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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

The Sixth Act at Damon City Campus


The fourth and final Sixth Act workshop of the 2005-2006 academic year, "The Critic," will be held TODAY, April 27, from 4 to 5:30, AT DAMON CITY CAMPUS, in Room 4034. "The Critic" will explore both the theoretical underpinnings of theatre criticism and the practical construction of an actual theatre review.

Theatre practitioners, audience members, and media outlets continue to debate the function of the theatre critic: To what degree does the critic serve a ticket-buying public? To what degree does the theatre critic serve the art? What does it mean to serve one or the other? As scholars and teachers, we hold power through the texts we choose to disseminate to our students and through the methods we use to disseminate these texts. As such, we designate certain poems and stories and plays worthy of study and ensure these texts will continue to be read and discussed. To what degree does the critic have the same power? What does it mean to be a good critic? How can awareness of the role of the critic shape our understanding of theatre? And, given the metaphoric relationship between the critic and the teacher, to what degree can we leave this workshop pondering our own role as disseminators of critical opinion in the classroom?

This workshop will be an old-fashioned roundtable discussion featuring lifelong theatre critic Herb Simpson, former theatre critic Gene Marino, Burning Barn Theatre Artistic Director Janis Lilly, and former Bridge Theatre Company Artistic Board Member Jeffery Jones. Conversation promises to be invigorating as well as applicable. I do hope to see you there....

As usual, light refreshments will be served.

Maria Brandt
English/Philosophy Department
04/27/2006