Policy Change

I know it's against the rules, but I'm calling "backsies".

I've gotten a lot of feedback since I posted my first batch of reviews, both from people who really like the reviews and others that believe I should, to put it delicately, be more judicious with my criticism. It's been a lot of food for thought and after much chewing I've come to a decision.

The marathon is first and foremost a celebration. It's a celebration of the diversity of talent both behind the page and on the stage of the entire greater Boston theater community. It is not a competition, and it is not a showcase of works that have had the benefit of work-shopping. Rehearsal time is limited which makes sense. The marathon is a singular performance, and most of these works will probably never be performed again.

While I believe very strongly in the benefits of full-throated criticism I think I might have been wrong in holding the plays as a whole to a very high standard. So much of a play is dependent on the performance, and the playwrights had no agency over which company picked, cast, and directed their plays. Likewise, it's a lot to ask of actors and directors to expend a lot of free time to perfecting a ten minute play that will only be performed once. Slack is should be given in other words.

One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was to bear witness to the joy that is the marathon. I didn't want these plays to slide by into the dustbin of memory unacknowledged publicly. As no one was writing reviews, I took it upon myself, a nobody actor to fill in that gap. But it should be noted that despite my lack of qualifications by stint of being the only one to write these reviews, I become de facto the ultimate arbiter of marathon, which is insane. I have many friends who saw the shows, and even with them I disagree about the plays with. Some plays I liked, my friends did not and vice versa. It's ridiculous to think that my word should be taken too seriously, but since these are the only words anyone is writing about the marathon they have more power than they're due.

Also, frankly, it's a fuck ton of work to write up these things, and I could use the a lifting of the weight.

So what I've decided going forward, I'm only going to review the plays that I liked. That's not to say every play I review I thought was flawless, and likewise many of the plays that I'm passing over had much merit, but I think in the celebratory spirit of the marathon, these reviews should be more laudatory in nature than critical. While I've found it just as useful from a play-writing standpoint to think about and consider where I thought plays failed as how they succeeded, those can be private lessons. I need not air them publicly.

The plan going forward is to write individual reviews. I hope to write and publish one a day, which is a pretty manageable pace.

1. Scatter by Jeni Mahoney
2. General Counsel by Charles Draghi
3. Queen of Hearts by Gayle Hanrahan
4. Houston by Michael Kimball
5. Park Slope Minstrel Show by Eleanor Burgess
6. Quack by Patrick Gabridge
7. Three Rivers, Three Lakes, One Sea by William Donnelly
8. Pop Art by Joanne Hudson
9. Jinxed by K. Alexa Mavromatis
10. Burning Room by Juli Del Prete
11. Life's Half a Glass by Rick Park
12. Swig by Ronan Noone
13. Minority of Three by Terrence Kidd
14. Thesis by John J. King
15. Holy Places by Alan Brody
16. Officer Friendly by Larry Coen
17. Heartland by Andrea Fleck Clardy
18. Half-time by Richard Dresser
19. Breaking Philip Glass by Israel Horovitz
20. The Interview by Steven Bogart
21. The Constant Variety of Sport Higgins by Jack Neary

 If you are a playwright whose work was in the marathon and whose name you do not see in the above list and would LIKE me review your work, either privately to you (I took extensive notes on each play) or publicly on this blog I will do so. But I take these requests only at the playwright's behest.

And please remember, I am just some schmuck who has (barely) enough time on his hands to do this crazy thing. Anyone with an internet connection can write about these plays, and I wish I wasn't the only one. All of this is in fun and in the spirit that supporting and critically approaching new works is a worthwhile endeavor, even if I am personally not much equipped for the task.

Thanks for your patience and keep reading!