EXTRA CRITICUM

Point Counterpoint: Licata and Teco on Fame v.2

E.C. Authors David Licata and Rolando Teco recently embarked on an extended conversation on the subject of fame. Here's part two of their exchange:

Point Counterpoint: Licata and Teco on Fame v.1

E.C. Authors David Licata and Rolando Teco recently embarked on an extended conversation on the subject of fame. Here's their first exchange:

The Great Drew Barrymore Debate...

...can continue today! She is on Fresh Air at 3 o'clock. She will be talking about the HBO movie of Grey Gardens. We can add our voices to the din!

Hardcore fans?  Sell out movie? Let's get this thing going again! Work is really boring today...

A response to Jeremy's Play, Movie, TV Show Question

To my mind, there are certain sorts of stories that insist on being told in a certain medium. For example, most Hitchcock would be rather dull as a short story or as a play but in film, it's full of suspense. Why? Because the details of what is revealed and in what order and at what pace is controlled by the director.

When I wrote my play, Bodily Function, I knew it had to be a play because it was essentially about the way in which language can be used as a weapon, as a means of trapping someone. Whenever language, or the way we speak to one another is the focus of what I'm after, I'm drawn toward the stage.

Critics

Since this a place for working artists to speak their mind, I don't suspect there will be much love for critics. After all, we have probably all had work that we were deeply proud of dismissed by people we thought didn't understand it or were just plain dumb. This has very real consequences - psychic, financial, and artistic. Bitching about critics is an artist's God given right.

And yet...

Sexism vs. Homophobia? Clyde Fitch Cuts Through the Bull

In the spirited and often eye-opening blog, Clyde Fitch Report, Leonard Jacobs proves once again that he has a gift for cutting through the layers of muck that other writers seem to miss.

On the recent brewing controversy over playwright Theresa Rebeck's Guardian piece in which she revives the "old boys" complaint against Broadway, see this Clyde Fitch post.

Leonard (a.k.a. Clyde) Responds to Aaron Riccio

Oh Aaron, really now. If you read the sentence you'll notice that I used a semicolon to tie together the two thoughts -- and by writing "what better time is there to learn and to celebrate the form and revel in its possibilities?" I think I successfully negated the idea that no 22 year old should be a critic. This is in the context of a question about regrets, indeed. I regret not having at 22 -- or 32, some would say -- the ability to phrase things quite as precisely as I wished I could, plus the ability to be more gentle (I hope) and more thoughtful (I really hope) and more constructive (I really, really hope) in my criticism. The question was about me and my journey -- yours is different and everyone else's journey is different, too. On your blog you referred to that line as a smackdown. If you want a smackdown, I can give you a smackdown, but it wouldn't be sincere. What I was doing was acknowledging that, in my view, in my experience, rookie critics make rookie errors. God knows veteran critics make mistakes constantly, too -- and sometimes of the rookie variety. I think you're overreacting. Please let's not have self-victimization. That's not what this is about. I hope you know that.

Aaron Riccio: "Hey! I'm a 24 yr. old critic!"

Aaron Riccio, in his blog, That Sounds Cool, responds to Leonard Jacobs' recent answer to Paul Outlaw's question in our Critic on the Spot series.

Here's what he had to say:

How Should We Evaluate New Scripts?

Jay Raskolnikov has a great post on what criteria he uses when reading new plays. I think his list is pretty good. Check it out.

Of course, it got me thinking about the same question. How do I evaluate new plays?

Hating on PBS

Rolando wrote: "I know at least one E.C. author who doesn't much care for PBS."

You can't possibly be referring to this, can you?

Actually, I agree with you on the value of Bill Moyers and Frontline, as well as the occasional opera and Broadway musical on Great Performances. However...