[NEohioPAL] An Open Letter back to Steve Wojtas

Thu Oct 11 05:27:45 PDT 2007

Sir,
	I am not a critic, with the exception of my own performances, but I feel I must respond anyway.

Have you ever spent 2 hours watching a play that had cohesion?  Where the actors barely knew their lines or were so detached that there was emotional connection?

Have you ever laid down good money to see a movie only to wonder "Who green lighted this piece of crap?"

Have you ever endured uninspired dance for endless hours?

Have you ever sat through a musical performance grimacing at the sour notes and lack of subtlety?

Have you ever watched something and thought, "The writer was more interested in mental masturbation then in entertaining or informing his audience?"

Until all performances are excellent critics play an important part in our culture.  Furthermore, you need not have perfected an art to know that those you are watching haven't either.  Good critics give good reviews to those that deserve it and save me (although I have washed recently) from wasting my time on those that don't.  

Those who can, do. Those who can't, blame the critics.

Mike (I've had good and bad reviews and accept it) Sobczak

-----Original Message-----
From: neohiopal-bounces at listserve.com
[mailto:neohiopal-bounces at listserve.com]On Behalf Of Steve Wojtas
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 4:14 PM
To: neohiopal at listserve.com
Subject: [NEohioPAL] An Open Letter To Critics, Reviewers,et al. (Steve
Wojtas)

You may as well know from the outset that I'm probably going to tip over a 
sacred cow or two.  Some may even say that I'm tilting at windmills.  Be 
that as it may.

But what I'd like to know is:  By whose leave do you deign to hold forth in 
judgment of the artist and his works?  Are you his peer?  Have you studied 
intensively; have you practiced extensively in the discipline in which you 
presume to sit in judgment?  For unless you have, your pronouncements are 
just so much balloon juice and worth as much.

Or do you see it as your sacred and moral duty to instruct the unwashed 
masses as to what they must think?  For myself, as part of the unwashed 
masses, and as a thinking man who has it on good authority that I am above 
average in intelligence, I prefer to think for myself, thank you very much.

To the theatre critic:  Have you spent countless hours of countless days 
honing your technique so that you can convey volumes of meaning with one 
look or with that certain inflection?  As  director, have you spent weeks or 
months coaxing just the right emotion, just the right interplay from as many 
as a dozen or more actors?  And while you're doing this, have you had to 
keep in check the tempers of a cast and crew who are overwrought and 
overtired from emotional and physical labors as you approach impending 
deadlines?  As a set designer or lighting designer, have you had to create a 
mood or ambiance that is aesthetically pleasing to the audience as well as a 
space in which the actors can move efficiently and safely?  And have you had 
to do it while keeping your creative vision within budget?