One Year Review

Charles McNulty does an excellent summary and criticism of Michael Richie's first year heading CTG.

My favorite line, as a comment on Richie's termination of CTG's new play development (and its committment to diversity) in combination with mind-numbingly boring productions such as Pyranees:

Surely any of the dismissed Taper Lab playwrights could have bored the Douglas' audience just as effectively as Greig — with the compensation that they were local artists with a stake in the community rather than a British writer who has received his share of support at home.

Brilliant.

Also, in response to Richie's committment (or lack thereof) to playwrights:

Certainly there would be no problem with more Mamet or Hwang if the programming showed more commitment to cultivating the next Mamet or Hwang.

The article, while harshly (and deservedly) criticizing CTG's last season and its upcoming season, is reasonably forgiving to Richie, encouraging him to hire a better support staff and recommitt himself to producing new plays and vetting them more thoroughly. I'm personally inclined to be even more harsh in my criticism of the offerings I've seen from CTG.