I find him fascinating. When we see each other at the theatre, I feel like we always ease into these sweet conversations, his voice halting, his mind thinking, his eyes searching, not opinions so much as conversations. And yet, when I read him, there is none of that darting feeling, its all very direct and clear. Which one is this man? Have I just known him forever? I can’t remember ever performing or having a play done in Los Angeles and not having Steven in the audience. Yes, hes always kept that professional distance, and yet the best of these collaborators make you their friend, they share their aesthetic, their thinking with you. His tenure as head theatre critic at the L.A. Weekly has established him as a fierce and generously critical voice that doesn’t just report on the Los Angeles scene, he has had a singular hand in shaping it over many years. He is unique as a voice in the city. His intelligence, enthusiasm, inquisitiveness allow him to help elevate the field and move it forward. There is something about how a seemingly quiet and soft man can be so tenacious. He probably drinks strong liquor and breaks glass all the time, but I have no idea, because when I see him arrive to the theatre on his bicycle, and always wearing a helmet, I assume he doesn’t want to just change the theatre, but the whole planet as well. Take a number buddy I am standing in line too. So, hm, he hasn’t always liked my work and I have gotten my fair share of great notices and critical poundings from him, but I can say that he has never been less than honest. I appreciate the consideration, the meditative focus, the consciousness around how a work of art doesn’t just speak to an audience in one night, but to the larger city as a way of creating a dialogue. A play is a living breathing organism and sometimes it changes the way you think about the world or your place in it. I love his long essays and the way he places you in history, even when it’s recent. I remember his review of Electricidad at the Taper and his seemingly small question about Iphigenia’s entrance. It wasn’t appropriate and he was right. But it wasnt the entrance, I didnt yet know how to maximize this character and it manifested in an entrance, oh sly son of a gun critic, I see what you are up to. It was so great to go back and make that character really have impact in this play. Steven made that happen. Don’t get me started on the state of criticism in the arts, but it is essential to our survival, our ability to transform the field and to create force and charge in these times, oh these times. It is these thinkers that we rely on to create a context for the worlds that we live and write in. More and more we do this work for ourselves, but I don’t think it’s healthy, we need to never forget that we are in a collaborative form, especially when it involves response. He is an essential member of the community and his voice is key in the relationship between artist and audience. So, I have a couple of lovely memories of Steven. The night he gave me the Queen of the Angels at the L.A. Weekly Theatre Awards. I had been working very hard and very long without a break, like for years, and it was one of the first times that I took stock of what I was leaving behind with the work. It made me clear about doing this thing called theatre for the rest of my life. It wasn’t a lifetime achievement award so much as a recognition and celebration of citizen artists in L.A. The other is the night I won an adaptation award for Oedipus El Rey for the production at the Boston Court theatre in Pasadena. I don’t like award shows and I avoid them like the plague, but Steven insisted that I come, so it was the year that everyone was asked to come in their pajamas and hardly anyone did, except my dumb ass. And then I won and I had to go up in my pajamas and accept. It was actually really fun walking home from the El Rey on Wilshire with my award and wearing my robe. So, to a new year, a great new website for criticism in the theatre of Los Angeles, Stage Raw, and the writer with a dream of seeing great work, artists in their excellence and making a better art always. May they always give you a larger word count, my friend, and space to dream. Happy Birthday to the critic, Mr. Steven Leigh Morris.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 07:20:51 +0000
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