The Sixth Act is pleased to announce its fourth and final workshop of the 2005-2006 academic year, "The Critic." The workshop will be held on Thursday, April 27, from 4 to 5:30 pm, at Damon City Campus, in Room 4034, and will explore both the theoretical underpinnings of theatre criticism and the practical construction of an actual theatre review. Admission is free and open to the public (metered parking is available).
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, retired theatre critic Gene Marino, Burning Barn Theatre Artistic Director Janis Lilly, and retired 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
03/23/2006 |