Even critics need a life

It’s a paean to the power of local theater that, quite regularly, SN&R critics must make difficult choices about what to review. Call it theatrical triage, and it’s just as bloody as on the battlefield. Over the course of the last three weekends, 13 productions opened locally. We can’t get to all those shows, so we had to make some decisions. First, we give preference to shows that are locally produced, with bonus points for a local playwright. Second, since the daily paper gives more review space to professional companies, we tend to favor community troupes. And finally, we like edgy and risky. That means we’re far more likely to give reviews to experimental work, a piece that combines more than one genre or form, and shows that tackle controversy. Still, we’re not ashamed to admit that our inability to review everything is, truly, a luxury problem. It’s a testament to the fantastic local theater and performing-arts scene—and the kind of problem we really like to have.