Monday, August 27, 2018
Tribute: Neil Simon Was Theater’s Odd Man Out
www.vulture.com: Bashing Neil Simon has been almost de rigueur for highbrow critics since the playwright had his first hits in the early sixties. But now that he’s 82 [Editor’s note: this story was originally published in 2009] and in iffy health, and a major revival of two of his most celebrated works—the first and third parts of the Brighton Beach trilogy, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound — is about to open, it’s hard not to feel nostalgic for the popular theater he once dominated. For better and worse, Simon’s plays — in their complacency, insularity, and, yes, hilarity —connected with their audience on a level that theater almost never does anymore.
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This article pushes back against “highbrow critics” and implies that the new and unusual theatre that tends to be praised highly is, in fact, not unusual at all. Meanwhile, the author considers the works of Neil Simon, because they tend to be unsubtle, formulaic comedies, to be outside the box. I appreciate Edelstein's analysis of the way in which the serious undertones of the plays speak to a certain audience, but be completely blunt: that audience is dying out. Theaters that choose to produce Neil Simon plays in order to entertain an elderly audience are perpetuating the ubiquitous issue of an aging population of theatre-goers. I am not trying to argue that his plays are without value; they are certainly excellent teaching plays and a great way to introduce theatre to teenagers, etc. I am, however, arguing that in order to keep theatre alive, we need to produce plays that are more meaningful to people under the age of seventy.
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