Hytner and Critics Con't

National artistic director Nicholas Hytner has some further words on his dustup with critics a couple of weeks ago. He's a lot more... shall we say constructive and taciturn?... in his op-ed than he was in the interview that started the whole ruckus and makes some interesting (and radical) suggestions for the reviewing pages of the London Broadsheets. Check it out here. (h/t Ben Ellis) One thing this points me to in our ongoing envy of Britain's theatre scene... their artistic directors are public figures, which makes sense given that theatres are a public trust to some extent. When was the last time the artistic director of The Public, The Roundabout, Lincoln Center Theater or Manhattan Theatre Club wrote an essay for the Times, the Voice, TONY or the Sun? (Oh wait... I just remembered, Oskar Eustis had a piece in the Voice right after he assumed the artistic directorship of The Public... but I think the point still stands...)