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10:08:00 AM EDT
Theater critic's suicide sends shock waves through the newspaper and theater worlds in Arizona...
The 29 year old former theater critic of the East Valley Tribune covering Mesa and Phoenix killed himself with a combination of substances including cyanide that caused the police to have to cordon off his apartment while the dangerous materials were removed. Chris Page had been laid off recently along with over ten other employees because of the increasingly hard times for the newspapers. Circulation has fallen off drastically, mostly attributed to competition from the Internet, and many newspapers across the country have cut their staffs.
Chris had worked five years at the Tribune. He reviewed "Collateral Damage" favorably, the theater production Raymond staged at Metro 5 years ago. It featured ten minute plays about the war in Iraq of local playwrights, myself included. This was the theater production for which Matt Sesow, who has become a nationally known artist, painted a huge 8' by 10' backdrop painting about the war in Iraq displayed on stage. He was found on the Internet and commissioned by Raymond. Matt came to opening night which featured his exhibition of mostly war paintings. A great opening night that all the theater critics in Phoenix missed writing about.
Chris was the only local theater critic who reviewed the production with appreciation, indeed came at all! And he was writing for a Mesa based newspaper. Later on, he saw a Scorpius Dance Production out of Metro featuring a poem by Raymond about the vampires and kept writing in the newspaper about how bad the poem was. Raymond sent some protesting letters about overkill. I thought Chris wrote as though he had found a reason that proved this local playwright was a bust.
It has been reported that Chris had gotten two DUIs so there was a drinking problem involved, too. Perhaps he had come to feel that his job as a theater critic defined him, and that his addiction had crushed his chances of success. Perhaps he was judging himself as harshly as he had judged others with an increasingly 'critical' brand of theater review.
I had the thought that this suicide was another failure by the newspapers to recognize how badly the theater critic needs local playwrights and howimportant it is that they not be too negative. Negativity blights both the one who writes it as well as the target!
It is not perceived by many critics that positive appreciation is as important to 'theater criticism' as pointing out the flaw. What better formula to promote failure than to make so much of the flaw the local playwright has no place to go with his writing. He is being consigned to oblivion by the critic whose writing is not that much better!
Chris did not come to Raymond's recent "Dreaming in Color" his most ambitious play which he turned into a musical and involved a huge cast. His new work encouraging the young writer at the high school level was not appreciated by the newspaper which has to be vitally connected to the activities of the people to be relevant.
It had started to seem like the newspaper was just all about ads because the coverage did not change even in hard times. The powers that be could not see that their connection to the people had become predictable and limited, and didn't reach them on too many levels.
I for one wrote many letters to the Republic none of which were ever printed. They just finally wore me out with rejection. For me newspaper reader letter sections are all but dead. Nobody ever gets a letter published with a controversial word in it. Therefore none of the letters are going to make a difference. Creativity and strong opinions are no longer deemed an acceptable risk by the staff. Who seem to be running scared.
Canned newspaper writing is a one way ticket to oblivion. That's what is killing the newspaper in my opinion. Hide bound attitudes about what a newsaper should be about. No risk writing. Newspapers without competition could be right even when wrong. Competing with the Internet, they have to be better than that.
I have been sending Raymond's "Dreaming in Color" out in dvd. I know he has to have appreciation to survive, he has to hang on to hope and dreams IN SPITE OF HARD TIMES! Raymond will find another way, I am confident, after having to quit his job for health reasons. HowI pray for all the troubled young of the world who feel so upset when they lose their jobs. They may need the help of many to survive the crisis.
Written by gehi6 Blog about this entry |
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Yes Gerry I too pray for all who lose their jobs. Paula
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Enjoy your day.
Missie
5/30/08 10:47 AM