I'm not sure good any of these rankings and denotations do, or even what many of them mean, or what context they are or are not being put in. Seems like a pointless endeavor. Can't we just celebrate what things are?
I'm not going to see Ain't No Mo because Cooper is a 27 year old or because he's black or because he's black and 27, or because Lee Daniels decided to produce the premiere play of a 27 year old TV showrunner who went to The New School and got a life-changingly-powerful agent, I'm going because it sounds exciting and interesting and funny and I have heard excellent things. Just as I'm not not going to the work of Dominique Morisseau because she's 44 and black, or Sarah Ruhl because she's white, or anyone's next play because their last play was a financial success or wasn't, or because it was a commercial run that closes in 10 weeks or less or a non-profit run that played its scheduled 10 weeks. Etc
So much of these things are circumstantial and say very little about the play or the writer. I have heard nothing but terrible things about The Collaboration but it just extended even before NYC critical reviews come out. It's all theater. |
