Ben Brantley

Theater criticism should be visceral, at least on some level, an articulation of that fierceness and passion. I usually do a fair…

— Ben Brantley

I have received hostile voice mail messages and e-mails. They are often anonymous, I'm sad to say, as anonymous messages are delivered…

— Ben Brantley

Rage properly channeled can definitely give birth to good even great theater. Disgust, a more passive and distancing emotion, is far less…

— Ben Brantley

EVERY SINGLE DANCER, SINGER and BAND MEMBER is a BRILLIANT SOLO ARTIST

— Ben Brantley

I personally read criticism - at least by writers I enjoy - to stimulate a conversation in my own mind, and I…

— Ben Brantley

The eternal ambiguity of human motives and memory.

— Ben Brantley

Whether you like it or not, a performance's triumphs and belly flops come to seem excruciatingly intimate, as if you were somehow…

— Ben Brantley

What Mr. Kaufman and his team are after is less a portrait of any one person than one of the ethos of…

— Ben Brantley

Cyndi Lauper knows how to work a crowd.

— Ben Brantley

The cliche was always that 'everybody's a critic,' but it becomes truer every day. Long before reviews appear in the traditional outlets,…

— Ben Brantley

It's nowhere near as intense as what I imagine an actor experiences backstage, but I feel a fluttering nervousness before a curtain…

— Ben Brantley

The power of the print reviewer is one of those urban myths. There have always been shows that slipped under the critical…

— Ben Brantley

THE HOT (AND SERIOUSLY COOL) ENERGY that comes from the musical gospel preached by the title character of FELA! feels as if…

— Ben Brantley

Be prepared to have the breath knocked out of you.

— Ben Brantley

I've seen plays that are, objectively, total messes that move me in ways that their tidier brethren do not. That's the romantic…

— Ben Brantley

If you agree with a critic, you admire him or her. If you disagree, you despise them. We all feel a great…

— Ben Brantley

I write the occasional entry for the 'Times' Theatre blog, especially when I'm in London and seeing two shows a day, but…

— Ben Brantley