I was the first critic ever to win a Tony - for co-authoring 'Elaine Stritch at Liberty.' Criticism is a life without risk; the critic is risking his opinion, the maker is risking his life. It's a humbling thought but important for the critic to keep it in mind - a thought he can only know if he's made something himself.
Interpretation
Criticism holds risks, and true understanding requires personal experience in creation.
In this quote, John Lahr emphasizes the contrast between the roles of the critic and the creator. While critics engage in a form of risk by sharing their opinions, creators put their very selves on the line through the act of making art. This highlights the importance of empathy and humility in criticism, suggesting that only those who have created can fully comprehend the challenges and stakes involved in the artistic process.
In practice
This quote could be used in a lecture about the responsibilities of critics in the arts.
Theatre is a game of hide-and-seek. For both the hiders and the seekers, the thrill is in the discovery. When the rules of the game are too vague or too complicated, however, the audience can lose its urge to play; the prize no longer seems quite worth the hunt.
Writers don't always know what they mean - that's why they write. Their work stands in for them. On the page, the reader meets the authoritative, perfected self; in life, the writer is lumbered with the uncertain, imperfect one.
The violinist is that peculiarly human phenomenon distilled to a rare potency - half tiger, half poet.
Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.
When I turned to writing fantasy, and writing for young people, it was joyous. It was like discovering an underground lake of ideas that went on forever.
By words one transmits thoughts to another, by means of art, one transmits feelings.
Of all my films, people wrote to me most about this one... ...I had wanted to make The Idiot long before Rashomon. Since I was little I've liked Russian literature, but I find that I like Dostoevsky the best and had long thought that this book would make a wonderful film. He is still my favourite author, and he is the one - I still think - who writes most honestly about human existence.
Everything comes out in blues music: joy , pain , struggle . Blues is affirmation with absolute elegance.
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