نقد تئاتر

by Irving Wardle, لیلی عمرانی (Translator), فرشید ابراهیمیان (Translator)

'You have discovered a perishable treasure, and it is imperative to share it with other people before it fades... You have only one chance to get it right, while the impression is still fresh...'

If critics often disagree among themselves over the merits of a given work, this is nothing compared to the wider argument about what the critic's role should be - Objective judge? Consumer guide? Provocateur? - and whether or not those practising criticism are living up to their duty to the 'perishable treasures' on which they pronounce.

In Theatre Criticism , first published in 1992, Irving Wardle sets out to define the credentials and aims of this vexed profession. Tracing its origins to Dryden and the Grub Street writers of Georgian London, Wardle goes on to examine the prejudices, questions and practices of modern reviewing, drawing on three decades' worth of his own experience.

Genres: Theatre

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Neale]

Theatre criticism, at its best, is the highest form of criticism, the closest to literature. I have felt this before, in a vague sort of way, but the distinguished theatrical critic Irving Wardle’s sensibly titled and elegantly written little book has made me realise why. (Of course, theatre criticism ‘at its best’ is a very rare bird, and the book clearly explains the reason – given the conditions described it is extraordinary that it exists at all ...)

Every performance of a play – even of a classic that is performed regularly – is a singularity. It is a moment in time that will be lost. Plays can be recorded, of course, but that is only embalming. If poetry is what is lost in translation, theatre is what is lost in recording. (An effectively recorded play wouldn't be a play any more - it would be a film.)

Books, films and recorded music all have a life of their own, independent of criticism. But theatre needs critics. Just as a poem keeps a moment alive, good criticism keeps theatre alive. The best criticism is a curious combination of poetry and consumer advice.

Wardle’s unpretentious book is an excellent resource on the pleasures, pitfalls and responsibilities of criticism. It also describes in fascinating detail a passing world, the arcane world of the professional theatre critic, of first night controversies and copy phoned in before midnight. Does theatre still matter? Does professional criticism? I’m not sure, but ‘Theatre Criticism’ - written in the early 1990s - preserves an image of a world where they both did matter just as theatre criticism itself preserves (or used to preserve) the world of performance.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely and useful little book! A bit of it is out of date, especially the newspaper reviewing logistics and the surprise at diverse casting, but it's surprise not disapproval (1992) and the rest of the book is just wonderful, knowledgeable and warm.

[Nima Jahanbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

این کتاب بیشتر شامل نقطه نظرات نویسنده درباره مقوله نقد هستش و اطلاعاتی کلی راجع به تاریخ نقد و وقایع پیرامون نقد مربوط به انگلستان رو ارایه میکنه و شامل مثال هایی درباره نقد تئاتر انگلستان هستش. بسیاری از مثال ها و توضیحات برای خواننده ایرانی گنگ و بی مورد هستش چون منتقد، نویسنده و کارگردان مورد بحث شناخته شده نیستش.
در واقع این کتاب تئوری نقد رو ارائه نمیده بلکه شامل نقطه نظرات شخصی راجع به چکونگی نگارش نقد هستش.

[Mark Ludmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A personal account of the work of a theatre critic by one of the leading British critics of the second half of the 20th century. Obviously a bit dated now but fascinating for his memories of postwar theatre and the practice of being a newspaper critic ahead of the arrival of the internet. It opens on interesting meditations on the theory of criticism and a history of the earliest theatre criticism in the 18th century.

[funeral · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s things you might already know, there’s things you’ll learn, but most importantly of all, that there isn’t really any rights or wrongs. As the previous owner of my copy underlined: “You expect actors to be audible, sober, and not to knock the chairs over, unless this happens to be a play about a gang of drunken mutes assaulting a furniture depository. But beyond this level, the idea of a codified set of standards is a myth.”

[Kia Taheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

هنر در ایران بستر تئوریکِ قابل‌ِقبولی ندارد. تئاتر هم از این اتفاق، مستثنی نیست. این کتاب را با ترجمه‌ی فرشید ابراهیمیان و لیلی عمرانی در ایران تهیه کنید.