06 October 2006

A persuasive argument

From Brad Hathaways's review of 12 Angry Men, currently running at the Kennedy Center:

The audience enters to see the set on the stage, violating what should be a cardinal rule of theater: never dispense with a curtain. Not only does it rob the audience of that valuable moment when the world outside yields to the world on stage, it lets critics examine the space at close range and notice things like the Kleenex box with a design not yet adopted in the 1950s.

2 comments:

Maureen said...

But of course some audience members will note such anachronism even if there is a curtain. Remember hearing about the patron who sent a note backstage when we did Merry Widow, telling us we were using the dress loops on our trains incorrectly?

tommyspoon said...

Oh puhleeze. So where does that leave thrust stages? Or arenas for that matter?

I hate theatrical traditionalists!