The Playgoer: Quote of the Day

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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Quote of the Day

"Until the start of this century, the review was often the only detailed record of something that, by its nature, is ephemeral. The question now is whether the demise of writing about acting matters, when YouTube and video downloads let you see for yourself. They may make the need less pronounced, but they seldom capture for posterity the magic of a stunning performance in the way that great writing can."

-Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

3 comments:

RLewis said...

"they seldom capture for posterity the magic"

Seldom? Seriously, has this ever been true? Not that reviews do, but did she offer any links? Please tell us that you're getting this stuff from the Onion.

Anonymous said...

RLewis: if you take the trouble to read Gardiner's article (The Guardian is not hard to access online) you'll find she does, indeed, offer some examples. I grew up with great English newspaper critics (Tynan, Hobson, Wardle) in a tradition that stretches back to the 18th century. Apparently, and sadly, you did not.

RLewis said...

Ok, so I'm not a writer, but just to clarify for Anon: 1) "seldom" refers to video's ability to capture the magic of a live performance, and my point is that video NEVER captures the magic; B) there are no links in the article to any video that is an example of captured magic; and iii) Anon is correct, other than F. Rich I did not grow up with any great critics, but sadly, I did like Frank's writing.