Extra Criticum

Quotables: Jerry Stahl

From time to time, Extra Criticum authors will post a quote from something that has stuck with us over the years and is, as they say, quotable. The following is from Jerry Stahl's memoir PERMANENT MIDNIGHT. Here he sums up Hollywood beautifully.

Quotables: Edward Albee

From time to time, Extra Criticum authors post a quote from someone we admire, something that has stuck with us over the years and is, as they say, quotable.

Today, we hear from playwright Edward Albee, from a March 2011 NPR interview:

Quotables: Ronald Allan-Lindblom

From time to time, Extra Criticum authors will post a quote from someone we admire, something that has stuck with us over the years and is, as they say, quotable.

The following from Ronald Allan-Lindblom:

Quotables: Elizabeth Hawes

From time to time, Extra Criticum authors post a quote from someone we admire, something that has stuck with us over the years and is, as they say, quotable.

Today, we hear from Elizabeth Hawes, author of Fashion is Spinach.

A Small Craft Warning

I think it's a glorious thing when art, in whatever form, returns from the depth of your memory to offer comfort beside some experience occurring in present life. This week, as I was feeling quite sorry for myself at having allowed myself to be drawn in by a man, a piece from Tennessee Williams' Small Craft Warnings did just that for me.

Beautiful personal essay on one critic's relationship with one of the most important playwrights of the 20th Century, Harold Pinter

The Economist's blog, More Intelligent Life features a gorgeous essay by theatre critic Irving Wardle on his decades-long (and sometimes strained) friendship with Harold Pinter. Here's just one juicy excerpt:

"Make Them Sit Forward!"

Hi, all!  Busy here in Burbank, and with the madness of the holidays I've been out of the soup for a bit.  (Oh, and I should also say: Happy New Year! - if a little belatedly.)

I'm taking an online playwriting workshop via Gotham.  The week's discussion is about how to make theater viable in a TV, film, and internet age.  I've been thinking a LOT about the "what the heck are we doing this for?" question, so I thought I'd post some of my thinking on that topic.

One of my classmates told a story about how her daughter, on a Peace Corps assignment in West Africa, saw children use sticks, tires and scraps as dolls, since they had no actual toys.

"That’s a very difficult question. If I keep going, I’ll get angry with God.”

Opened the email this morning to find a link to this interview with Eugene Ionesco! The master of the absurd reveals that he wanted to be a chestnut seller at age 3, and at 3-1/2 not just any doctor, but his family doctor, complete with beard.

Mais oui!

Enjoy. (And thanks to TH for forwarding).

A recipe for productive writing

In his appreciation of the novelist and screenwriter Michael Crichton, who died a couple of weeks ago, James Fallows passes on this tip:

[Crichton] said he removed complications from his life while writing by having exactly the same food at every meal, so he never had to waste time deciding what to eat.

It's a marvelous idea, and it explains why I haven't yet done anything to justify my MacArthur genius grant. So I'm going to create a list of 100 (500?) possible meals and try them out in rotation, taking notes on my physical and psychological reactions to each one.

Quotables: Ron Van Lieu

I had the chance to study with Ron Van Lieu many years ago--in fact, he was my first "official" acting teacher. I can't come up with one specific quote, so read this short interview with him: http://www.tcg.org/publications/at/jan08/vanlieu.cfm

Quotables: "William Trevor"

"There's no celery in theatre."

Quotables: Maggie Flanagan

The following from Maggie Flanagan:

Quotables: Glenn Close

Glenn Close to Michael Douglas in Fatal Attraction:

"I will not be ignored, Dan!"

Quotables: George C. Wolfe

From time to time, Extra Criticum authors will post a quote from someone we admire, something that has stuck with us over the years and is, as they say, quotable.

The following from George C. Wolfe: