News & Notes for 1/16 through 1/22

A lot of shows opened and were reviewed in Minnesota this past week. Star Tribune theater coverage Pioneer Press theater coverage City Pages theater coverage TC Daily Planet theater coverage How Was the Show? theater coverage How many reviews written in the last week got at anything deeper than simply describing what happens in the show and how well it happened? Is there an obligation on the part of the live performance critic to do more say what happened in the show and if he like it or not? I know these are questions that have been asked before but I think that’s because they’re important. Art criticism can be wonderful to read and can be a tremendous source of feedback and even inspiration for artists but they often amount to little more than a rephrasing of a press release. I want to read art criticism that makes the critic worry she may be sharing a little too much of herself in responding to the performance. I want to read art criticism that requires me to scroll down to read the rest, not just because it’s long but because I want to know what it has to say. More than anything I want to want to read criticism, that is what I think an art critic’s primary goal should be. But feel free to criticize what I’ve just written. _ In response to SOPA/PIPA protests on January 18th as part of which several large websites shutdown their US sites (such as Wikipedia & Reddit) and jumping off a Guardian UK article we posed the question on our Facebook wall “What if art shut down for a day.” Twin Cities dancer extraordinaire John Munger responded: “I would suggest for the arts shutting down for a week. Wikipedia can have an impact with shutting just one day because so many people use it daily. But the arts need to spread it out because attendees typically show up only one evening (or day) in a given week. Let me be concrete. If you shut down a Friday, all the folks who typically attend things on Saturday won't care. And vice-versa. And then there's the Thu and Sun shows, plus museums on Tuesdays, and endlessly on and on. To make the point the arts would have to shut down for a week, or a month. But I don't think the arts themselves can afford a month.” I like the point Munger is making. In order for a shutdown matter you would have to know how long it would take for your audience to miss you. This makes me wonder, how long do you need to be away for people to realize they care? And also ask how long can you be away from your audience without them no longer caring if you come back? _ Twin Cities native and former Guthrie costume designer Jack Edwards has a retrospective running at the Goldstein Museum of Design in St Paul. Tell me more Go to see the work of a well respected designer but also maybe hanging out at this exhibit is a good way to meet young costumers and recruit them for your upcoming productions. _ Something fun- go check out a 3 minute tour of this year’s Art Shanty Projects: Arty Shanty tour - Art Shantys are a fairly collaborative endeavor, which leads me to the question of the week. Is the work of making art for the stage more a partnership between writers, designers, and performers or a collaboration? Tell us what you think Tweet Facial Hope your week is as filled with comedy and tragedy as you’d like. -Levi