glad you pointed it out -

Huge thing, it's a shame how long it takes a really good play to find a home in nyc - it's actually, I think, easier to get an independent film made these days - If I recall, the film adaptation of the play East is East premiered at Cannes before it opened at Playwright's Horizons a few years back (I may be blanking on the title, but that seems like the right one.)

[dan]

It seems like Isherwood pines for what he then denigrates, judging from his review of Rinne Groff's play.