In For a Penny: Everyone’s a Cricket

Theatre

By CharlesAndHisTypewriter on Thursday, 15 January, 2015 • ( 3 Comments )

In which the screening of an Oscar-nominated film stirs up strong emotions I have about the “necessary evil” that is the critic.

*[2022 Update: If the original link (below) no longer works, the entire piece is available in the attached screenshot.]

San Francisco Theater Pub

Charles Lewis III, opening the new year with a chirp!

“In criticism, I will be bold, and as sternly, absolutely just with friend and foe. From this purpose nothing shall turn me.”
– Edgar Allan Poe, in a letter to Joseph Snodgrass, 17 Jan. 1841

Considering the Theater Pub theme for January was supposed to be “downtime and balance”, it’s been… interesting to read how my fellow ‘Pub writers have interpreted that. I won’t pretend that I’m immune to the same anxiety – if you read my “Running in Place” piece from November, you know that isn’t true – but I’ve forced myself to take some deep breaths and enjoy some well-earned relaxation. Case in point: last week was my birthday and I successfully avoided a lot of headaches by cutting off social media, stopping at a few bars, and heading to The Castro to finally see Birdman. I…

View original post 1,555 more words

Categories: Theatre

Tagged as: A Midwinter’s Tale, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Anton Ego, art, artistic collaboration, artistic critique, artistic feedback, artistic influence, artistic process, Ayn Rand, Barton Fink, Bay Area theatre Bay Area theater, Birdman (film), Brad Bird, Charles Lewis III Charles S. Lewis Charles Simon Lewis III Simon Patterson, clichés, Cody Rishell, community theatre community theater, constructive criticism, creative collaboration, creativity, criticism Critique, Edgar Allan Poe, Everyone’s a Cricket, everyone’s a critic, evil critic, film criticism film critique movie criticism movie critique cinema criticism cinema critique, In For a Penny, In the Bleak Midwinter, Joel and Ethan Coen The Coen Brothers, Kenneth Branagh, Lady in the Water, M. Night Shyamalan, Magic Negro, Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Megan Cohen, Mick LaSalle, Ratatouille, Roger Ebert, San Francisco theatre SF theatre San Francisco theater SF theater, SF Theater Pub San Francisco Theater Pub, stereotypes, straw man argument, The Fountainhead, The Horse’s Ass, The Iron Giant, The Little Man reviews (SF Chronicle), The Pink Section, The San Francisco Chronicle SF Chronicle, The Sixth Sense, theatre theater, tropes