John Lahr
John Lahr
John Henry Lahris a British-based American theater critic, and the son of actor Bert Lahr. Since 1992, he has been the senior drama critic at The New Yorker magazine. His books include Joy Rideand Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh...
real thinking sight
Of the modern critics, although I disagree with almost everything she says, I admire Mary McCarthy's eloquence and social observation in 'Sights and Spectacles'; she thinks in print, but she doesn't have a real feel for the stage.
drama past thinking
In Britain, the theatre has traditionally been where the public goes to think about its past and debate its future. The formation of the National Theatre, at the Old Vic, near the South Bank, in 1963, institutionalized the symbolic importance of drama by giving it both a building and state funding.
pain thinking play
Any play that makes an audience think out of the box, that makes connections to life and names our pain and by doing so makes our pain subject to thinking and the process of understanding, is doing something inherently political. By promoting understanding, by putting experience in context, by making connections between the normal and the rational, theatre is an act of anti-terrorism. It stimulates courage and a survival spirit. In that sense of political, there are a lot of serious plays doing their work in the world.
plays series six
At least six of the plays in Wilson's series are, I think, first rate, and one, 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone,' is a masterpiece.
business expression guide heart hollywood leave theater ultimate
It has the look of the avant-garde, but the heart of a Hollywood production. It's the ultimate expression of business art. ... You leave the theater and they guide you right into the store.
fun father emotional
First and foremost, I'd say my father, Bert Lahr ... gave me a love of theatre--its kinetic and emotional potential and its raffish backstage fun--and also set an artistic example of the importance of corrupting an audience with pleasure.
mean writing self
Writers don't always know what they mean - that's why they write. Their work stands in for them. On the page, the reader meets the authoritative, perfected self; in life, the writer is lumbered with the uncertain, imperfect one.
criticism way emptiness
A cruel critic has never made anything; his glibness is a way of inflicting his emptiness on others.
risk criticism
Criticism is a life without risk.
powerful america political
Questions about political theatre always overlook America's most powerful and effective political theatre, which is always thriving: the American musical. The politics is conservative but, to my mind, effective and insidious.
night theatre firsts
The history of theatre is the history of first nights.
book taken hands
Most of the people dishing out judgment have no working experience of the theatre, have not written a professional play, a sketch, or even a joke; have never worked in a theatre, taken an acting class, or published any extended piece of work. They are creative virgins; everything they know about theatre is book-learned and second-hand.
dirty squares care
The pigeons are shitting on George M. Cohan. I shoo them off. They fly up and perch on his hat. Cohan would've never given his regards to Broadway if he saw how dirty they kept his statue in Duffy Square. New Yorkers walk right by. Nobody cares.
eggs long
His life was one long extravaganza, like living inside a Faberge egg.