Ezra Pound had the reputation of being the most well-read in literature amongst all his contemporaries. Remarkably, he once said “You don’t need to read an entire book in order to speak intelligently about it.” I am not sure if that “confession” made me think more or less of Pound as an arbitrator of literature.

No doubt that Jeremy and Melissa have picked Ms Weiss’ winning offense. A perfect example of the hubris of the Critic, not to see the performance in its entirety, but still believe you can speak intelligently about it.

It’s now understood Hedy Weiss was essentially invited to review. But the fact she left at intermission will become the red herring so that none of the Guild writers will necessarily feel the burden to apologize for their campaign. As with all witch-hunts, the venial sin will suffice when the mortal sin is absent. Of course the adjectives and characterizations the writers invented may no longer be applicable. “obscene” “scary” “shocking” “destructive ” “appalling” “outrage” “act of vandalism” The petty crime will need new words. But this should not be too difficult a task for our most brilliant writers in theatre.

However, the hope would be that at least one of these 22 Guild writers is able to examine their own culpability in this spectacle and is inspired to write less self-righteously and more elegantly on the Artist/Critic relationship.