No, not THOSE props. The ones given to me by “Da Man” over at LA Weekly, Steven Leigh Morris, in his most recent Raw Theatre blog post.

Thanks, Steven!

In this earlier post I mentioned the fledgling New York based site Critic O’Meter, recently launched by Rob Kendt and Isaac Bruce and its similarities to Bitter Lemons. Steven most graciously gave Bitter Lemons a shout out:

In case you feel this report is too New York–centric, you might want to check out Bitter Lemons, Colin Mitchell’s Web site (with archives that date back to April of this year), which also ranks reviews in L.A. from “bitter” to “sweet,” with a percentile ranking of accrued reviews. Example:“The Little Dog Laughed: 80 percent sweet.”

Unlike Critic-o-Meter, however, Bitter Lemons also includes commentary in a section aptly named “Ponderings,” which engages in some discussion, local and national, of what’s happening in the theater world. In some instances, it also puts the critics themselves on the hot seat.

Okay. Now we’re talking. Didn’t think anybody was paying attention. But now you are, ain’t ya? Actually, it was very kind of Steve and I’m most appreciative.

Now, onto Steven’s post, which mostly focuses on Critic O’Meter. Although he acknowledged the need for such a site, he felt it was built on mostly flimsy moorings. I mostly agree. Yes, reviews these days tend to lean towards simple “consumer reports” instead of in-depth theatre criticism. And yes, it’s a mistake to give as much weight to a review with no real editorial oversight – as I argued here earlier this year, i.e. established publications (LA Weekly) vs. somebody’s personal blog (I know he didn’t mean MINE!). And finally, yes, the Critic O’Meter’s grade ratings DO rely on heavily subjective interpretations of what merits a “good” review and a bad “review”. That’s why I lean more towards the Rotten Tomatoes model, a numerical percentage accrued from the negative or positive review. Of course, it’s still my call as to whether a particular review is positive or negative – and I have to admit a couple have definitely fallen under the “bittersweet” category – but it’s usually clear which way a review leans. Perhaps at some point I’ll fine tune and allow for a “bittersweet” category somewhere in the 40% to 60% range.

Steven goes on to expand his argument into the greater context of our present artistic world (as he often does, God love ‘im) and ends with this whipper-snapper:

Critic-o-Meter has captured the pulse of the culture, and offers a one-click-fits-all service. At the same time, it exposes a philosophical divide between criticism that investigates and that which judges — a divide that recalls Vaclav Havel’s advice to Czech schoolchildren: “Stay by those who are seeking the truth; flee from those who claim to have found it.”

Again, I agree. But I would like to take that a step further. Theatre Criticism should most definitely start as an investigation, but it should evolve into something even more than that, something even more important for the artistic community at large, it must become a conversation. A dialogue between the critic and the playwright, the critic and the director, the critic and the theatre company, and most importantly, the critic and the audience.

Thanks, again, Steven! Now everyone go read his site.