Word: playwright
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Simon, of course, is an acclaimed playwright, but after watching Fools, it is difficult to imagine why. The play's faults are as profound as they come: the author has made little effort to say anything relevant, let alone meaningful, to any audience other than perhaps children. As a result, the humor--and Simon does have a undeniable knack for one-liners--is entirely superficial and makes you feel sheepish for actually laughing...
James Merrill, the critically acclaimed poet and playwright, appeared in the world premiere reading of his play yesterday at the Hasty Pudding Theater...
...worst part. The climax takes place at least 15 minutes before the end, and by now the audience knows exactly what will happen, so there is no suspense. Playwright James Kirkwood takes out the humor, so the audience is no longer interested. He leaves us inwardly saying, "End, end, end..." I hate that feeling, but leaving early would have been rude...
Wilson is not a "black" playwright in the sense the term was applied in the confrontational 1960s and '70s. He movingly evokes the evolving psychic burden of slavery but without laying on guilt or political harangues. The son of a largely absent white father and a devoted, enterprising black mother whom he revered, Wilson keeps his white characters at the periphery, yet emphasizes the humanity that binds Americans together. Although his vision is steeped in sadness, it is equally rich in humor and wonder at the everyday joys of living, from the umpteenth retelling of a beloved family anecdote...
...mellow. Drawn to the Black Power movement in the 1960s, he helped found a volunteer troupe in his native Pittsburgh that mounted the incendiary works of LeRoi Jones. "I tried to write myself, but I wasn't any good at dialogue," he says -- a surprising judgment for a playwright whose characters speak with color and dialectal authenticity. Within a few years Wilson was hatching the idea for a whole cycle of dramas, reflecting black life in each decade of this century. In 1982, through the playwright-development program at Connecticut's O'Neill Theater Center, he met Lloyd Richards, dean...