First of all, I have to confess that it made me a little giddy to see Randa Tawil and Zeeba Khalili’s critique of my critique (and by official “members of the theatre community,” no less!). It was all so ‘meta’ and exciting that I decided to write a critique of their critique of my critique. To clarify: press previews are critiques, rather than propaganda. As nice as it may feel for the cast and crew of a play to see an article extolling the virtues of every single aspect of their production, there are only so many times the public can read the word ‘amazing’ before they begin to doubt its legitimacy. Absolutely, we are in an educational environment, but that does not mean that people should be unable to take criticism. In fact, I would argue that learning to deal with criticism is a fundamental part of education. As the concern that my critique hindered the theatrical process by causing performers to doubt themselves, I would like to take a moment to revel in the gloriousness of the Wespeak’s wording: “Second-guessing one’s choices is death for any actor.” Death. Indeed.
Personally, I give the actors more credit than to think that they will fall down dead any time someone evaluates their strengths and weaknesses. I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings, but I do think that it benefits everyone if I write reviews that are candid, explicit, and honest. There will be some people who agree with me, and some who don’t, and I welcome that. I just beseech you all, no matter how vehemently you disagree with me, please do not die.
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