The Critic as Thinker

How Eric Bentley, Robert Brustein, and Stanley Kauffmann Re-imagined American Theater Criticism. A roundtable discussion with three legends of American drama criticism.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Theater
• Robert
• Brustein
• Stanley
• Kauffmann
• Eric
• Bentley
• criticism
• broadway
• philoctetes
• roundtable

[strangersname]

They seem to love knocking Maxwell Anderson, who while maybe not a "great" playwright certainly was a literate one, who did try to explore ideas, and he experimented with different styles as well. Another target is the Playwrights' Company, which tried to put more power into the hands of people (writers) who were actually creating the drama. Maybe that group wasn't "radical" enough for Bentley and his ilk.

Yet David Mamet, who politically and creatively is very conservative, is beyond reproach

[stevevandien]

@andreafremantle Excellent point. Kauffmann and Brustein are important critics In recent years, however, their ideas have been somewhat tainted by PC, as you well note. That certainly was NOT the case in the early 1960s, when they wrote rather scathing reviews of certain plays by black authors, such as "A Raisin in the Sun" and "Blues for Mr. Charlie." They argued that black writers had to be held to the same standards as anyone else --

[stevevandien]

@goback3spaces I regret that I didn't begin reading SK until I was 22. But I have read Kauffmann faithfully ever since (I'm now 51:)). I've learned so much about film, theater, art in general and WRITING from his work, not to mention criticism. SK understands full well the critic's role and what it requires -- erudition, taste, the breadth of mind that can put a particular work of art in a broader cultural context, and the ability to write very damn well --

[goback3spaces]

I've been reading Stanley Kauffmann since I was 15. What marvelous writing, what clear thinking, what impeccable taste. He is my literary hero.

[ironhills]

Eric Bentley is full of beans. Let's reduce every playwright to either "thinking" or "not thinking". George Jean Nathan pegged him correctly, I think. Especially when he thinks he's been daring by attacking Broadway.

[crazyassweirdo]

That is one of the most eloquent and concise expression of that view I've ever seen.

[andreafremantle]

Interesting discussion but full of BS. Kauffmann and Brustein say theatre is in a sad state because it's all been about greed after the Cold War. Like they didn't believe in profits before 1989. Also, who is more greedy? A man who invests and risks capital or someone who expects his 'artistic' lifestyle supported by others who actually work for a living? Also, McCarthyism isn't the problem. The problem is political correctness whereby everyone in theatre think alike.Group Theatre ws group think.

[fax2222]

tks very much !

very important for me..

super!