“The truth is that what I prefer is a ‘swinging’ theatre, by which I mean–Shakespeare! I love movement color, physical excitement, bravura as much as ‘thoughtfulness.’ Since Ibsen, drama has become ever more introverted: this tendency has now reached the static. The atmospheric or social oppression of our day has brought about an explosive reaction to this: a theatre that is chiefly movement, sound, hectic imagery, in which ideas, when they exist at all, may be inferred. We are bound to accept these opposing trends in the theatre–they both mirror realities–providing we find them in one way or another meaningful.”
Harold Clurman, “70, Girls, 70” (The Nation, May 3, 1971, reprinted in The Collected Works of Harold Clurman)
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
