COAST OF UTOPIA–ARITHMETIC AND THE CRITICS.

COAST OF UTOPIA –ARITHMETIC AND THE CRITICS. Mary Jane and I saw the first play in Tom Stoppard’s THE COAST OF UTOPIA and loved it. We came out of the play in a state of euphoria. We are eagerly looking forward to the other two plays. A friend of ours in Michigan sent us an unfavorable review of THE COAST OF UTOPIA by Charles Isherwood in the New York Times, entitled, “Utopia is a Bore. There, I Said It.” Isherwood seems to regard expressing this opinion as an act of courage, saying that “Even nonprofessional critics…. may hesitate to register a negative opinion about a play so widely regarded as evincing all the virtues serious theatergoers look for…..” Arithmetic says that Isherwood should not feel uncomfortable about his position. Only a small percentage of people comprises the audience for almost any play or book. It’s hard to imagine a million people—less than one per cent of the people in the country—being interested in any new play (movies and television still aspire to mass audiences). So most people would be indifferent to the play and agree with Isherwood’s vote (and it’s basically only a vote because he never offers an explanation beyond the statement in the headline). As I’ve commented earlier, the theater critics at the New York Times don’t seem to enjoy the theater as much as some of us do, and our hearts should go out to them. Poor Isherwood laments that he had to see the Stoppard plays twice, once in London and once in New York.