Play by Play

This collection begins with a brave and piercing appraisal of the state of current theater criticism, in a section Kalb characteristically calls "Critical Mess." He goes on to revisit the work of Samuel Beckett, as performed in well-meaning efforts to bring it to a new, wider (TV) audience; to consider today's political theater, particularly in the flourishing form of one-person shows; to explore the theatrical landscape of a reunited Germany, where the Berliner Ensemble is no longer a showcase for the East, and finally to cover what's going on back home in New York - everything from The Lion King and Dame Edna to plays of David Mamet and Arthur Miller (new and old) and to the latest trends in the Broadway musical.