Re-Imagining the Artist-Critic Relationship: Theatre for the 21st Century

Event: Re-Imagining the Artist-Critic Relationship
Date: Friday, January 23rd, 2015
Time: 3:30-4:45 P.M.
Place: Level 8, Cargill Classroom, Guthrie Theatre
Maximum of 25 participants.

Theatre changes continually; how should theatre criticism react to these changes?  This is the central question of the workshop “Re-Imagining the Artist-Critic Relationship”, which will be held at the Guthrie later today.  Workshop leader Alan Berks plans to engage in conversation with writers and students, to discuss the successes and failures of historical criticism and what has changed to “open up the field”.

Alan Berks is a playwright, director, and designer based in the Twin Cities.  Berks and his wife created the theatrical reviews and career building website minnesotaplaylist.com in 2008, which is current.  From this background in theatre performance and criticism, Berks sets out to discuss what separates 21st century criticism from earlier criticism.

This workshop is not for critics alone, however; Berks stated “to be honest, I was thinking more about artists than critics” when he first planned this workshop.  He went on to state that theatre work deals with how best to support the vision that we create, and this workshop strives to evaluate how we provide information on this vision to a 21st century audience.

Theatre affects society and is affected by society.  Theatre criticism is similarly affected by where and when it occurs.  Adapting criticism to societal changes can create stronger critical work and provide a way to clearly convey an artist's message to an audience.  This is what this workshop centers around.  Come to the Cargill classroom at 3:30 for an enlightening look at how to better shape our art in a changing world.