Beginning Again with the Blog

Long time no blog. Busy writing plays. I've had things to say during the hiatus, though, so I'll start filling in backwards from today. Today I am arguing with fellow playwrights about David Mamet's definition of the purpose of theatre and his own accomplishment as artist and critic:
David Mamet's idea of "delight" is very different from mine, and I suspect from many people's. He delights in cruelty, and sees drama as a kind of blood sport, like dog fighting, but with manipulative skill on display as well as courage and brute strength.

I don't like him or his plays, but I respect him and I attend his plays and read his essays to see what talent in service to the truth of the Dark Side can accomplish.

Mamet is not, as you suggest I imply, the nexus of evil. He is a talented artist who had a nightmare childhood and is making art from the materials his Muse supplies. It was bad enough when he was a Stoic: I revere Epititus. But now that Mamet rejoices in the cruelest aspects of the vengeful God of the ancient Hebrews, I can not contemplate his vision without a shudder. If I thought his version of the world was the whole truth and not a partial one, I would commit suicide. Better not to have been born into such a world.