• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • 5 DOUBLE-U’S
    • MASTHEAD
    • DISTRIBUTION
    • ADVERTISE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

SHOOT THE CRITICS: COMPANY ONE PRODUCTION IGNITES CRITICISM DISCUSSION

Written by CHRISTOPHER EHLERS Posted June 24, 2015 Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts

TR_Edith_728

 

Boston Globe correspondent Jeffrey Gantz’s June 10 review of Company One Theatre’s production of Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them, by A. Rey Pamatmat, has caused quite a fuss.

 

In the review, Gantz infuriated some readers by saying the characters “make the occasional reference to their favorite Filipino dishes, but I wish more of their culture were on display.” Pamatmat is Filipino American, as are the play’s two main characters.

 

Almost immediately reactions started pouring in online, seemingly from as many people who had seen the play as had not. And this past Sunday, the Globe printed a letter from Company One saying, “The criticism that the play lacks Filipino culture ‘on display’ … is troubling.” Spiro Veloudos, artistic director of the Lyric Stage, also sent a letter to the Globe in which he groused: “This poor choice of words suggests that there is a singular Filipino-American experience.” Unless there is an alternative version of Gantz’s review floating around somewhere, I remain unable to extract any such suggestion.

 

It is perplexing to me that Gantz should be chided for his opinion, especially when the content printed in the show’s program is decidedly Filipino-centric. While the main characters are of Filipino descent (“They’re American, you know?” says Pamatmat in the show’s program), Company One has confusingly chosen to include a two-page history of Filipino-Americans, as well as two pages of Filipino recipes. It is far from calamitous for one to wish that some of the culture had been on stage rather than curiously immured to a program. “I agree about the recipes,” said Nick Dussault, theater critic for the Boston Metro. “It was an odd choice.”

 

I find the outrage over this kerfuffle to be misguided and unreasonable. While watching the play, the ethnicity of the characters never crossed my mind. They are, first and foremost, American, so while I don’t find Gantz’s comments inappropriate, it’s obvious that he looked at the play through a different lens than I did. But so what? Are we in a time of such cultural and social sensitivity that even a theatre critic should sanitize his opinion so as not to offend the vox populi? Is honesty in one’s work less important than fear of backlash? Is nothing safe from the outer realms of PC-ness? And if so, isn’t that an inversion of what makes people think about and discuss art?

 

“The value of any criticism is that it opens things up, stimulating ideas and conversation … what happened here is exactly what should have happened. The critic spoke and those critiqued spoke back. You gotta love the give and take!” said Joyce Kulhawik, president of the Boston Theater Critics Association.

 

Overall, the whole matter feels like a case of manufactured controversy and labored outrage. I ran this by Ben Brantley, chief theatre critic for The New York Times. “Every era has its landmines for a critic, but this time is especially fraught. This is partly because social media has created such a dangerous echo chamber, in which people can fire off instant opinions before they’ve properly read what they’re complaining about,” he said. “But I also think we’re in a period of linguistic readjustment … so, yes, being careful before you speak is more essential than it has ever been for a writer.”

 

Adam Feldman, president of the New York Drama Critics Circle and theatre critic for Time Out New York, said of the matter: “I don’t think the reviewer should be pilloried, but I do think it’s fair to point out the assumptions that go into such a critique. We all have blind spots and it can be useful to cast light on them,” he said. “And yes, it raises both the issues and the profile of the production, which is probably a net win.”

 

If there is anything regrettable at all about this entire rumpus, it is that Gantz’s praise of the play is light. I found Edith to be one of the most satisfying and winning productions in Boston this year, with top-shelf performances from three very gifted young actors. Gantz’s remarks are incontestably those of a man much older than I am, so perhaps there’s a generational aspect to this as well. You’ve got until Saturday to check it out for yourself, and I wholeheartedly suggest you do.

 

If there’s a general takeaway from the whole matter, it would be that while Edith can shoot things and hit them, others should probably stick to target practice.

 


 

SIMON SAYS

 

No theater critic has found himself in hot water more often than John Simon, New York Magazine’s critic for 36 years. If Gantz’s divisive yet harmless words ruffled your feathers, Simon would have made your head explode.

 

“Smart as he was, and is, his homophobia, sexism, racism, whatever, betrayed by a lack of moral imagination. Critics shouldn’t hide behind the right to say what they want as a way of avoiding ethical imperatives. And Simon knows this, at least in hindsight” said Jesse Green, current New York Mag critic.

 

There are too many offensive quotes to choose from, but here are some of my favorites:

 

On Bernadette Peters in Annie Get Your Gun (1999):

 

“Miss Peters, however, is petite, cute, and cuddly, just an iota short (or long) of Jon Benet Ramsey.”

 

On Heather Headley in Aida (2000):

 

“Aida is Heather Headley…a tall, angular young woman whose acting consists of feral scowls, whose speaking voice is an ominous growl, and whose singing is a confrontational blend of bellowing and caterwauling. It is rumored that the true inspiration for Aida was Disney’s search for an excuse to market a black doll. If it does not make Hadleyan sounds to frighten little children, it should be a huge success.”

 

On Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972):

 

“Plain, ludicrously rather than pathetically plain, is what Miss Minnelli is. That turnipy nose overhanging a forward-gaping mouth and hastily retreating chin, that bulbous cranium with eyes as big (and as inexpressive) as saucers; those are the appurtenances of a clown – a funny clown, not even a sad one. And given a matching figure – desperately uplifted breasts, waist indistinguishable from hips – you just cannot play Sally Bowles. Especially if you have no talent.”

 

On Barbra Streisand in What’s Up, Doc? (1972):

 

“Miss Streisand looks like a cross between an aardvark and an albino rat surmounted by a platinum-coated horse bun. Though she has good eyes and a nice complexion, the rest of her is a veritable anthology of disaster areas. Her speaking voice seems to have graduated with top honors from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Yentaism…”

 

On Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were (1973):

 

“When Miss Streisand labors to appear sensitive and vulnerable, she cannot conquer our impression that, were she to collide with a Mack truck, it is the truck that would drop dead. And, as always, I am repelled by her looks; by the receding brow and the overcompensatory nose, which, unlike Cleopatra’s in Pascal’s famous dictum, would not, even if it were shorter, change the face of the earth…”

 

On Mandy Patinkin in The Winter’s Tale (1989):

 

“He looks rather like a caricature in the notorious Nazi publication Der Sturmer.

 

On Alfre Woodard in The Winter’s Tale (1989):

 

“Blacks do not belong in parts for white actresses, unless they can pass for white. That’s wrong – historically and sociologically and logically.”

Christopher Ehlers
CHRISTOPHER EHLERS

Theater critic for TheaterMania & WBUR’s TheArtery | Theater Editor for DigBoston | film and music critic for EDGE Media | Boston Theater Critics Association.

More from author
  • CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
    https://digboston.com/author/christopher-ehlers/
    THE BEST THEATER IN GREATER BOSTON OF 2020
  • CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
    https://digboston.com/author/christopher-ehlers/
    ALL IS CALM, ALL IS BRIGHT: THE YEAR'S BEST AND BRIGHTEST IN SKINCARE AND SELF-CARE GOODIES
  • CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
    https://digboston.com/author/christopher-ehlers/
    BEAUTIFUL DISASTER: THE CHILDREN AT SPEAKEASY STAGE
  • CHRISTOPHER EHLERS
    https://digboston.com/author/christopher-ehlers/
    LOVE SPENT: THE TREASURER AT THE LYRIC STAGE

Filed Under: A+E, Performing Arts Tagged With: A. Rey Pamatmat, Adam Feldman, Ben Brantley, Boston Globe, Company One Theatre, critic, criticism, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them, Filipino, Filipino-American, Jeffrey Gantz, Nick Dussault, PC, politically correct

WHAT’S NEW

2021 Biden inauguration Boston

PHOTOS & RECAP: “NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN” RALLY IN BOSTON

2020 Indian farmers' protest - On a truck. Photo CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain by Randeep Maddoke, randeepphotoartist@gmail.com.

OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM?

WU ASSERTS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS IN HER CAMPAIGN

WU ASSERTS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS IN HER CAMPAIGN

STREET MEDICS BOLSTER PROTESTS IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU MAY REALIZE

STREET MEDICS BOLSTER PROTESTS IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU MAY REALIZE

HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP

HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HONORED, SPEAKERS ADDRESS RACISM

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HONORED, SPEAKERS ADDRESS RACISM

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • APPOINTED SOMERVILLE OFFICIAL SPURS OUTRAGE WITH TWEETS FROM DC MOB SCENE by MARC LEVY
  • Aerial View Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common. CC BY-SA 4.0 2017 by AbhiSuryawanshi. NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM by MATTHEW ANDREWS
  • VIDEO: COP WHO BRAGGED THAT HE HIT PROTESTERS SHOWS HOW BAD APPLES THRIVE IN BOSTON by CHRIS FARAONE
  • PRISON HORRORS BY THE NUMBERS by SARAH BETANCOURT
  • IT’S HARDER THAN EVER TO FIND A BATHROOM IN BOSTON. WHAT’S THE CITY DOING ABOUT IT? by ZACK HUFFMAN

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 1.9 – 11/26/20

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

Footer

digbos

“Trump was voted out. However, this is not a man “Trump was voted out. However, this is not a mandate for #Biden and #Harris.” https://digboston.com/photos-recap-no-honeymoon-for-biden-rally-in-boston/ #photo #rally #march #left #protest #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM? #Boston #protest for Indian farmers, Saturday 1/23/21, 12-1 pm at the #Massachusetts State House https://digboston.com/opinion-is-dissent-anti-nationalism-or-patriotism/ #India #politics #food #farmer #protest #justice #solidarity @monica_gill1
HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO A HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP https://digboston.com/no-justice-how-officials-in-one-mass-town-took-extraordinary-measures-to-appease-a-controversial-cop/ #ArlingtonMA #police #reform #cop #racism #controversy #BlackLivesMatter #Massachusetts
Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for host Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for hosts, servers, bartenders, bussers … What happens to those #jobs if virtual kitchens continue to flourish? https://digboston.com/ghost-story-virtual-kitchens-appear-to-be-the-next-big-thing-but-at-what-cost/ #restaurant #labor #work #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
“I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan “I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan. 7 in the same country we went to bed in on the 6th.” https://digboston.com/former-mass-gubernatorial-candidate-predicted-violence-before-assault-on-capitol/ #politics #Massachusetts #national #Capitol #WashingtonDC #MAGA
RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL http RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL https://digboston.com/radical-and-relevant-the-life-of-harry-brill/ #obituary #organizer #radical #sociologist #democracy #politics @UMassBoston @BklynCollege411 @UCBerkeley #Boston #Massachusetts #NewYorkCity #Berkeley #California
NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON CO NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM https://digboston.com/no-honeymoon-for-biden-1-20-protest-on-boston-common-4-pm/ #opinion #progressive #left #action #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this lat Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this latest incarnation of a #beer that’s been in the making for months. https://digboston.com/video-jacks-abby-x-boston-celtics-pride-and-parquet-hoppy-lager-unboxing-tasting/ #fun #video #review #Boston #Massachusetts
Jostling for position and influence are the disadv Jostling for position and influence are the disadvantaged candidates, existing industry participants, and municipalities … https://digboston.com/the-road-to-home-delivery-pt-5-dogs-in-the-fight-identifying-the-players/ #cannabis #politics #analysis #Massachusetts
The candidates will be interviewed about the upcom The candidates will be interviewed about the upcoming race. https://digboston.com/wu-and-campbell-to-speak-at-mayoral-candidate-webinar/ #politics #mayor #campaign #Boston #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]