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John Lahr

John Lahr Books

Critic

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“Any play that makes an audience think out of the box, that makes connections to life and names our pain and by doing so makes our pain subject to thinking and the process of understanding, is doing something inherently political. By promoting understanding, by putting experience in context, by making connections between the normal and the rational, theatre is an act of anti-terrorism. It stimulates courage and a survival spirit. In that sense of political, there are a lot of serious plays doing their work in the world.”

ThinkingWorldPlayPainPoliticalSpiritNamesProcessUnderstandingAudienceSubjectsSeriousNormalSurvivalConnectionsBoxesTerrorismTheatreRationalPromotingAnti Terrorism
Author:John Lahr
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“Most of the people dishing out judgment have no working experience of the theatre, have not written a professional play, a sketch, or even a joke; have never worked in a theatre, taken an acting class, or published any extended piece of work. They are creative virgins; everything they know about theatre is book-learned and second-hand.”

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Author:John Lahr
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“In 1957, “West Side Story” had introduced the musical to the reckless dark side of teen-age life; “Bye Bye Birdie,” set in Sweet Apple, Ohio, where the citizens apparently dress mostly in chartreuse, mauve, orange, periwinkle, and turquoise, was a walk on the bright side.”

StoriesAgeSidesDarkWalksSweetCitizensDressesWestMusicalApplesGoodbyeOrangeRecklessByeDark SideOhioBright SideBye ByeTurquoiseWest SideWest Side StoryAge LifePeriwinkleBye Bye BirdieChartreuse
Author:John Lahr
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“In Britain, the theatre has traditionally been where the public goes to think about its past and debate its future. The formation of the National Theatre, at the Old Vic, near the South Bank, in 1963, institutionalized the symbolic importance of drama by giving it both a building and state funding.”

ThinkingGivingStatesPastBuildingDramaImportanceSouthTheatreDebateBritainFundingSymbolicFormationYouth Theatre
Book:Joy Ride: Lives of the Theatricals
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“Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot,' billed as 'the laugh sensation of two continents,' made its American debut at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, in Miami, Florida, in 1956. My father, Bert Lahr, was playing Estragon, one of the two bowler-hatted tramps who pass the time in a lunar landscape as they wait in vain for the arrival of a Mr. Godot.”

MadeTwoFatherWaitingLaughingLandscapeVainSensationsContinentsFloridaArrivalsMiamiDebutGroveBeckettCoconutsTrampsBowlersGodotWaiting For Godot
Author:John Lahr
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“Tony Awards boost Broadway attendance and sell the shows on the road. They're the sugar to swat the fly. If you needed more explanation for the yearly ballyhoo, in the metropolitan areas where a Broadway show plays, the local economy is boosted by three and a half times the gross ticket sales. So when we're talking Tonys, we're talking moolah.”

IfsPlayShowsThreeHalfTalkingEconomyNeededAreasSellsLocalsExplanationAwardsSugarTicketsBroadwayGrossBoostAttendanceMetropolitanBroadway ShowsHalf Time
Author:John Lahr
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